Metropolitan Design Center 2006 Undergraduate Travel Fellowship : Jorge Salcedo

Jorge Salcedo, Undergraduate, College of Design, 2006 Metropolitan Design Center Undergraduate Travel Fellowship Recipient.

The purpose of this fellowship was to study an urban issue in another country to assist in reflecting on this issue as it exists at home through comparison, contrast and transferable lessons. College of Design Undergraduate Jorge Salcedo chose to conduct his research in Honduras, on the topic of affordable housing and homelessness or precarious living conditions. Salcedo spent three months in Honduras looking at design solutions to unsafe or inadequate living conditions and affordable housing. He conducted his research in and around the capital city of Tegucigalpa, documenting living conditions and urban developments and interviewing housing professionals and individuals in varied housing situations.

Although the Twin Cities’ urban context is vastly different from that of Tegucigalpa, a transferable lesson from this experience is the need to provide housing that takes a holistic approach to the needs of a community. One excellent example found in Honduras was a community development called Nueva Esperanza (New Hope). This project aimed at building a community, not simply a group of houses, and addressed issues such as distance from the urban center by supporting small business ventures that could develop a strong foundation within the community. This integral approach to community development also had programs focused on education, health care and water sanitation.

In the pursuits of architecture and urban design, individuals should be the primary motivation behind any project, but they are often overlooked. In doing the research, Salcedo took a number of photos of the individuals that were interviewed, some of which are included in the downloads. These Hondurans graciously opened their hearts and homes, and shared their stories during this summer in Tegucigalpa. Their very personal and sometimes tragic experiences and circumstances describe poignantly their strength and willpower to confront the enormous economic, political and natural obstacles in their lives.

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