丨委内瑞拉加拉加斯丨Taller Social Nacional

San Blas Social Action Center

Caracas, Venezuela

GC2022 finalist

Location: Caracas, Venezuela

Category: meeting place

Phase: construction preparation

In San Blas - Petare, one of the densest barrios conglomerates in the region, a process of gradual redefinition occurs, through a network of actions led by the social organization Uniendo Voluntades, which transform and self-manage spaces for the collective use. To this process, during the years 2021 and 2022, with the support of the Taller Social Nacional, the transformation of a local clandestine dump into a Social Action Center has begun.

Project leader: Taller Social Nacional

What is still needed to proceed?

Finance Still 100% of € 16,912

Skills Stuff Hands Support The project

Updates (1) What’s needed? Project Updates Needs

Introduction

The San Blas Social Action Center (NAS - SB acronym in Spanish) proposes a co - production process to be developed in four phases: the first, opens and takes over the place, evidencing the need to clean up and resolve a public health situation generated by the accumulation of human waste; the second, gives initial shape to a programmable meeting place linked to the street, consolidating a new public component to the sector; the third, gains functionality by expanding its programmatic and productive capacity and adding an energy efficiency system; Lastly, the fourth phase, it is expanded to its maximum building capacity to integrate into the child care dynamics of the adjoining educational institution. The description above is the process of a territory in constant transformation, where a place in transition is always a Center of Social Action.

Impact

San Blas - Social Action Center (SB-SAC) will contribute significantly to the redefinition of San Blas. From an environmental point of view, the SB-SAC initiates a different environmental relationship for this community, due to the action initiated and completed (phase 01) in the sanitation of 50 m2 of a garbage and sewage dump, towards a space for the public and community; In this sense, an act of urban resilience, which has a coherent continuity in the rest of the programmatic components that it has been decided to develop, to value ecosystem services. From a social point of view, the project aims to produce lasting changes in the community as a result of the execution of each of its four stages and actions. Although this project, in quantitative terms, will provide the sector with a 50mts2 Pocket Square (phase 02) due to insufficient public space, it will impact directly to 223 seniors, 37 young artists, 116 single mothers, and 170 pre-school children. In qualitative terms, it will have a much more complete impact in terms of its programmatic diversity through the capacity for social cohesion and exchange that it generates.

Another expected impact in this case, indirect, is its replicability in other sectors of the barrio, adjusted to the particularities of each context, expanding the impact area through a network of Social Action Centers that expand complementarity, comprehensiveness, and multisectoral among different sectors of the barrio.

Core team

In the city of Caracas, once a year, an event called Calvario a Puertas Abiertas is held, in which projects like this are presented. At said event, Gabriel Visconti (exhibitor) met Katiuska Camargo (Uniendo Voluntades); She showed interest in the exhibition, and approached Gabriel to tell him about what was taking place in San Blas, she invited him to get to know the sector, and from this Uniendo Voluntades and people close to Gabriel began to make proposals.

Uniendo Voluntades team:

Andreina Díaz. Delma Camargo. Eilyn Gutiérrez. Esteban Ruíz. Harrison Castro. Johanna Berrio Katiuska Camargo María Perera. Silvana Aguirre.

Taller Social Nacional team:

Angélica Navarro. Gabriel Visconti Stopello. Khian Gómez. Manuel Morales. María Ramirez. Michelle Isoldi. Miguel Martinez. Nelifred Maurera. Pamela Elizalde. Ricardo Hernandez Ledda.

Image gallery

Technical drawings

Help bring our project to life!

Finance: Still 100% of € 16,912 Support

Stuff: Materials Support

Stuff: Equipment & tools Support

Community agreements! We are excited to announce that the meetings to shape the agreements that will allow coexistence in the urban space of San Blas has started.

We are the San Blas social action team!

Help bring our project to life!

Finance: Still 100% of € 16,912 Support

Stuff: Materials Support

Stuff: Equipment & tools Support

Where are we now

We have completed phase 1 of the project, with an investment of USD$ 5,200.00 which is close to 12% of the total project UDS$ 44,665.50. The phase involves the sanitation of the lot since it was a clandestine dump waste disposal contaminated by sewage, being a problem for public health. Simultaneously, several participatory design workshops have been held to define the project and a community mapping to identify the human resources available to achieve the different activities of each phase.

An indication of our team’s capacity:

12% funding already raised

100% expertise already found

100% builders already found

Finance: € 16,912

With the financial support we will complete phase 2 of the project, named Pocket Square, this meets a set of conditions for the development of public life in San Blas: (1) a place for free appropriation due to insufficient public space in the area, which will impact 1732 direct inhabitants; (2) a Communication Board that will provide information on waste collection and/or recycling schedules (already started) by the municipal public service and alternative programs that have been created as an economic opportunity; (3) the foundations are laid for the development of future phases (sanitary, electrical installations, and structural foundation), to produce lasting changes in the community.

metal carpentry 6,647

bricklaying 3,244

electrical installation 392

coatings 5,188

sanitation 1,441

Stuff: Materials, Equipment & tools

In the image attached, are described the necessary materials to carry out each of the essential activities to execute phase 2. The amounts reflected in the budget correspond to amounts agreed with local suppliers of the workforce, equipment, and materials so that the opportunity financing of the project positively impacts the local economy.

It will also be possible to observe the activities and amounts that correspond to other phases of the project for their different levels of consolidation, namely, Multipurpose room + Conuco and Dining room + Classroom (phases 03 and 04).

Help bring our project to life!

Finance: Still 100% of € 16,912 Support

Stuff: Materials Support

Stuff: Equipment & tools Support