ABOUT
The Context
Galapagos is world known as the place where Charles Darwin conceived his theory of evolution by natural selection, and as one of the richest biodiversity hotspots in the world.
What is less well known is that its 25 000 inhabitants face serious social and economic challenges.
The Ecuadorian Government recognises these challenges and is implementing programmes that attempt to balance environmental conservation with human development. As part of these efforts the Galapagos Administration approached AHO's Scarcity and Creativity Studio with a view to design and build a facility to benefit the local
Galapago's community.
AHO's Scarcity and Creativity Studio has to date built 12 buildings for community use around the world, the
work can be seen at its website, http://scs.aho.no
The Partnership
As a consequence of the publishing of the immensely popular Galapagos: World's End in 1924 and the initiative of some daring Norwegian entrepreneurs, workers were lured to Galapagos from Norway through advertisements promising a tropical paradise. They came to the islands in several crossings and started a short lived fishing industry. The largest group was 60 Norwegians, persuaded to settle on Floreana in 1927, that turned out to be anything but the paradise the promoters had promised. Most managed to survive for a difficult year or two. Some of the survivors eventually returned to Norway, others moved to the settlement on San Cristobal, and others settled on Academy Bay on Santa Cruz, joining another group of Norwegians that had set up a cannery there the year before. Within a few years, most of these colonist had left.
A modern Norwegian crossing to Galapagos is to take place in November 2016. This initiative is the result of the Ecuadorian Republic, through its Governing Council of Galapagos, asking AHO's Scarcity and Creativity Studio to contribute to its Galapagos Development Plan.
After consultations between the parties it was decide d that The Scarcity and Creativity Studio would build a 'Club House' for the Galapagos Scouts in the town of Baquerizo Moreno during the Fall of 2016.
The Objectives
Trapped on an island that doubles as an open air zoo, the residents of the Galapagos face numerous social challenges emanating from the isolation and restrictions of their habitat.
Fishing, the traditional source of employment, has been much curtailed because of environmental concerns. Tourism, an important source of income for Galapagos, is mostly conducted from cruise ships, makes a limited contribution to the local economy, and in its current form is detrimental to conservation.
The Galapagos National Park occupies 96% of the 8,010 km2 area of the archipelago, and given the need for more control over the practices of the tourist industry, there is a growing need for employing park rangers that understand the importance of sensitive environmental practices.
The Galapagos Scouts is an organization that educates local youth in the islands' unique ecosystem with the intention of training them to become the future Park Rangers of the Galapagos National Park.
The Project
The project consists of designing and building a club-house for the Galapagos Scouts.
The main activities to be housed are: attending lectures, being instructed in local crafts, being able to receive and house specialist teachers/trainers who come to instruct scouts in their specialties, and ancillary facilities such as administration, sanitary facilities, storage, etc.
The head of the Galapagos Scouts envisions significant growth in the scout's activities in the future, so that this project would be the first phase of a quite ambitious plan.
In the first phase the building will consist of 80 - 100 m2
The building will be sustainable, maximizing the use of local materials such as guadua bamboo and volcanic stone and gravel. The building will be designed based on the principles of tropical architecture, which builds on the characteristics of the local climate to minimize the use of energy.