Spaces of arrival : swamp as a terrain of contestation in Cartagena, Colombia

This project delves into the aqueous terrain where the arrival of people and water coalesce. Specifically, it explores the shifting landscape of the Virgen Swamp, in the coastal city of Cartagena, Colombia, where there is friction between flows of urban occupation and ecological flows. This friction is most noticeable in the 4km south border where urban occupation has taken over a fringe of approximately 80 meters of what used to be water. This water-people relationship is dialectical; urban occupation triggers the swamp to resist with floods, erosion and contamination. The city of Cartagena is full of stories of displacement and contestation with physical manifestations in the border of the swamp. Arrival neighborhoods at the border face a situation of simultaneous uncertain citizenship and ecologic vulnerability. The mangrove forest bordering the Virgen Swamp has been considered wasteland, and thus a place to be reclaimed by immigrants who find no other space in the city.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Architecture

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• Baena, Andrea,

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Cristina Parreño and Roi Salgueiro Barrio.

• Architecture.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/121864

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/121864