Eva Rodriguez

Garbage is not the only way: Creating Alternative Paths for the Youth in the Crematorio of Tegucigalpa, Honduras

CENTRO APRENDER HACIENDO

This thesis research addresses the issues of dignity, well-being, and development of the community that works and lives in the garbage dump,Crematorio Municipal, in the Distrito Central, Honduras. As a person born and raised in the capital city of Honduras, Tegucigalpa, my thesis research focuses on this area, as I have always been interested in bringing social justice to my community through architecture.
Honduras is a country where violence, drug trafficking, and corruption are commonplace. Every day the situation of poverty intensifies and more people work in informal jobs trying to subsist. At the municipal garbage dump,the Crematorio, a community of approximately 1000 adults and 300 children struggle every day to survive by scavenging through the garbage, looking for recyclable materials such as cardboard and plastic bottles, so they can sell them at the nearest recycling center.
This study focuses specifically on this vulnerable and forgotten community, where they work and live in inhumane conditions. The research will explore the city’s garbage management and the recycling processes, bringing a sense of understanding of the system. In the specific site examined in this study, re-imagining garbage as a source of opportunity and not simply waste, will be one of the topics of interest in this investigation. Learning from the community that lives and works at the Crematorio in the way they have managed to subsist in this challenging environment, is one of the main objectives of this investigation. This investigation will conclude with a carefully designed architectural proposal, that creates new opportunities for this community, empowers individual residents and affirms their own identity.