Dwellings series are the outcome of my visits to Pedregal, a small town located at the foot of the Sierra of Coro in Venezuela between 1985 and 1987.
I first visited Pedregal as part of a team of architecture students commissioned to do blueprints, drawings and photographs of the rich architectural heritage of the village. I got fascinated. Pedregal reminded me so much of Juan Rulfo’s ”The Plain in Flames” stories.
How had its inhabitants managed to survive in such precarious conditions?
Pedregal is located 40 kilometres away from the nearest road, with no running water, no jobs, very arid and hot weather; most houses were abandoned and falling apart. The only inhabitants were the elderly and children.
Where had the youth adults gone?
Why ”If God will” seemed mandatory ahead of any life statement? I had to find the answers
When ended the architecture project, my own project started. These people generously opened the doors of their dwellings to hosting and feeding. Living among them I witnessed they struggles and get to know their inner voice and driven force.
In a certain way, these series are a testimony of the rural life, a place where time seems suspended, and people surrendered to essential things to survive. Moreover, it reflects those daily decisions that address our actual existence: to fight for life or let us die. People and their items are revealed in the centre of the battle between light and shadows in their dwellings, in their inner selves.
Mirna Chacin, July 2020
I first visited Pedregal as part of a team of architecture students commissioned to do blueprints, drawings and photographs of the rich architectural heritage of the village. I got fascinated. Pedregal reminded me so much of Juan Rulfo’s ”The Plain in Flames” stories.
How had its inhabitants managed to survive in such precarious conditions?
Pedregal is located 40 kilometres away from the nearest road, with no running water, no jobs, very arid and hot weather; most houses were abandoned and falling apart. The only inhabitants were the elderly and children.
Where had the youth adults gone?
Why ”If God will” seemed mandatory ahead of any life statement? I had to find the answers
When ended the architecture project, my own project started. These people generously opened the doors of their dwellings to hosting and feeding. Living among them I witnessed they struggles and get to know their inner voice and driven force.
In a certain way, these series are a testimony of the rural life, a place where time seems suspended, and people surrendered to essential things to survive. Moreover, it reflects those daily decisions that address our actual existence: to fight for life or let us die. People and their items are revealed in the centre of the battle between light and shadows in their dwellings, in their inner selves.
Mirna Chacin, July 2020
