Teddy Cruz: Cruisin' the Border between North and South America

by Stephanie Koltun

Teddy Cruz is an architect focused on using neighbourhoods bordering North and South America as urban laboratories for new forms of developments. InfoSite is a physical manifestation of one of these experiments.

InfoSite development ^[1]

InfoSite is about recycling structures in San Diego by repurposing them in Tijuana, Mexico for housing. In an interview with ICON Magazine, Cruz said, “Waste goes south.” ^[2] With this in mind, Cruz creates life on either side of the border. A house is to be inhabited for three months in downtown San Diego before being transported to a neighbourhood in Tijuana. Once moved to Tijuana, the house’s skeleton will remain the same but its use and function will become entirely altered by its new residents and context.

Cruz’s project challenges the conventional method of urban development. InfoSite proposes nomadic developments to replace this. This solution makes use of existing structures - a tactic that could be implemented internationally. Take unused or inadequately used housing in the developed and affluent world to provide much-needed housing in densely populated, often poor areas.

The project is not just a comment on the repurposing of structures but also addresses issues of zoning and land use. How does the issue of zoning come into play when faced with subsistent urbanism? Is there a need for designated land use when the major concern at stake is survival?

However, do nomadic developments diminish the culture of the receiving people? Does the moved building impose itself on its new inhabitants and carry with it only the way of life previously living? The transfer of buildings from one cultural niche to another does not imply respect of these separate cultures.

Perhaps the only way to survive in subsistent urbanism is by rethinking how to live. It is no longer about aesthetics and how to adapt technology to those desires. Rather than designing for a specific client living in a specific scenario, build frameworks for developments that can be adapted as they are moved. As Cruz stated again in the interview with ICON Magazine, housing should be considered “not as units thrown on the landscape, but strategically and politically about density and social structure.” ^[3]

Footnotes:

1. Teddy Cruz, "World Architects: estudio Teddy Cruz Details,"

http://www.world-architects.com/index.php?seite=ca_project_details_us&system_id=18115&profile_sprache=us (accessed November 3, 2009.)

2. Beatrice Galilee, "Estudio Teddy Cruz," ICON Magazine, November 2008,

http://www.iconeye.com/index.php?view=article&catid=421&id=3835&option=com_content (accessed November 3, 2009.)

3. Ibid.

Information Sources:

Cruz, Teddy. "World Architects: estudio Teddy Cruz Details."

http://www.world-architects.com/index.php?seite=ca_project_details_us&system_id=18115&profile_sprache=us (accessed November 3, 2009.)

Galilee, Beatrice. "Teddy Cruz." ICON Magazine. October 2008.

http://www.iconeye.com/index.php?view=article&catid=420&id=3756&option=com_content (accessed November 3, 2009.)

Galilee, Beatrice. "Estudio Teddy Cruz." ICON Magazine. November 2008.

http://www.iconeye.com/index.php?view=article&catid=421&id=3835&option=com_content (accessed November 3, 2009.)

McKeough, Tim. "Shantytown, U.S.A." Good Magazine. January 4 2009.

http://www.good.is/post/shantytown-usa/ (accessed November 3, 2009.)

Ouroussoff, Nicolai. "Shantytowns as a New Suburban Ideal." The New York Times. March 12, 2006.

http://51.calpoly.edu/news-events/documents/news0506-documents/Shantytowns.pdf (accessed 3 November 2009.)

The Envirolet

The company Sancor has created a series of Envirolet Waterless Self-Contained toilets in which waste is reduced through evaporation and composting.

The Envirolet

It is constructed from polyethelyne plastic, and requires no water or external plumbing. Out of the three models, one requires no power, another uses a battery, and the third runs on electrical energy.

The aerator system

The Envirolet employs a 2-fan aerator system in which a large volute of air is circulated at a high rate around the aeration basket. Evaporation occurs naturally through the venting system but is accelerated because of the aerator mechanics. This, with the help of mechanical mulcherators, aerobic microbes and garden peat moss sanitize the wet waste. Any leftover organic material can be composted.

The Envirolet is a complex piece of technology disguising the method of digging a hole in the ground and doing one's business completely au naturel. With a lack of infrastructure, perhaps this is a manner in which to maintain dignity and refinement. Furthermore, the Envirolet provides a solution to disposing of wet waste in places where there is no plumbing, and even places without electricity.

-Stephanie Koltun

Sources:

Envirolet, Product Description. (Accessed 2 November 2009.)

Envirolet, FAQs. (Accessed 2 November 2009.)

Envirolet, The Science and Technology. (Accessed 2 November 2009.)

Azure, May 2007. Product review