La Guasasa is a rural neighborhood located in the Palmarito Valley, within Cuba’s Viñales region. Despite its proximity to a well-known tourist area, the community remains economically marginalized, with precarious housing, limited infrastructure, and high exposure to environmental risks.

More frequent and intense hurricanes have left homes increasingly vulnerable. Many have already been declared unsafe due to structural damage or collapse. Most dwellings are built informally, using fragile materials and without technical guidance, making them highly exposed to future extreme weather events. At the same time, Cuba’s ongoing economic crisis has made access to construction materials nearly impossible, forcing families to rely on improvised, short-term solutions that prioritize survival over durability.

Rural-to-urban migration continue to draw younger generations away, limiting the transmission of traditional building knowledge. This, along with environmental threats and material scarcity, has led to the disappearance of safer and context-sensitive construction techniques.

In response, this project proposes a comprehensive strategy: to revitalize vernacular knowledge, introduce safer and climate-adapted building methods, and promote the use of locally sourced, resilient materials. Through community-led learning and collective action, it aims to strengthen both the resilience and the long-term autonomy of those who build and inhabit.

The project strengthens the long-term development capacity of the community by combining practical training, material innovation, and cultural recovery. Through hands-on learning and collaboration, it enables local residents to acquire technical skills in safe, sustainable, and climate-adapted construction. These skills are transferable, allowing participants to improve their homes, support neighbors, and access job opportunities in a context of economic crisis.

By promoting the use of locally sourced, low-impact materials—especially earth-based techniques adapted to the Cuban context—the project reduces reliance on costly, often unavailable industrial options. This fosters autonomy and ecological balance while offering a replicable model for other rural areas.

Qualitatively, the initiative reinforces social cohesion and self-determination. Community participation from design to construction builds collective responsibility and local pride. It values traditional knowledge, linking generations and strengthening cultural identity.

Quantitatively, the first phase aims to support 8 homes in total collapse and 10 in partial collapse. The school-workshop hosts up to 10 students per specialty to ensure quality training, while offering general workshops open to the broader community. Its long-term impact lies in building local capacity, reducing vulnerability, and enabling effective responses to environmental and social challenges.

The project is led by two core teams: Asociación Erentia (Spain) and MLC (Cuba), all trained as architects and fully involved in the design and development of the initiative. Alejandra and Anabel, from Asociación Erentia, studied architecture together in Spain. Similarly, MLC—composed of Manuel, Leonardo, and Carlos—formed their collective during their studies in Havana.

The teams met during the early stages of the project in Cuba, through a mutual contact leading an earth construction workshop in Havana. This encounter revealed their complementary strengths and marked the beginning of a close collaboration rooted in shared values and mutual support.

Alejandra leads the institutional and strategic coordination of the project. As founder and CEO of Erentia, she brings solid experience in project direction and coordination, in addition to having worked in several renowned international architecture firms. Anabel focuses on production and logistics. Her background includes hands-on community construction projects centered on sustainability, material reuse, and participatory processes, supported by her urban planning studies.

MLC specializes in earthen construction and has led workshops across Cuba with other collectives and local communities. As young professionals, they seek sustainable alternatives adapted to the Cuban context that allow them to develop their practice responsibly and collaboratively. The project has been featured in ArchDaily, Tectónica, and Amazing Architecture.