Developed by the architects of the "think-act tank" Archquid, in connection with the indigenous community and other institutions of the parish of San Rafael de la Laguna (Otavalo, Ecuador), this project revolves around the material research of the totora plant, a subspecies of the giant bulrush sedge. The Totora Cube project deepens the understanding of the art and craft with which these fibers have been used since pre-Inca times.

Courtesy of Archquid / Federico Lerner

Developed by the architects of the "think-act tank" Archquid, in connection with the indigenous community and other institutions of the parish of San Rafael de la Laguna (Otavalo, Ecuador), this project revolves around the material research of the totora plant, a subspecies of the giant bulrush sedge. The Totora Cube project deepens the understanding of the art and craft with which these fibers have been used since pre-Inca times.
From the architects: The ?Totora Cube? is an experimental structure and although it has a specific function ?to promote the handicrafts created in the local community and to raise awareness of their culture? also has a degree of flexibility that allows different programs. It is clearly a definable object: the view we have of it from the adjacent road, and its morphology and materiality, make evident their qualities as an object that are well beyond the limits of the id...