DesignBuild: An assembly house for UMCAMIX, 2009
DesignBuild-Studio at TU Berlin 2008/2009
Function: Assembly house and kitchen for the women’s coffe-cooperation UMCAMIX
Client: UMCAMIX – Unión de mujeres campesinas de la Mixteca
Location: Guadalupe Miramar, Oaxaca, Mexico
Year: 2008/2009
Guadalupe Miramar, a small mountain village in the Mixteca Alta is home to the women´s cooperative UMCAMIX – Unión de mujeres campesinas de la Mixteca. UMCAMIX was created with purpose of helping women find solidarity among each other and strengthen their business skills with the ultimate goal of making them self-sufficient members of their community.
The international and interdisciplinary team of TU Berlin realized a second storey as a wood construction on the existing pharmacy and local shop. The new building houses an assembly and guest room. In the small garden, an open kitchen with a tradition stove, the comal were realized. A compost toilet and hygiene facilities are rounding up the building trio. Staircases and pathways are giving an easy access to the steep grounds and link all elements with each other.
Academic Partners: Ursula Hartig, Dr. Frank Hassenewert, Nina Pawlicki; Simon Colwill, Prof. Cordula Loidl-Reisch, FG Landschaftsbau/Objektbau (Landscape Architecture); Daniel Weinhold, Prof Dr. Klaus Rückert, FG TEK (Civil Engineering)
Students: Sylvia Brock, Aurora Dominguez-Mata, Miguel Fernández-Galiano, Matthias Gaißmaier, Alberto González-Capitel, Carles Guinot, Isabel Gutiérrez, Ariane Holz, Hans Hortig, Norman Jans, Daniel Julve, Rafael Krause, Candela Morado, Christopher Opialla, Josefine Paul, Nina Pawlicki, Alfonso Rengifo, Fabian Roßmanith, Jan Schmidt, Pia Siekmann, Tzvetelina Tzvetkova
Collaborating Organisations: CAMPO – Centro de Apoyo al Movimiento Popular Oaxaqueño (logistics, local project implementation)
Collaborating Expert: Jan Thiele (architecture student and carpenter), Imke Grzmba (wood-technology student and carpenter)
Assembly house on top of the cooperative shop and pharmacy