design challenges
REAL ESTATE an expert’s help with building in Baja
By guest expert Landscape Architect Gonzalo Elizarraras / fabrikG
Architect Gonzalo Elizarraras dedicates his time to develop bioclimatic, bioregional and regenerative architecture in Baja Sur. Traveller nomad, in love with the ocean, and well studied in Barcelona, he chose Los Cabos to found, together with Karla Llorens, his Company fabrikG. Also founder of CAPALab, a lab dedicated to ideas about urban planning and regeneration, his practice is based on the architecture of the region. Local and natural, his architecture is dedicated to people and life and you will always find vernacular traditions from all over the world within his design. His passion honors research, creativity, experimentation and origin. Architect Gonzalo Elizarraras made a stop in Destino to talk about Los Cabos’ building and design challenges. Stone quarries, sand and earth, are with no doubt the main raw materials in our region and have been used in construction for hundreds of years. Local materials are a better match to the environment and leave less carbon footprint. Palapas and leather work also endure, as well as woods like palo de arco, palo fierro, mesquite and palo chino. These local woods are very strong, durable, and weather and pest resistant. In the Baja Peninsula, there are not many forested areas that can supply wood, and our climate does not allow for fast regeneration of these materials; many have been exploited and are now under protection. The most abundant regional materials are dirt and sand; these can be mixed together and compacted to build walls. Not only are these walls made from local and resourceful materials, they are also thermal. The sustainability of the materials used in the construction of a home depends on whatever factors affect the building, such as being in front of the ocean. For example, it is not recommended to build blacksmith railings; they will erode with the wind and oxidase due to the water and the salt.
In my opinion, the design that best serves as a bridge between nature, culture and people is very simple: Reduce, reuse and regenerate. Re-generative architecture uses permaculture principles. Permaculture is a technique born in Australia that mostly gives and doesn’t take. A group of architects from the USA studied permaculture before defining their movement as regenerative, they even call themselves “recovered architects.” This design philosophy integrates place, space, material, the user (who is going to live there) and sustainability. Our intention is to give. A building has to adapt to the place where it will exist, its topography, its geology, its hydrology, etc. To re-use waste, we use grey water first to fill the WC and then we treat the water used for irrigation.
TIP
Design in paper. Many clients arrive with a napkin, asking for a professional quote based on their drawing on it. Maybe their drawing is really good, and maybe some understand more than others about design, but I always advice my clients to develop their ideas in paper, it will be less expensive to fix it in the computer, and less expensive to make executive decisions based on the definition of details, than once you are in the construction site. Of course, that does not eliminate the possibility that when you are slab casting the client will think of something new and change the design on the spot. Flexibility is a must!
All Baja elements are inspiration to use Biomimicry, a new science that studies nature’s models and then uses these designs and processes to solve human problems. For example, one element that we constantly imitate is the organic net of diamonds in the skeleton of the choyas (the fruit that grows on local cactus); we study the structure and then apply it in the design. There is no limit in imagination.
www.DestinoMagazine.com | JULY 2014
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