Paul Lukez Architecture (PLA) is pleased to announce that its design for Proyecto Clamor de Paz (aka Jennie’s Place) has won a “Small Firms/Small Projects” award from the Boston Society of Architects. As part of the BSA’s awards program promoting design excellence, this competition solicits entries from Massachusetts based designers working on projects anywhere around the world.
The Jennie’s Place project is motivated in part as a response to a heart wrenching story. On June 3rd 2008, two children living in a small house overlooking a lush valley in Guaimaca, Honduras were murdered by four criminals. Jennie Lizeth Lopez (12) and her brother, Karlin Adali Valdez (10) were victims of a needless and brutal crime. Guaimaca, a small city of 10,000 people in central Honduras was greatly affected by this tragedy. Enraged at the injustice, community members organized protests and demanded justice. The town of Guaimaca, under the immense pressure and strain from community members, caught, convicted and sentenced 3 of the 4 killers.
Paul Lukez Architecture visited the original location where these horrendous events occurred and met with local community members on how to best memorialize the lives and spirit of Jennie and her brother Karlin. Jennie had been an energetic model student, walking a great distance each week to reach her school in central Guimaca, approximately 5 kilometers away.
The hillside community of La Nava embraced the idea of building a structure on the footprint of the original house. Over 65 family members helped build the structure. In addition, PLA was able to raise $30,000 for materials and specialized labor. In addition, craftsperson Chris Sancomb (RISD) fabricated and donated special features like the Bronze Medallions set into the floor of the newly proposed structure. With election season around the corner, the Mayor was in a generous spirit and donated concrete, raw materials and use of trucks to transport supplies to the remote site. And finally, groups from UCLA, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Massachusetts contributed time, labor and their essential skills to the project.
The new structure designed by PLA has three interior spaces; a multi-use community space, a chapel and a rest room. There are additional exterior spaces and features including an entry court, a bridge, a terrace and courtyard. The main room was the site of the tragedy, which now has two bronze medallions inscribed with the names of the children set into the floor. With the doors closed, the space becomes a contemplative place. But it is also a space which may accommodate groups of students, teachers and community members celebrating the children and their short lives.
Mountain breezes filter through the wood screens, as light and shadows dance on the stucco walls throughout the day. Sunlight enters the spaces in deliberately calibrated ways, including one moment of the day where a shaft of light aligns the two bronze medallions set into the black concrete floor, uniting Jennie and Karlin for a passing moment. The reflective medallions set against the dark black concrete, are like stars in a night sky. Visitors can see their own reflections when looking down at the medallions in the polished concrete floor. The doors are made of steel and locally forested timbers. When closed, the three doors create the silhouettes of three crosses, while allowing framed views (at eye level) of the mountainous horizon.
There is a second room which serves as a small chapel. Small slits of light allow light to wash the north facing wall in the afternoon. A square window with a steel cross embedded in its sash, frames an idyllic view of valley below and mountains beyond. Visitors can kneel in front of the window in prayer, such that the altar becomes the landscape in all its beauty.
Simple means of construction mined from the local vernacular, helps create a space of peace and meditation. Light and nature work their wonders, as the space becomes a place to collect and filter impressions, experiences and memory. But it is also a place of gathering and celebration by members of the community, as they remember the spirit and hopeful lives of two young children, who now inspire future generations.
To learn more about Jennie’s School in Guimaca and the good work done by the amazing Dominican Sisters of the Presentation, see below:
Donations of any size can be sent to:
Dominican Sisters of the Presentation
3012 Elm Street
Dighton, MA 02715-1600
Phone: (508) 669-5425
Email: domsrs@presentation-op-usa.org
Please make the checks out to:
Dominican Sisters of the Presentation
In the memo box put “Guaimaca Health Center”
Design Team:
Paul Lukez, AIA, Principal, Alex Hogrefe, Matt Uminski, Mike Fahey, Ryan MacArthur, Andrea Vilanova, Jing Cai, Jackie Feng.
In local collaboration with Walter Zapeda.
Text by Cameron King
