Questions Brigade
Project Details
- Location - Gatu, Veraguas, Panama
- Club - University of Southern California (GAB USC)
- Client - Granja San Jose Arriba
- Partner Organization - Patronato de Nutricion
- Brigade Date - August 9 - 16, 2009
The Farm
Sr. Andres Diaz is the President of Granja San Jose Arriba, a 4 hectare farm in Gatu that yields a wide variety of crops, including corn, beans, guandu, tomatoes, cabbage, peppers, onions, yucca, and plantains, and also grows tilapia, fish, and chicken. Sr. Diaz owns the farm with 3 other socios, and 26 people in total generate their sustenance from this land. Granja San Jose Arriba is assisted in his practices by Patronato de Nutricion, a non-profit organization that works with subsistence farmers to develop sustainable agricultural methods and viable revenue generation methods.
The Problem
Since February, the farm has undergone a tremendous amount of hardship. Three of the four socios spent at least one month in the hospital, the youngest of which spent one-and-a-half-months recovering from going head-first through the windshield of a truck. As a result, only one of the socios was able to plant the farm, and crops are almost non-existent
The most pressing issue, however, is wind. Since 2007, three-to-four days of serious winds have hit the farms of Gatu, destroying crops and ruining structures. Granja San Jose Arriba at one point had a reunion ranch (in which they had routine meetings, stored tools, dried beans and grains, and housed visitors), kitchen, latrine, and pig pen, all of which have either been severely damaged or destroyed by these heavy winds. One socio was struck in the head by the dislodged thatch roof of the reunion ranch last year, after which they had to re-roof the structure with at-hand corrugated aluminum. The retrofitted structure is not large enough to accommodate the task of drying, and most of their batches of beans are ruined by rains.
In 2007, the winds destroyed the farm’s entire yield, and in 2008 the entire bean harvest was lost. It would seem obvious to suggest that the socios farm another area, but this is unfortunately their best land, as most of the other soil is too rocky. These February winds, which predominantly come from the north, are strong enough to destroy shelters, bend plantain trees, and destroy crops, and will continue to aggravate Granja San Jose Arriba’s potential for revenue unless an innovative multi-faceted solution is developed.
The Solution
The University of Southern California Global Architecture Brigade (GAB USC) spent August 10 - 14 at Granja San Jose Arriba, carrying out interviews with the farm's partners and their family members, conducting an extensive site analysis, and assessing local building materials and techniques. With the information they obtained, the club lead an intensive, on-site design charrette, during which they discussed, planned, and drew in the evenings, and presented to the clients and received important feedback the following mornings.
The final schematic design is one that responds to the client's programmatic and environmental necessities: a large meeting space, kitchen, depository, and dormitory are contained under a sturdy, two- part roof, the northern half of which is of heavy wood-and-sod construction, to divert strong winds, and the southern half is sheathed in clear plastic and encloses a second-floor solar grain dryer. Local materials include at least three types of wood, river stones, and cana blanca. To lessen the effects of wind on the farm itself, a series of five masonry walls are designed to be dispersed throughout the property, which allow sun and rain to reach the crops, but protect the land's northern face.
Research Documents
Answer Brigade
Project Details
- Brigade Date - January 3 - 10, 2010
- Anticipated Completion Date - May 1, 2010
Brigade
After four months of fund-raising, design development, and construction documentation, GAB USC returned to Granja San Jose Arriba to assist the community in the construction of their work space. In anticipation of the club's return, the farm arranged for the cutting and transportation of structural wood, gathered rocks and sand for concrete and masonry walls, poured a new concrete floor, and demolished part of the existing structure. Thus, when the club arrived on site, after demolishing the remaining portion of the existing structure, they immediately began work on building stone and masonry walls and erecting the wood floor and roof structure.
In only five days, and with time lost to material availability and transportation disputes, the community and club were able to construction roughly 75% of the structure. With the techniques learned during the brigade, the farmers should have little trouble completing the project on their own, and hope to have it completed by May of this year.
Follow-Up
Conclusion
Construction Documents
PROJECT REPORT
DECEMBER 2009_FOUNDATION PREPARATION
JANUARY 2010_STRUCTURAL DETAILS
JANUARY 2010_PLANS AND DETAILS
