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

Event program:
Vicente Lecuna – Opening remarks
Jorge Villota - El Helicoide´s construction
Diego Larrique - San Agustín del Sur
Elisa Silva – informal settlements and their appearance/disappearance from maps
Iris Rosas – The relationship of informal settlements with El Helicoide
Sandra Pinardi – El Helicoide and the ruin
Vicente Lecuna - El Helicoide and Parque Central
Conversation among the panelists and the audience

Elisa Silva was invited by the journalist Graciela Beltran for an interview on her radio program on Onda Station 109.7 RM on June 22^nd 2018, to speak about the value of public space in the city. They also touched on the experience of the Sabana Grande Boulevard transformation, the potential integration of the city including its informal settlements through a network of public spaces, and the upcoming publication by Enlace Arquitectura on public spaces in informal settlements of Latin American cities titled “Pure Space”.

During the week of May 21^st 2018, Elisa was invited to participate in a workshop of the Master in Urban and territorial development at the Cataluna Politecnical University UPC together with Prof. María Isabel Espinoza. The ninth debate on “Latin American cities and territories” took place on May 22^ndand was moderated by Prof. Carles Llop.  Elisa presented the content of “CABA Cartography of the Caracas barrios” and the results of the AICA (Actions to Integrate Caracas) workshop sponsored by the Metropolitan Municipality.

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.

We would like to invite you to the inauguration of the exhibition “Caracas in Three Historic Times” to commemorate the 450^th anniversary of Caracas and the 50^th anniversary of the Urbanism Institute. Enlace Arquitectura participates with the research project “CABA Cartography of the Caracas Barrios 1966-2014”. The exhibition is organized by the Extension Department at the FAU-UCV.

Place: Exhibition and Lecture Hall FAU UCV

Date: Monday April 23, 2018. 4:00pm

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.”

Elisa was invited to a live interview with Albani Losada and Unai Abenamar as part of their program on Radio Station Exitos 99.7, the 19^th of February 2018. The conversation centered on the role public space plays in building social cohesion in cities. The City Planting projects by Citibank and Fudep are examples of how communities come together to transform their environment, but also manifest their desire to be considered equals in the city. Enlace Arquitectura´s work on the mappings of Caracas´ informal settlements show that half of the urban population lives there, and yet they do not enjoy the same recognition, nor access to urban spaces such as public plazas and children playgrounds. They also spoke about the pending conversion of the city´s Rio Guaire into a continuous linear park, and the critical role civil society can represent in advancing urban transformation agendas.

Elisa participated in the 9^th UN Habitat World Urban Forum in Kuala Lumpur. The Conavi office of social housing in Mexico and the offices of UN Habitat in Mexico have formed an alliance to collaborate on research regarding implementation practices of the NAMA program on sustainable social housing. Elisa Silva will study current practices on existing sustainable social housing complexes and identify practice opportunities to improve implementation and achieve buildings that achieve the targets of reduced energy and water consumption. Conavi and Infonavit, the country´s main mortgage lender, have vowed to reduce carbon emissions 50% by 2020 through better social housing building and maintenance practices. 

Elisa Silva participates in dialogues regarding what is common at the XX Architecture and Urban Design Biennial in Valparaiso Chile, curated by Claudio Magrini and Miguel Cancino. Presentations by Alejandro Echeverri of Medellin, Rua Arquitetos of Rio de Janeiro,  Elisa Silva of Caracas and Gonzalo Undurragaof Valparaiso to exchange perspectives on city dynamics in light of Valparaiso´s present opportunity to design a new zoning and planning structure for the city.

Claudio Magrini: This is a reflection is about what Valparaiso has in common with other Latin American cities with experiences that can help better plan the future of this port city. Valparaiso faces the eminent challenge of formulating an organic plan that can face issues related to its particular geography, its exposure to natural disasters, high levels of poverty, the presence of informal settlements, a widely recognized historic center that is undergoing severe decay, a coast that is disputed between the interests of its inhabitants and private enterprise, and finally the lack of a clear vision on its urban territory that is nearly ungovernable. The idea is to share successful experiences in other cities that may be applicable to the Valparaiso context. 

Elisa Silva participates in the Panel "Informal City and Participative Design: physical and symbolic connections" at the conferences de 1^st of May 2017 of the LASA 2017 conference at the Pontificate Catholic University of Peru UPCP in Lima. She will share the research work of CABA: Cartography of the Caracas Barrios 1966-2014 and the spatially defined premises for inequality present in the urban territory.