The notions of shelter and habitat discussed by Colombian architect and artist Ana Maria Gutiérrez during her Summit 2023 presentation are explored through Casa del Pensamiento, or the House of Thought, which she and her team at the Fundación Organizmo — the NGO she founded 15 years ago—constructed based on a concept found in many different rural communities in Colombia.

The team constructed this interpretation of a traditional ceremonial dwelling using bamboo, becoming weavers rather than builders to create its organic toroid shape. This process formed part of a wider learning experience, through which they aim to recognize the origins of ecosystems and culture, and to better understand that “architecture is about making visible the abundance of all languages,” Gutiérrez said.  

“Education is a framework that implies sharing and recognition of the other; voicing the territory of process-based approaches is the strongest quest of this path. Aiming to create this new paradigm as builders and designers around learning all concepts of ownership hierarchy, and misleading discourses of progress and evolution, may take us to a pilgrimage of recognition of origins where ecosystems and cultures can be our classrooms.”