Book Review: A New Indigenous University in the Rainforest in Colombia (2020). Studio Lacaton & Vassal and ETH D-ARCH

Abstract

A new indigenous university in the Colombian forest is the title of this work, published in 2020 by Studio Lacaton & Vassal and ETH D-ARCH. The book presents extensive visual documentation and a textual chronicle of the project to build an indigenous university in Putumayo. The publication recounts the beginnings of the project, the participants and provides reflections on the encounters. One of the main contributions in the book is made by the artist Ursula Biemann, from Devenir Universidad. She was the one who made the various contacts possible, after having made an expedition in the Colombian Amazon and having met and got to know the Inga culture. The book also presents the visions and proposals on the essential characteristics of the Inga University, which allows the construction of a first conceptual basis for the project. This document is the result of a collaboration agreement between the Polytechnic University of Zurich, Switzerland (ETH), the Department of Architecture and the Pontificia Javeriana University, Colombia with representatives of the Inga community of Putumayo.