On Saturday February 9, 2019 we continue with the second meeting of the series "Art, pedagogy and city", titled "Art as a mediation tool."

Artists, creators, journalists and neighbors of Caracas walked from the Plaza Bolívar de Baruta to the La Cruz sector in La Palomera. At the end a celebration of public space was done through a dance performance guided by Dora Peña.

The event is part of the initiative "Integration in process Caracas" sponsored by the Embassy of the United States in Venezuela, and organized by Ciudad Laboratorio, Enlace Fundación, Fundación Bigott, Baruta Municipality, Pre school Manuel Felipe Rugeles, Municipal School Miguel José Sanz and Soup Kitchen Punto Solidario La Palomera.

Laboratory City, Bigott Foundation, Municipality of Baruta, Puntos Solidarios, Manuel Felipe Rugeles Preschool, Miguel José Sanz Municipal School and Children's Dining Room Solidarity Point La Palomera.

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We completed the construction of a small public space in Las Brisas - La Palomera that includes a bench more than 9 meters long and a hexagonal structure that works like a swing where children can see each other and synchronize their movements. Both rest under the shade of a large existing Possum tree. This place had previously been used to park cars, and through negotiations with its drivers we managed to free space to convert it into a public space. We are deeply grateful for the donations received from Juan Fernandes, Martin Prosperi, Juan Carlos Castillo and Tania Urvois.

After twenty weeks of work through the phases of community consultations, participatory design and construction, the Chapellin Plaza was inaugurated with the participation of neighbors and visitors. This project was funded by the Swiss Embassy in Venezuela through an alliance with Caracas MiConvive, an NGO focused on empowering and supporting communities in Caracas. Enlace Arquitectura led design and construction efforts together with local associations such as Asociación de Jóvenes Unidos AJU and the Don Bosco de Chaplain pre-school. A uniform pavement over 280 m2 of surface allow children and youth to play baseball, soccer and ride bikes. It has also been used for community festivities over the holiday season revealing an immediate appropriation of the renewed public space by neighbors. The public space was named Plaza Jorge Somaca after the leader of the association AJU, who sadly passed days before the project was completed.

Final review for the work of students in Harvard University Graduate School of Design “The Agency of Mezcal in the Oaxaca Valley” option studio led by Elisa Silva, was presented on the 10^th of December 2018 in front of a multidisciplinary jury comprised of professors Diane Davis, chair of the GSD´s Department of Urban Planning and Design; Aziza Chaouni, associate professor at Daniel´s Univeristy of Toronto; Juan José Consejo, president of INSO in Oaxaca; Pablo Perez Ramos, assistant professor in Landscape Architecture GSD; Alistair McIntoch, Landscape architect and lecturer at the GSD; Steven Handel, ecologist and lecturer at the GSD; Miquel Adriá, director of Arquine in Mexico; Anna Heringer, architect and design critic GSD; Guilllermo Chavez in representation of Agave Capital and Bruxo Mezcal. Students developed proposals for the towns of San Martín Lachilá, Agua del Espino and San Agustín Amatengo in the Ejutla region of Oaxaca Mexico. The approaches considered reforestation strategies, water harvesting, public space, agave harvesting, wood production, the inclusion of women in new productive activities and expanding the management of mezcal related activities to include more ecologically sustainable strategies as well as new components of terroir.

Enlace Foundation ended the first part of a public space project in Las Brisas La Palomera over the month of December, culminating the construction of a 19 meters long bench that lines the edge of pronounced topographical drop off at the top of La Palomera´s southern ridge. In order to create this new playground for children, neighbors who had parked their cars in this space graciously agreed to park their cars elsewhere in order to allow a new public space to be built. For security reasons the community and design team agreed to build the bench first as a protection device to keep children away from the edge. In January 2019 we will begin the construction of the swings.

On November 17 we kicked off the "Integration Process Caracas" program with the first talk of the lecture series "Art, Pedagogy and the City". The lecture entitled "Strategies for Integration" brought together a diverse group of speakers who addressed issues related to urban integration such as the real and symbolic merging of the city and the distinction between "formal" and "informal" cities. The meeting took place in the La Palomera´s basketball court where Natalya Critchley, Cheo Carvajal, Elisa Silva, Sergio Dos Santos, Martina Arteaga and José González told us about integration experiences related to art, pedagogy, urban design and local experiences. The lecture was attended by neighbors from the community of La Palomera and other parts of the city. At the end of the presentations everyone participated in a workshop experience led by Katiuska Camargo, who invited them to dream as children and imagine transformations for the community. This initiative is part of the United States Embassy in Venezuela´s cultural program.

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An earnest strive to make social housing in Mexico more inclusive and sustainable was presented on Monday November 5th at the offices of Conavi in Mexico City. The study was commissioned by Conavi to UN Habitat in Mexico; the research and documentation was executed by Elisa Silva. The study emphasises the importance of considering housing at three scales: the urban, the neighbourhood and the housing unit itself. It allows design to pool resources together to lower overall costs, prioritise strategies for urban integration and increase people´s quality of living.

Elisa Silva, currently Design Critic in Landscape Architecture at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design presents a lecture as part of the Landscape Department Fall 2018 lecture series titled “Territorial Inequality and the Urban Cassandras of our time” on October 29, 2018 at 1.00pm in Gund Hall Stubbins 112. 

The new church of Media Legua San Juan Maria Vianney was inaugurated (consecrated) by the Vargas State Bishop and the last four parish priests including Father Abelardo Bazó, who stood behind the church’s construction from the very beginning. Ricardo Silva, and Elisa Silva led the design and construction together with Rafael Monterrey and his family. Carlos Mero was responsible for the opening gates and lettering on the façade. The idea to build a church at the selected site initiated in April 2008 when the community approached Father Abelardo and presented their request. All materials have been purchased through donations and much of the work has been done pro bono. There are several details yet to be completed, but the church is functional and operative as of this moment.

Students of the Oaxaca Valley Option Studio at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design visited the communities of San Martín Lachila, Agua del Espino and San Agustín Amatengo together with the studio sponsors, Bruxo Mezcal, and instructor Elisa Silva. The visit focused on understanding the mezcal making process, the community´s strengths and needs, as well as identifying opportunities for grounded interventions that can improve the livelihood, productivity, social inclusion and environmental conservation of the region.