While some societies face problems of crime and gang violence and are looking into different solutions, very little research exists on what community and architectural design and building can contribute to the reconstruction of the social fabric. This text explores how various elements and factors of architecture can be applied to reduce crime and gang violence activity in a city. By studying several manifestos and classic writings, this study will inquire the moral factor within architecture, the use of local materials and vernacular techniques, the definition of an architectural program that heals and the use of the members of the community hands for the construction of a building, the feel belonging and the ownership of a piece of architecture. La Libertad, El Salvador has been used as the place to put this into practice, being in the top most violent cities in the nation. The initiative of the architect to use the cities resources, such as bamboo as material to boost the economy through the architecture is explored to measure the impact in numbers by reducing rates of crime and gang activity in the city. / Master of Architecture / El Puerto de La Libertad in El Salvador is one of the best destinations in Central America for surfing with its great swells of waves and beautiful beaches. But there is a consistent tone within the visitors and residents’ comments about the city: they don’t feel as safe as they want to. The issue of insecurity and gang violence steadily increased after the Civil War in El Salvador ended in 1992. So, there have been different nation and city plans to mitigate the problem since then, but none has really aimed to inclusivity, most of them have been focused on fighting it with violence. My thesis seeks answers within architecture to help alleviate gang violence in the city of Puerto, through the design and development of a city master plan that connects different facilities centered in the farming, harvesting and use of bamboo for construction, furniture making and crafting. This will allow a boost in the town’s economy and the reconstruction of the social fabric. Finally joining the beauty of the blue of the ocean and the sky, with local materials and the hands of the members of the community for the design — and potentially building— of the Surfing Youth Center.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/91449 |
| Date | 14 July 2019 |
| Creators | Rodriguez Aguilar, Mario Ernesto |
| Contributors | Architecture, Piedmont-Palladino, Susan C., Lever, David G., Emmons, Paul F. |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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