MICRO-INTERVENTION: NUEVO HORIZONTE

Catia, Municipio Libertador. Caracas, Venezuela
2019

Microinterventions are projects that aim at having high impact with great economy of means. They refer to small, direct and effective operations that seek to transform the dynamics of use and interaction in small spaces.

The pilot renovation of a community kitchen had to be executed with a very small budget and in a short time. The problems the project had to address were the poor condition of the space, lack of natural light and air, the distance between food preparation and eating areas and the outdoor, unsupervised waiting area for the children. The project consists of two operations: First, the displacement of a dividing wall to the front of the space, creating a large kitchen and a smaller waiting area instead of two equally useless rooms; and second, the transformation of doors and windows into expressive mechanisms that articulate the new routines and conditions that were desired: supervised play and wait, orderly eating, hygiene.

The use of ventilation blocks allows the entrance of light and air and the visual control of children by the mothers while cooking. The new waiting area reinforces the idea of waiting as a moment of common gathering before meals, during which children wash their hands and are routinely measured and weighted. All new metallic carpentry is in bright colors and reinterprets traditional construction techniques like folding thin steel sheets for rigidity and the use of certain patterns.