Diseño prototipo de casa taller para artesanos del fique en Curití

Abstract

The overall objective of this project is to design a house-workshop for fique artisans in Curití, Santander, utilizing a blend of ancestral and vernacular materials and techniques, along with modern and contemporary techniques such as metal and reinforced concrete. The advantages of these materials and the reasons for using them are their high strength, their ability to withstand earthquakes, their low cost, and the speed with which these buildings can be constructed. They also contribute to the conservation and preservation of valuable construction knowledge. This project is based on the history and tradition that this municipality in the Guanentina province of Santander has had as a town of looms and weavers since the time of the chiefdom. "Town of looms," as its etymological word suggests, and its artisanal legacy has demonstrated over the years, was the epicenter of sack manufacturing at the beginning of the 20th century, when Colombia began exporting coffee, sugar, rice, corn, and other products. In the late 1940s, the Santander Industrial Consortium founded Hilanderías del Fonce in San Gil, now known as Coohilados del Fonce Ltda. It has been named this way since 1998. Thus, Curití, like the rest of the surrounding municipalities in the region dedicated to artisanal sack production, suffered a blow to its economy with the arrival of synthetic fibers and the rapid production of sacks offered by this new company. Despite these economic impacts, the Curiteños continue to produce rope, espadrilles, and household items, developing new knowledge and techniques that continue to make them a pioneer municipality in fique craftsmanship. However, the artisans and their trade, which is essentially based on weaving, are being put at risk by new urban developments. Currently, the mansions that once functioned as large, spacious factories, which until a few years ago were still occupied by some artisan families and might have had looms, have been repurposed by their true owners, converting them into vacation homes or lodgings. This has resulted in the displacement of artisans to new subdivisions with inadequate dimensional and environmental conditions for the effective development of their trade and the possession of their equipment and tools. This document describes a proposal for the design and construction, as well as the performance and operation of a house-workshop for fique artisans in Curití, a project derived from the development and evolution of fique crafts and its various forms of transformation.