Sixteenth International Conference on Design Principles & Practices

Abstract

In the last decade, governmental and economic management strategies have affected the welfare of low-income communities across the world. As a result, these communities become dependent on government assistance and lose the agency to overcome their challenges. Architecture and design have the power to create significant, community-led change in underdeveloped countries. This pilot study emphasizes symbiotic relationships between community members of Volcadero, a fisherman community located on the coast of Venezuela, involving five different groups from the community: youth, teachers, fisherman, elders, and the local indigenous community Karina; and students and faculty from two Public Research I universities in the United States. This study presents a participatory design process through charrettes and community engagement activities that helped understand the framework of the study to translate these values into architectural proposals. The goals of the projects were to empower the community of Volcadero by developing agency through design and develop empathy in architecture education.