E Studio ORO Editions

Country: Paraguay

University: School of Architecture, Design and Art. National University of Asunción.

Professors: Lukas Fúster, Sergio Ybarra, Guido Enrique Yambay.

Duration: 2018–20

Studio timeline: Design and development, three months; Construction; three weeks.

Students: Thirty students for each semester course.

Location of the projects: Asunción, Paraguay.

Donors and financial support: The projects are financed with contributions from the students through the sale of food and beverages, swaps, and donations of leftover materials.

E Studio arose from the initiative of four professors— Juanchi Giangreco, Lucho Elgue, Javier Corvalán, and Solano Benítez—who were looking for alternative teaching methods. This vertical course was planned as a seminar lasting the entire degree course, emphasizing different aspects of the architectural project in each semester. During the years 2018, 2019, and 2020, with a group of thirty students in each course, professors Lukas Fúster, Sergio Ybarra, and Guido Yambay led the third semester of the seminar, focusing on the study of structures in architecture and their tectonic and formal qualities. Initially, they built large models in concrete, wood, and spaghetti that were subjected to load tests. Subsequently, they gathered funds and materials to construct small-format buildings for the benefit of the university community.

Each semester, the students worked in ten groups, securing resources, defining relevant programs, and de- signing projects with different materials and structural qualities. After evaluating various options, they chose the best proposal to develop collaboratively, dividing up the different functions: budgeting, purchases, details, construction, etc. The constructions were carried out intensely over a period of three weeks, and are a subtle balance between the abstraction required to understand the structural and constructive implications at stake, and the desire to connect the project with the university context of the campus and the city.

This course emphasized not only architectural design, but also the importance of understanding that projects have technical, sustainable, and management aspects. This meant that the contact with donors and users, and with construction tools and materials, was decisive in the academic process followed by students and teachers.