KWANTLEN Interior Design Students visit the School of Architecture at University of Havana, CUBA
Guest Contribution by El Coyle
February 2008
Supplies - where do they come from? Where do materials go when we are finished with them? Why do we so often under-appreciate materials and the support they give to our work? After traveling to Cuba to visit the country, culture and meet students that are not as privileged as we are in Canada, these are questions that linger in our minds and make us rethink our personal consumption and that of the country and city we live in.
Kwantlen Polytechnic University's 3rd year Interior Design students recently returned from a ten day visit to Havana, Cuba. A primary objective of this trip was to learn about, and experience, different periods of architecture and design within another culture. What we did not realize was that we would also be left with priceless insights into the resilience of people in underprivileged countries; and how fortunate we are to live where we do, with access to an unending array of resources.
Our class spent a morning visiting the architecture department at one of the University of Havana campuses. The building has long since been beyond repair, and it now looks as if it has not felt the steps of human inhabitants in many years; yet inside these crumbling walls, creative and devoted students are dreaming up, innovating, and actually realizing new architectural projects, often for the most needy locations in Cuba, particularly Havana.
Our class was guided through some of their past projects and processes. Not only was the caliber of work inspiring but so was their imagination in creating necessary materials. Models they have built to illustrate their designs have been made from found objects - cigar boxes, for example, and handmade paint from dirt and plants. When one looks at these models it is not apparent these students struggled to source materials, materials that we in Canada take for granted on a regular basis and often throw away before their time.
As a token of cross continental friendship, our class was proud to deliver a generous donation from OPUS Framing and Supplies to the Cuban architecture students. To say that they were surprised and grateful is an understatement, and we felt extremely lucky to be able to deliver such necessary drafting equipment and art supplies on behalf of our local art supplier OPUS.
Upon our return to Canada we now question our own projects and how we may create and illustrate them in more resourceful ways, not taking for granted the ease with which we can go and purchase necessary equipment & supplies. The Cuban students' influence has pushed us to think and work harder, and to truly value how fortunate we are in Canada. This is the gift they offered to us in exchange for ours, whether they are aware of it or not; and for it, we are deeply grateful.
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