Guantánamo. – A practical workshop on traditional construction techniques for home finishing is underway in Guantánamo through July 17, with the aim of expanding knowledge and promoting the use of ancestral materials in housing construction.
The initiative is funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and supported by the Cuban government. It is being held in the area known as “Cabaña de Mariano.”
As part of the workshop, participants are building a demonstration construction site featuring a brick-vaulted house, an adobe structure—made from unfired clay and straw bricks—as well as homes built from recycled shipping containers.
The project is led by Mexican architect Ramón Aguirre Morales of the Ibero-American Network of Architecture and Construction with Earth (ProTerra), who is coordinating a team of eight specialists from Mexico, Chile, El Salvador, and Colombia.
Aguirre Morales highlighted the importance of practical training sessions based on a “learning by doing” methodology, allowing participants to apply these techniques to build homes that require little cement and do not depend on steel structures.
Representatives from Guantánamo’s provincial construction company (Epcons), the construction materials company (Epmalco), and the Food Industry construction brigade are participating in both the workshop and the construction of the demonstration homes.
Photo: Venceremos
