Green Lodge

Chan Chan City, Peru

On the coastal side of Trujillo in Perú, you can find the old abandoned city of the Chimú (900-1400 AC) culture, an impressive site of just twenty square kilometer. It’s a dusty place, which is being rebuilt and looks like a Hollywood stage surrounded by enormous ancient walls. If you’re lucky, you can see some reminders of the original Chimú sculptures. You can take a tour of the city or go by yourself in a local bus. I recommend the latter, because it’s a very atypical experience that you won’t forget easily. [Photos by Jessica Parra Nowajewski] Read more

The canyons of Peru

One of the deepest canyons in the world is located six hours away from Arequipa. This amazing Peruvian landscape offers you old villages, terrace cropping, condor birds, and a surprising oasis near the Colca river. The best tour option is three days trekking downwards and then climbing more than 1,200 meters in three hours from 2,100 feet over sea level. Or you can always do it by yourself without taking a tour. Just ask the locals for information. [Photos by Jessica Parra Nowajewski] Read more

Women’s soccer in Peru

The first annual National Soccer Championship for Women of Rural Organizations took place in Peru at Miguel Grau de Callao stadium in 2007. Fourteen teams from different cities were part of this championship, including Ayacucho, Ancash, Apurimac, Arequipa, Cusco, Huancavelica, Huanuco, Puno, La Libertad, Cajamarca, Junin and Lima. The team, the Downpour of Cajamarca, ultimately won the tournament, defeating Amazonas 4-0. Read more

Floating House

This house has many facets that make it an intriguing example. First of all, it is a very aesthetically pleasing project with the use of light horizontal timbers and a clean pitched roof. Designed by MOS, an interesting design collective based in America, the secret to the Floating House is that it floats on a structure of steel pontoons. The house rises and falls with the changing waters and is frozen in place depending on the season. The steel pontoons were constructed first and towed to the lake outside the contractor’s factory and then the house was built atop of it. When finished it was towed to its position, anchored and enjoyed in its unique position. Finally, it forms a bridge between the land and an island. Wonderful!

Torre Bicentenario

Dutch uber-firm OMA, headed by Rem Koolhaas, has created this concept in Mexico City to symbolize the coming two hundred years of Mexico’s independence. There are many layers of symbolism in this building, from Mayan pyramids to which part of the building controls the park and which part controls the city, to the fact that the bulge of the building is below the centre height, and that it all happens on a relatively small footprint. Most of all, in this building there is a barely contained energy that seems near to release and it may be that this is what Torre Bicentenario represents.

Danish Building Bridge

The Danes are renowned for their considered and subtle design. However, in these times of change, they must feel they need something with this selection of a bridge building as the winner of a recent architectural competition in Denmark. The American architect Steven Holl designed this building with a pedestrian bridge that links two sides of the harbour in the distinctly low-rise Copenhagen. Read more