The monthly letter from the Governor of Rotary International District 1700 Occitanie - Pays Catalan – Andorre featured an interview with Elisa Silva conducted by Marie-Francoise Chapuis, and Rotary Montpellier Maguelone President Carlos Davis in February 2023. Elisa shares her story as a student exchange in Montpellier in 1993 and her academic and professional career since then.

This year´s Wallenberg Symposium at the University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture focused on equity in architectural education through mentorship. Elisa Silva, in representation of FIU, was among the invited panelists together with Andrew Chin of Florida A&M University, Edmund Akima Brackeen from IIT, Bradford Grant of Howard University, Coleman Jordan from Morgan State University, Stephanie Pilat from the University of Oklahoma and Carmina Sánchez at Hampton University among others. It took place at the Ann Arbor campus on January 30, 2023. 

The lecture "Architecture to defend diversity in cities" was part of the annual meeting of the Association of Architects and Engineers in Ciudad Juárez, which took place on September 21, 2022. The presentation featured the work of Enlace in La Palomera Caracas, the Guaire River of Caracas and the community of Agua del Espino in the Central Valleys of Oaxaca.

As part of the exhibition "Common, community driven architecture" a conversation on the topic of "Public space in common" was held between Yvan Detraz from Bruit de Frigo, Bordeaux, Felipe Ferrari of Plan Común, Paris and Elisa Silva from Enlace in Caracas. It was moderated by Fabrizio Gallanti, director of Arc en Rêve center d'architecture, and took place on September 16, 20222, at the Entrepôt, Bordeaux France.

We are pleased to share the news that the San Juan María Vianney Church in Media Legua, Vargas State Venezuela by Enlace Arquitectura, was selected by the jury of the Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize in Chicago among the 38 “Outstanding projects” from 400 nominations of works built in the Americas between January 2018 and December 2021. The jury is chaired by Sandra Barclay from Peru, and also includes Mónica Bertolino from Argentina and Alejandro Echeverri from Colombia, among others. The award seeks to recognize architecture that not only serves as a static monument but also has a positive impact on its specific context.

The exhibit features maps of 6 vulnerable neighborhoods in South Florida that are the result of student research and conversations with neighbors. They show the simultaneous superposition of buildings in three times: 1. Those of the past that have been demolished, 2. Those of the present, and 3. Future projects aimed at a public of greater economic affluence and different from the current population.

The Rosario Argentina Institute of Architects brings together the architectural offices León Marcial from Peru, Enlace Arquitectura from Venezuela and the curator of the Argentina Pavilion at the 2021 Venice Biennale Gerardo Caballero. The discussion takes place on Thursday, September 30, 2021. The event is moderated by the architect Paola Gallino and published via zoom and youtube streaming.

The Escola da Cidade in Sao Paulo, Brazil invites Elisa Silva to participate in the open course Architectures of the Global South on Saturday September 18, 2021, which aims to expand the repertoire of contemporary architectural practice by considering the urgent needs of new perspectives, fundamentally counter-hegemonic. The course focuses on the practice of architects in the Global South, revealing the complexities behind each developed project.    

Elisa shared the experience of La Palomera, the program Integración en Proceso Caracas and the exhibition at the Architecture Biennial in Venice.  

Lecture by Elisa Silva within the framework of the Expedition '21 studio of the Institute of Architecture in Porto Portugal, whose focus this year is “Critical neighborhoods: Architecture and appropriation in Bairro do Leal." The workshop seeks to present a set of regeneration strategies in the precarious territory of Bairro do Leal, in Porto, demonstrating the capacity of architecture to improve the living conditions of inhabitants. Elisa's contribution was based on the experiences in the barrio La Palomera in Caracas Venezuela.

Elisa Silva is invited to participate in a review of the magazine Manifest titled "Bigger than big: Phantom infrastructure" together with the editor of the magazine Anthony Acciavatti, the professor of architecture at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú Sharif Kahatt and Mauricio Quirós Pacheco, professor at the University of Toronto, who served as moderator. Elisa's contribution centered on her article “Communal land, culture and production through mezcal producing communities in oaxaca’s central valley by Elisa Silva.”

Invited by the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Peru, Elisa shares her reflections on the publication "Pure Space: Expanding the public sphere through public space transformations in Latin American spontaneous settlements", on Friday April 16, 2021 via zoom, together with architects Gary Leggett and Sharif Kahatt.

Elisa presented the lecture "Grafted, hybrid (in)complete" as part of the public lecture series at Princeton University School of Architecture on March 18, 2021. After an introduction by Dean Monica Ponce de León, Elisa presented the work of Enlace Arquitectura in the barrio La Palomera over the course of the last 5 years and the evolution of the office's practice, methodologies and focus.

Elisa Silva was invited by the Continental University of Peru to share her experiences in practice and to discuss how she sees the role of the architect. She also presented the publication Pure Space edited by Actar Publishers and CAF development bank of Latin America, with the support of the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in Fine Arts. Arturo Lyon, Alejandra Bosch and Josep Ferrando, also participated in the event, which was moderated by Josep Cargol.

Watch lecture

María Virginia Millán and Sofía Paz were interviewed to the ENCERRADOS program by ENADIITV Arquitectura y Diseño in Mexico, where they talked about the work of Enlace Arquitectura and Enlace Foundation. They shared work experiences in the barrio La Palomera, the door-to-door solid waste collection program and the transformation of the Casa de Todos annex into an open center for the local community and all of Caracas. They also discussed awareness strategies regarding spatial inequality and other pressing social and environmental challenges in Venezuela.

Watch conversation

On July 30, 2020 Elisa Silva speaks with Jeanette Sordi, one of the publishers of the book “NESS.doc 2 Landscape as Urbanism in the Americas” and Alfredo Ramírez, as part of an online event to celebrate the publication’s launching.

On July 27, 2020, María Virginia Millán participated in an interview with journalist Graciela Beltrán through her live program via IGTV to talk about aspects of Caracas’ anniversary celebration. Enlace Arquitectura shared a video titled “Celebrate the Complete City” through its social media networks, inviting people to rethink the way the city is perceived, and to consider the relevance of celebrating Caracas´ anniversary including the barrios. 

On Saturday May 23, 2020, an event was held on the virtual platform Zoom to celebrate, remember and reflect on all that has happened since the Cross of May was re-enacted in 2019. The event was also part of the exhibition "Complete City: La Palomera, acknowledgment and celebration" at the Hacienda La Trinidad Parque Cultural, and the Integration Process Caracas IPC program.

The exhibition includes the work, experiences and lessons of the Integration process Caracas program that began in the informal settlement La Palomera in November 2018. Its objective has been to invite all citizens to get to know La Palomera through its culture, its sancochos (a Venezuelan stew), its spaces and its people. Audiences are also invited to question the negative stigma that exist with respect to the barrio and to see it with a renewed gaze, so that it may be discovered, understood and recognized as a living and vital place for the city.

Enlace Foundation was among the participants of the discussion titled “Actions: the barrio is city” where María Virginia Millan presented work in the barrio La Palomera along with María Isabel Peña from CCScity450 and Cheo Carvajal from Ciudad Laboratorio. It was part of the events related to the exhibition “Lets Meet Each Other,” presented by Espacio Anna Frank at the Sala TAC of Trasnocho Cultural in Caracas Venezuela.

Enlace Arquitectura´s San Juan María Vianney Church is among the 17 finaliastas of the XI Iberoamerican Architecture and Urban Design Biennial, celebrated in Asunción Paraguay, October 5-11, 2019. It was selected among 997 projects from 22 participating countries from Mexico to Chile within the American continent, as well as Portugal and Spain.

"Integration in Caracas Process" sixth event was held on Saturday July 20 in La Palomera. People from all parts of the city were invited to the "Garden Tour of La Palomera: connecting gardens, orchards, nurseries and other experiences in urban vegetation" to consider vegetation as an integration strategy and a fundamental part of urban life.

The San Juan María Vianney Church in Media Legua, Venezuela is selected one of 32 finalists of the XI Ibero-American Architecture and Urban Design Biennial from a pool of 997 projects representing 22 countries. It will be exhibited at the Biennial in Asunción Paraguay between October 5 and 11, 2019.

On Saturday, May 25, the Cross of May "Mobile Museum" was celebrated in the community of La Palomera, as part of the program Integration in Process Caracas IPC. The event began with a procession where portions of a model of La Palomera were carried from the Simpon Bolívar Square in Baruta to the La Cruz de La Palomera sector. It was followed by a generous array of exhibitions, concerts, performandes, rituals, games, videos and the customary "Sancocho."

Elisa is part of a conversation initiated by Agustín Schang and Laura González that explores contemporary architecture models operating Across the Americas. The group was comprised by Julian Palacio, Jorge Ambrosi & Gabriela Etchegaray, Rafael Gamo, Elisa Silva and Maite Borjabad Lopez-Pastor.

The Second Gathering of the series "Art, pedagogy and city", titled "Art as a mediation tool," took place on Saturday February 9, 2019. 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 performance was coreographed for the guests in the "Vuelta de los jeeps" a public space, led by dancer Dora Peña.

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.

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.

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.

On Sunday the community of Las Brisas in La Palomera, Baruta - Caracas, conducted an open assembly to vote on a playground and park. In early July, we proposed building a public space under a large mature possumwood “jabillo” where neighbors currently park cars to the community. Over a series of meeting the design changed and was strengthened by their concerns for security and flexibility. After a heated debate and a certain amount of tension, the community overwhelmingly voted for the park and so we will begin work in the coming weeks. We are looking forward to this new experience with the community of Las Brisas.

The publication “Downward Spiral: El Helicoide´s descent from Mall to Prison” edited by Celeste Olalquiaga and Lisa Blackmore will be presented at the bookstore Lugar Comun in Altamira Caracas, on Friday the 13th of July 2018. The event will be presided by Vicente Lecuna with the participation of several of the book´s collaborators including Elisa Silva.

Elisa Silva participates as invited guest at the event “La Caracas que Queremos” Wednesday May 4, 2018 at the Simon Bolivar auditorium complex. The initiative represents a space to promote debate and actualize a vision for Venezuela through concrete and current actions and programs that intervene in communities and the public domain from several perspectives.

Elisa Silva was invited to speak at the VII Cisneros Foundation Seminar titled “Disruptions: Dilemmas Regarding the Image in Contemporaneity” curated by Ileana Ramírez. It considers art´s link with politics as it operates to construct new subjectivities, and encourage questioning of what Jacques Rancière called “the aesthetic and representative logic of art”. The event took place March 16 2018 at the Chacao Cultural Center. Elisa’s intervention centered on the relationship of Caracas’ inhabitants with the real city, denied and replace by a plutonic and narcissistic love that is disengaged and inoperative. A dysfunctional relationship and missed timing, as exemplified in Félix González Torres´ 1989 piece “Perfect Lovers.”

Founding of the Biñ Yu Initiative in Mexico to support communities in rural areas of the Oaxaca Central Valley Region to gain empowerment through participatory workshops to improve their livelihood and the sustainability of their environmental conditions. These areas are typically plagued by extended drought seasons and diminished productivity due to the scarcity of water. However, in fact Oaxaca receives considerable amounts of yearly rain in comparison to other regions of Mexico.

Enlace Arquitectura participates in the event "El CalvarioOpen Doors" in its third edition 2017. Seven canopies trace the path through the barrio, suspended from windows, posts and fences in the neighborhood. Knitted fabrics of synthetic plastic fibers in various color combinations and sizes witness the passing of shadows, quotidian affairs and the barrio´s built morphology.
The installation was exhibited between December 2, 2017 and March 15, 2018.

Journalist Cheo Carvajal interviews Elisa Silva as part of a series dedicated to Caracas during its 450th anniversary. Elisa speaks of Enlace Arquitectura´s efforts to expand the mental map ofthe city through the recording of its informal settlements in the cartographic survey CABA and through the public-space-making-in-informal-settlements-program "City Planting"sponosred by Citibank Venezuela and coordinated by Fudep Venezuela.

Impact Mezcal is a social entrepreneurship led by Bruxo Mezcal directors interested in returning the benefits of growing economic prosperity derived from an increased appreciation and demand for artisinal mezcal production. Enlace Arquitectura is leading the design of an integral program that will catalize beneficial ecological, social and productive processes for the community based on their existing culture, needs and participation.

Enlace Arquitectura´s publics pace and water harvesting proposal for Los Guayos Municipality, Las Aguitas Sector 4, Valencia Venezuela - was selected among the winning projects in the "Public space implementation competition" sponsored by UN Habitat.

Among the projects included in thepublication "Radical - 50 Latin American Architectures" by Arquine publishers, is the Sabana Grande Boulevard Pavement by Enlace Arquitectura 2011. The book was presented Friday March 10, 2017 during the Mextropolis event in Mexico City.

Elisa was part of the group of invited professors to the Limapolis workshop at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Perú in Lima between March 5th and 11th, 2017. The studio centered on analyzing the urban, social and environmental role of the historic Surco Canal in the city, as a basis to project possible scenarios that increase its visibility, value and relevance.

The satelite map of Caracas at1:5.000 scale from the exhibition "CABA: Mapping 48 years of informal settlment growth in Caracas" was presented atthe Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Administración (IESA) Caracas - Venezuela, on the ocassion of the eventorganizad by the Instituto Metropolitano de Urbanismo Taller Caracas (IMUTC) of the Metropolitana Mayorship to evaluate projects for the celebration of the city´s 450 year anniversary.

Elisa Silva presents the work of CABA Cartography of the Caracas barrios 1966-2014 as part of the Research Conference Series at the Engineering School of the Central University Venezuela, Friday November 18th, 2016 at 10:30 am.

Architecture students of the Simón Bolívar Universtiy in Caracas, invite Elisa Silva to participate in a discussion about memory and identity togther with profesors Lorenzo González Casas and Orlando Marín at the university´sPavillion 5, Tuesday November 15th, 2016 at 5:30.

Enlace Arquitectura joinedthe CCS en 365 team on its tour of the Villa Borges, currently the Simón Díaz Center, to share facts about the Julian Blanco slum inthe CABA cartography of the Caracas Barrios 1966-2014 investigation.

Enlace Arquitectura received the X Salon Malaussena prize in the Urban and Environmental Design category for the Citi Foundation project “Planting cities” in collaboration with FUDEP.
Enlace Arquitectura was also awarded in the publication category for CABA Cartografía de los barrios de Caracas 1966-2014.

Elisa Silva participates in theConversation "Visions: popular settlements" this Saturday June 18that 11:00 am at Bigott Foundation - Petare, where she will share theresearch experience of  CABA - Cartografía de los barrios en Caracas 1966 -2014.

Elisa Silva is invited toparticipate at the Permanent Forum on the City 2016 held on May 26th at 9:00 am in El Nacional news paper´s auditorium, where shepresents the research contento of CABA - Cartografía de los barrios en Caracas 1966 -2014.

Enlace Arquitectura is working withthe community of Las Aguitas in the municipality of Los Guayos, Carabobo State, on public space making urban interventios. The participation of neighbors was very gratifying! Children and adults colaborated in the elaboration of a canopy made from recicladematerial that will create a place with shade where they can playand spend time together.

Elisa participates as aspeaker at the Global Shaper´s Caracas event, on Wednesday December 2nd at the offices of Wayra, Xerox tower. The discussion topiccentered on "Reasons to live inVenezuela". She was joined by singer Laura Guevara, polititican Roberto Patiño and beer distributer Jesús Sánchez.

Valentina Caradonna participated in the development of the Ship project, workshop and perfirmancetogether with artist Nancy Nowacek, Backroom Caracas, the Facultyof Architecture at the Central University of Venezuela, the American Embassy, Cultura Chacao, and CCS FORUM 2015. Architects adkjm, Central Arquitectura and Ricardo Sanz were also integral participantes in the initiative which took place between the 2nd and 7th of November 2015.

Thursday September 24th was theopening of the exhibition "Pure Space: public space transformations in Latin American slums" at FIU´s Miami Beach Urban Studios Design Gallery. It presents Elisa Silva´s research for the Wheelwright Prize she received in 2011. The exhibition will be open until November 6th, 2015.

The Multi Deco commercial warehouse project is far alongin its construction phase. The complex has been designed on a10.000 m2 site in the Marques Alto of the commercial expansion areain Guatire, Miranda State.

Profesor Elisa Silva speaks at the "Sobremesa" eventsponsored by the Department of Architecture and Art of the Simon Bolivar University Tuesday June 15^th at 2:00pm. ProfesorMaría Mercedes Hernández will make the opening remarks.

The editors of Construinfo interview Elisa Silva on thesubject of public space and her experience in the Sabana Grande Boulevard and the plaza interventions in La Morán, an informal settlement on the western side of Caracas.

CAF, development bank of Latin America and SIUS, Interdisciplinary Seminar for Social Urgency at the University of Buenos Aires inaugurate the exhibition "Latin American lessons in informal settlement rehabilitation".

The exhibition, curated by Elisa Silva, presents 15 slum upgrading case studies in the region. Rubén Ramírez, Representative director of CAF in Argentina, Juan Carlos Fried from SIUS-FADU, UBA and Flavio Janchez from FADU, UBA and Elisa Silva comented on the exhibition and the work of their institutions.

The exhibition presents research work by Elisa Silva for the Wheelwright Fellowship from the Graduate School of Design Harvard University. It is open to the public between the 8th of Septemberand the 18th of October 2014 at the Eric Arthur Gallery ofthe Daniels Faculty of Architecture at the University of Toronto. The show includes 21 projects in the cities of Lima, Medellin, Guayaquil, Valparaiso, Caracas and Rio de Janeiro. where publicspace is created in informal settlments as part of largerinvestments in major infrastructure, environmental conservation andrisk management projects.

The exhibition Posible Helicoides: Fantastic visions, includesthe piece by Enlace Arquitectura titled "San Agustín - Helicoide -Cota 905". The show will be inaugurated on Sunday September 15,2015 at 11:00 am at the Caja- Visual Research Space of the CCCH -Chacao Cultural Center on the Tamanaco Avenue, El Rosal. Entranceis free of charge.

Hábitaplus publishes an article about Fundación Espacio, a group of seven architects from diferent universitiesfocused on diseminating the state of art of venezuelan architecturewith a critical perspective.

Elisa Silva in collaboration with Enlace Arquitectura presentsan audiovisual exhibition titled "PURE SPACE", which focuses onurban, environmental and cultural operations that have been able tocreate public spaces in slums of Lima, Valparaiso, Medellin, Guayaquil, Rio de Janeiro and Caracas.

Place: Centro de Arte Los Galpones

Plataforma Arquitectura publishedan article on its webpage about Enlace Arquitectura´s proposal forthe "Public ideas competition to transform the military base La Carlota into a green metropolitan park"  which received Honorable Mention.

The journal El Nacional publishes an article about thefinalist proposals for the La Carlota Public Ideas Competition totransform the Air Base into a Green Metropolitain Park thatfeatures "Pista Viva" by Enlace Arquitectura.

Inaguration of the Sushi Bar KOI, a Restaurant of Japaneese- Thai food in the Ciudad Tamanaco Comercial Center, first level.

Enlace Arquitectura presents its proposal for the "Public Ideas Competition to transform the Air Base into La Carlota Metropolitan Green Park," in a public debate that took place in the Dr. Mauricio Ramia Auditorium of the Botanical Garden of the Central University of Venezuela.