Image above: arquitecturadelasremesas.blogspot.com

In 2010, the Museum of Art of El Salvador ran an exhibit showcasing the structures resulting from remittances- money coming into the northern triangle- Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras- from their expats, most of them located in the US. If you have visited countries in Central America, and even South America and the Caribbean, you will have seen these structures. They are lavish, full of bright colors, and compared to their neighboring structure, quite larger and more define.  It is an architecture without architects… all with a story behind that stretches beyond its aesthetic of uncomfortable use of form and symbols. It is an architecture of aspirations, of stories of migration, signs of success and dreams of a return.

More information and images, HERE is the exhibit webpage.

people and remittances.jpg

“La pensada de él es volver cuando se pensione.
Es que fíjese que yo veo que una condición…
es mantener siempre el núcleo familiar…
y aunque estén dispersos regresar algún día a un punto común.
Y esto puede ser esta casa, así piensan ellos y así pienso yo…”

They are thinking of coming back when they get pensioned.
Look, I see a condition…a condition to always maintain the family core…
and even if people are apart, in a set time they can come together again. And this can be the house where they come together; that is how they think and that is how I think as well…”

example of houses-remittances

Source of images: arquitecturadelasremesas.blogspot.com

Related posts: SKINS + SIGNS

Leave a Reply


WordPress.com Logo


Google+ photo


Twitter picture


Facebook photo


Connecting to %s