February 29, 2008, Architecture students join forces with Casita Linda, By Glenda Robinson, Congratulations to Dr. Maxwell & Family, Immigration Conference, Jovenes Adelante recruits new student mentors, By Amanda K. Ruiz, Florence van der Kemp, art leader, By Joseph E Persico

A little more than a year ago, Rhode Island School of Design professor Silvia Acosta was in San Miguel, wrapping up her popular five–week “Wintersession” course on Mexican design.

A Cuban-born, Harvard-trained architect, she had been shepherding a group of graduate students around Mexico—to Chiapas, Oaxaca, Mexico City, and finally San Miguel—helping them appreciate the aesthetic of Mexico’s buildings, art, crafts and way of life.

In a rare moment of down time, Silvia picked up a copy of Atención and was immediately struck by a story on Casita Linda and its mission to build low-cost homes for the poor. What would happen, she wondered, if in 2008 her students spent their entire course in San Miguel, working with Casita Linda on the challenge of housing Mexico’s rural population? Excited by this idea, she returned to Rhode Island, got permission from the university and dashed off a letter to Casita Linda.

Thirteen months later, I was in Ejido de Tirado, a rural community without running water or electricity, just across the libramiento from Independencia, fifteen minutes—and several light years—away from Centro.

It was Thursday afternoon, and 14 young people, tanned from the sun and covered in dust, were digging, watering and scraping. In the middle of this hive of activity stood a shapely 320-square-foot house that these kids designed and built in only three weeks, using everything-old-is-new-again adobe bricks. In a little more than 24 hours they would be on an airplane…and they hustled to finish their creation.

“We didn’t come here intending to build a house of adobe,” Acosta told me, shielding her eyes from the sun with her hand. “We came here to use our training to ask questions and see if we could be of service. But it began to strike us that there might be an alternative to the typical rural structures of brick and concrete. Adobe has better thermal properties, is more flexible to build with and even costs less.”

Working out of an impromptu studio in the former monks’ chambers of the San Francisco Church, Sylvia and her class built one model, then another and finally settled on a graceful arching design with a generous sleeping loft. They found a source for adobe bricks in a local factory, teamed up with a core group of Casita Linda volunteers, graded the lot and went to work.

The irony of using adobe was not lost on the RISD students. Jessica Martin and Chelsea Limbird wrote, “Tradition remembers adobe as a trans-class building material, used to build the barrel vaults and lofty interiors of the ruling elite’s haciendas and the building method of the rural poor.... But this craft, once as fundamental to Mexican culture as growing corn, is now alive only in the memory of the elderly.”

They went on to note that if you happen upon a stack of adobe bricks today, chances are they are bound for a grand new house built by expats hungering for authenticity, not a home built by rural Mexicans, who view concrete and brick as progress and adobe as backward.

“We at Casita Linda are thrilled by the way this house has taken shape,” said Executive Director Jean Gerber. “Imagine what it would be like to empower an entire community to make its own building materials out of the soil that is all around them. It would be awesome.”

I chatted with the students as they took their lunch break. Amy was on track to be an urban planner. Josh was interested in residential design. Seth was considering a Ph.D. in architectural history. There didn’t appear to be a third-world reformer in the bunch. They came to San Miguel from one of the most prestigious architecture schools in the US, expecting to engage in yet another hypothetical design exercise, a staple of their curriculum. Instead, they found themselves in the middle of a “mind-bending, back-breaking” challenge, with dirt on their hands and sweat on their brows.

Building with adobe, they told me, was different from anything they had ever experienced. They learned to make arches, not exactly a staple of mainstream modern design. They found the adobe leading them, taking on a life of its own. They said their construction process was intuitive, totally outside the realm of AutoCAD modeling and load calculations.

And along the way, they said, they learned a great deal about the power of architecture to improve the lives of disadvantaged people.

Acosta told me how proud she was that this group of intelligent, strong-willed individuals had been able to collaborate so effectively. I asked them how they did it. “Well, we did get into some heated debates—about how tall the front door should be, or how deep a buttress should be, or where we should put the kitchen. But when we got stuck, we just went and talked with the family.”

The recipient family headed by Sra. Maria, along with her husband Miguel and nine children, will live in this newest Casita Linda home. Maria said she likes adobe because it is both “linda” and “caliente.”

Early in the project, Acosta had asked each of Maria’s children to draw a picture of what they thought their new house was going to look like, and we studied their artwork spread out on the hood of a truck. One drawing depicted a wildly colorful house next to a pond with ducks swimming in it. Slowly the children came over, each pointing out his or her masterpiece.

Fourteen tired but happy students and Professor Acosta have begun a new semester. They are producing a step-by-step instruction manual—in Spanish, with pricing and heavy on visuals—for making adobe bricks and replicating their house. In May they will mount a gallery show at the Rhode Island School of Design. It will include photos, samples of materials, technical illustrations, their final architectural model and an exuberant drawing of a house next to a duck pond.

RISD architecture graduate students Amy Arguedas, Laura Blosser, Roselle Curwen, Cassandra D’Alessandro, Joshua Fiedler, Avi Forman, Chelsea Limbird, Jessica Martin, Casey Ramirez, Elizabeth Snow, Ryo Tsutsui, Romina Olivera-Zuniga, Damir Vukovljak and Seth Wiseman are the proud parents of the latest Casita Linda house. For more information about this local nonprofit, go to www.casitalinda.org.

Glenda Robinson lives in San Miguel with her musician husband and three hounds.

Congratulations to Dr. Roberto Maxwell and his wife, Laura Lopez de Maxwell, on the birth of their beautiful twins, Mauricio and Rodrigo.

Immigration Conference

Thu, Mar 6, 10am–noon
Teatro Santa Ana
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25

The legalities of living, doing business and even driving in Mexico can be extremely confusing. To address some of the many questions a special presentation by government authorities to explain requisites and regulations on immigration, taxes and car registrations is scheduled for next week. Special presenter will be the delegado Alejandro Salas.

The event is a collaborative effort with Fabiola Garcia of city International Relations, the Biblioteca Pública and Atención.

Photo caption: Electronics and automation student Javier Tovar Rubio in his final year at the Universidad Tecnico de Querétaro, with his Jovenes Adelante mentor Pat Harding.

Jovenes Adelante, A.C. kicks off its 2008 campaign to recruit new volunteer mentors for local university students at the Volunteer Fair at the Biblioteca on February 29 and March 1, where volunteers will be available to answer questions about the organization’s Mentoring Program.

Founded in 2001, Jovenes Adelante currently provides scholarships to 42 local students in 16 universities throughout Mexico, and boasts 10 graduates working in their chosen professions, including law, chemical engineering, accounting and education.

The success of the nonprofit’s goal of helping local students successfully enter the work force in Mexico has been in part due to the hands-on approach taken by its volunteers. A formal Mentoring Program was initiated to ensure individual attention with one-on-one support for each student.

“The value of a mentor starts with being able to maintain regular contact with their student so that we can be aware of any issues that threaten to derail the student’s success,” explains vice president Pat Harding. Mentors have been able to identify roadblocks facing the students, such as lack of computers and need for English tutoring, which the organization has then been able to address to help “level the playing field” for their students, she said.

“Mentors offers examples and encouragement for the students to enable them to succeed in work and life, instilling in them the belief that they can exceed their own expectations and in fact, achieve things they cannot yet imagine,” said Harding.

By building an individual relationship with a bright and talented student, mentors help enable their students to achieve their dreams. “Success for these students requires not only passing exams and graduating, but imagining the possibilities with few, if any, role models,” said Harding. “Without career role models, it is a significant hurdle to grow beyond being a top-notch student to launching a successful career. Mentors help reduce that hurdle to a speed bump.”

The program is approaching its goal of adding 25 new students this year and with that comes the necessity of recruiting 25 new mentors, who are matched with students based on interests, career paths and language ability. Mentors meet with their student once a month, share in their successes, help solve any challenges and submit a monthly update on their student’s progress. An orientation meeting for new mentors is held in July and mentors meet their students in August.

For more information, email jovenesadelante@gmail.com.

San Miguel de Allende has long been home to a grand dame from the world of art. Florence van der Kemp, who recently passed away, was with her late husband, Gerald the driving force in the post-World War II restoration of Versailles and the impressionist Claude Monet’s villa at Giverny.

She was stricken at her San Miguel home and flown to New York where she died on February 11 at the age of 94.

Repeatedly described by friends as a “story book character,” Florence van der Kemp married Gerald van der Kemp, curator of the Palace of Versailles, which was a shambles after the war. The couple raised nearly US$70 million to restore this architectural treasure and lived there for 35 years. As described in the News and Observer, “Florence van der Kemp grew famous for charming the powerful into helping her causes.” Among those whose financial support she won were cosmetics magnate Estee Lauder, John D. Rockefeller and the Wildenstein family of art dealers.

Monet’s home at Giverny was another cultural crusade the van der Kemps took on after the war. The dilapidated home and overgrown gardens were restored to their original grace and splendor through another US$14 million the couple raised. They then personally oversaw the restoration of Giverny which currently draws nearly 500,000 visitors annually. One art critic described the van der Kemps as “the spiritual and physical heart of the restoration of Giverny.” Of the lavish fundraisers the van der Kemps hosted to support their causes, The New York Times noted that they were attended, “by anyone who ever owned a sequin.” Florence continued to support the arts to the end of her life, sponsoring internships at Giverny that included young people from San Miguel.

Florence van der Kemp was born in 1914, the daughter of Rear Admiral Frederic R. Harris of Washington, DC. She went to live in France where she met Gerald, who was himself a legendary figure. Along with his prominence in the art world, he fought in the French army in World War II, was taken prisoner and escaped to Chateau de Valencay where the art treasures of the Louvre were hidden.

Along with their homes in Paris and New York, the van der Kemps were drawn to San Miguel where Florence spent a large part of her life for the past 25 years. Her circle of friends was wide and entertainments at her home on calle Chiquitos drew figures from the worlds of art, business, literature and diplomacy. Her style remained effervescent and irrepressible to the end. Explaining her long, adventurous life she once commented, “I never smoked, drank only red wine and had only five lovers, including my three husbands.” Her long-time friend, prominent local businesswoman Dotty Vidargas said of her, “Florence was remarkable. She kept up her fast pace right to the end.” Another close friend, Anita Bleyleben noted, “Her passing marks the end of a San Miguel era, maybe several eras.”

Florence van der Kemp is survived by two daughters Roberta Sandemann and Barbara de Portago, a son Henrik Schlubach, two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. A memorial service is being planned for her in San Miguel.

Joseph E. Persico, author of several biographies and histories and a forthcoming book on the women prominent in the life of Franklin D. Roosevelt, is a long-time, part-time, resident of San Miguel.