For me this was one of the most memorable spaces from our trip to Chile. During our visit to one of the less developed areas in the outskirts of Santiago, we were all intrigued by the image of this tree house. Minutes later we were introduced to one of the families who live in the informal campamento and they welcomed us in their house. A mother of three kids talked proudly of the artistic talent of her 12 year old son who built the tree house that we just saw in front. Some of us decided to climb the stairs to see the intriguing house and we found a very surprising space.

The structure and the details of the construction were amazing; with every material that was put together you could see the creativity and resourcefulness of the inventor. From the refrigerator door that made the main entrance to the windows with glow-in-the-dark stars. A little desk with toys and books, a white board to draw and a comfortable chair all together made a magic space above the tough reality. From up there you could see two different faces of that reality: the informal campamento and the permanent houses from one of the finished projects from “Un Techo para Chile”.

All my feelings as a mother were afloat and I could not stop thinking about this boy and all the opportunities that he will have exploring the same talent he used to build this house from scratch. In one of the corners I found one of the most intriguing and inspiring creations: a water drinking system made with reused materials. I never got to meet the boy, but I have not stopped thinking about him with admiration and the wish that I could find some way to encourage him to pursue his talent. I will start with this entry as a tribute to his creativity, hoping I will find a way for him to see it.

Stella

Our challenge is narrowed to this three specific problems. Delivery, containment and flow is the focus of the project and although these topics include many other problems, to have these three graphics help us to mantain the course. We were happy to start the ideation process last Friday during the design storm and it was very helpful to translate our ideas into sketches and continuing the work this week.

Stella

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to give a quick update on the awesome progress we made last Friday at the design storm. We’re exploring ways to help people transition from the campamentos to the casas definitivas and we’ve narrowed down our work to the following categories:

bathing, workspace and establishing the value of water.

We’re continuing to look for ways to transition to a more formal use of water, both in and outside the campamentos. Wish us luck!

Jackie

More research and proof that mobile devices in areas of poverty are creating new opportunities and bettering the lives of people.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPaMe0Nj6zM&feature=player_embedded]

Please watch, very informative.

R&D- Ramon & Diane

The challenge for our team is to look beyond just water related issues or problems in the living situations within the campamentos and to connect to the deeper issues of poverty.    Focusing on a larger scope, we arrived at two sets of problems and opportunities- Community Laundry and a Skills-Sharing Network.   These two topics have both strong connections to present issues-for immediate impact and a positive cascading affect for long term results.  

Will & Stephanie

SHOWER: How to reduce steps by combining heating, mixing, and showering.

LAUNDRY: How to combine steps to reduce repetition, time, and strain. How to reduce the time to dry clothes.

DISHES: How to combine steps and repetition by creating a centralized work station to drain and capture water.

Design storm results:

helped with getting the ideation process and started by getting the key ideas and key problems on paper. We were able to look at current solutions and how they would work in the current mediaguas. Gave us ideas from learning from the negative aspects of the current solutions.

It was really fun and helpful, I never been in a design storm before. It was exciting and inspiring!

The Design for the Other 90% exhibit site is of course a fantastic resource…

and curator Cynthia Smith’s twitter feed has great updates on projects, resources & events.

- Penny

Transparency: How Much Water Do You Use?

This March post from GOOD Magazine is an interesting concept.

-Elizabeth

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rphhfy4qCfc&feature=player_embedded]

Diane