ElNodo – Citizen Cultural Center
ATTENTION: THIS PROJECT IS THE RESULT OF A COLLABORATIVE PROCESS BETWEEN CTRL+Z AND DIFFERENT AGENTS. FOR A CORRECT UNDERSTANDING, I INVITE YOU TO LEARN ABOUT THE OTHER SUBJECTS DIRECTLY INVOLVED: AC EL NODO (SALTILLO), LAMATRAKA (SEVILLA), STRADDLE3, (BARCELONA).
The cultural center laTren / elNodo
laTren / elNodo is a facility for training and cultural production that aims to be a mediating element between disintegrated, disconnected or marginalized neighborhoods in the city of Saltillo. It proposes a concept of a participatory center open to direct proposals from citizens, and therefore different from the traditional institutional cultural centers.
The centre is being developed in such a way that, in the processes of cultural construction and production, individuals and groups are the protagonists and that it is, more than a place of exhibition, a place of production where training and creativity programs arise from the concerns of the neighbours and citizens involved, thus promoting feelings of belonging and civic pride.
*The centre had different names, finally upon completion it was provisionally named “laTren”, but then it returned to being “elNodo” coinciding with the name of the cultural association that runs it.
*The centre had different names, finally upon completion it was provisionally named “laTren”, but then it returned to being “elNodo” coinciding with the name of the cultural association that runs it.
Background: 2009 the Forno CiudadX
The idea of the elNodo cultural facility began to take shape in August 2009 during the “Ciudad X” forum, organized by Fernando Carrera and in which I participated. Inspired by the experiences he had learned during his studies in Europe, Fernando wanted to bring sociocultural facilities to the marginal neighborhoods of his city, Saltillo. For this reason, he decided to bring together national and international experts in “Ciudad X” to discuss experiences of recovering industrial fabrics for their transformation into cultural facilities.
Alongside the forum, a 5-day practical workshop was organised to suggest proposals with students. Despite the brevity of this event, an atmosphere of enthusiasm was created among the participants and at the end the real possibility of carrying out the developed proposals was raised. This is how the germ of the cultural facility elNodo was born.
Back in Seville the enthusiasm remained alive and for the next six months we continued working, in constant contact with Fernando, to prepare a solid and concrete proposal.
Back in Seville the enthusiasm remained alive and for the next six months we continued working, in constant contact with Fernando, to prepare a solid and concrete proposal.
2010 Project and construction
In March 2010, I returned to Saltillo accompanied by other professionals to work with Fernando on the formation of a local team, initially composed mainly of university students, for the construction and future management of the physical and mental space of the cultural center. Fernando had begun to structure the initiative by forming the “Civil Association elNodo” whose main objective is to open spaces of opportunity in the most depressed areas of the city and with the highest rates of poverty, unemployment and lack of public spaces.
Finally, in July 2010, all the work produced bore fruit, with the transfer of the old Saltillo railway station, closed in 1997, and the support of Sedesol and Cemex.
ATTENTION: This short film was made as a collective as part of the 2nd Tren Documentary Workshop directed by Reginaldo Chapa.
From the very beginning, the elNodo team, of which we were a part, was aware that even more important than the construction of the physical space was the construction of the mental space. Creating a connected, participatory community that shared responsibility for the project was essential to successfully complete the work and, above all, to ensure that it was resilient and had the necessary skills to last over time beyond our presence. To this end, information sessions, group assemblies, work committees or support for joint projects were held, as well as a permanent office for consultations, proposals or meetings.
From these meetings elNodo was born, the ultimate goal of which is to provide the inhabitants of nearby neighborhoods and the cultural groups of Saltillo with the necessary tools for their independent production, providing permanent advice (logistical and economic) for their proposals.
Despite not having a physical space of its own, cultural activities began in June 2010 with free workshops and courses for young people from marginal neighborhoods and throughout the city, contributing to their training and integration. These workshops, in addition to working on specific needs in the process of creating the center, served as the first step in the implementation of relations with national and international citizen cultural entities, and with funding institutions. It is important to highlight that the different stages of the definition and implementation process were developed in the form of a workshop, thus leaving a wealth of knowledge that empowers citizens for the subsequent development of this and other projects.
At the end of this initial phase, Ctrl+Z remained in Saltillo to coordinate the construction phase with AC elNodo. Finally, during the months of November and December 2010, the first self-construction workshop was held, which was managed together with David from Straddle3 (while Jordi took care of the structures remotely) and has had the collaboration of NoSoloPaja for the carpentry modules and the social mediator Carlos Alejandro Espinoza “El Panda” for a better integration of the young people from the colonies near the center in the process.
People from very diverse backgrounds participated in the workshop, from residents of the colonies located around the center, including teenagers from the local gang environment, to students and young professionals. For the most complex and risky tasks, professionals from the area were involved.
The objective was to build a first facility (about 150 m2), the first step in a comprehensive project to restore the railway station and its surroundings for socio-cultural purposes.
The objective was to build a first facility (about 150 m2), the first step in a comprehensive project to restore the railway station and its surroundings for socio-cultural purposes.
Regarding the construction, although the fiber cement curtain walls were never installed, the interior temperature is pleasant even under the harsh sun of northern Mexico, confirming the validity of the proposed bioclimatic strategy.
This was based on a large central thermal mass (the concrete floor) and the vaulted roof. The former, being protected from direct sunlight, helps regulate and maintain a constant interior temperature, while the latter promotes air circulation and allows the warmest air to escape above the containers, where an effect of suction of the interior air is created.
In addition, the complex has been configured and oriented so that the sun alternately heats the different containers, so that there are always containers protected, either by their own shade or by the roof, or cooling down.
In December 2010, the facility was handed over to AC elNodo and the Saltillo groups (Acción Saltillo, La Caballeriza, Edufilm…) who finished the construction and started the sociocultural programme for which it was intended. Finally, on 18 July 2011, the official inauguration was held, prepared by the centre's groups and social workers.
The process as a whole received various supports, including financial support from Sedesol (Secretariat of Social Development, Federal Government), the provision of the railway station and contribution of materials by Kansas City Southern of Mexico, and logistical and in-kind support from Cemex. It is hoped that both the groups and institutions involved and the aid programs for the project can be expanded in the next phases.
The process as a whole received various supports, including financial support from Sedesol (Secretariat of Social Development, Federal Government), the provision of the railway station and contribution of materials by Kansas City Southern of Mexico, and logistical and in-kind support from Cemex. It is hoped that both the groups and institutions involved and the aid programs for the project can be expanded in the next phases.
It is very difficult to summarise a process that has been going on for almost twenty months, with various subjects, associations and institutions joining and leaving, and which is still very much alive after our return to Europe, being articulated and configured time and again. Each contribution, although punctual, must be considered fundamental within the framework of the global process. Below are the credits that refer to the period of our stay in Mexico, these do not refer to the current efforts that are being carried out successfully independently of us:
The independent cultural centre elNodo / laTren is an initiative promoted by the AC“elNodo” ( Fernando Carrera, Fernanda Zetina and later Gabriela Dávila ), designed by Ctrl+Z (GianLuca Stasi) and Straddle3 ( David Juarez ), with cultural development by lamatraKa ( Jaime Fernández ), and had the occasional collaboration of Manuel Rodríguez (Urbanista), Jordi Granada (Estructuras) and NoSoloPaja ( Michele Pecoraro ) for the self-construction on site, as well as the close collaboration of Acción Saltillo ( Lyj González ) and “El Panda” ( Alejandro Espinoza ) who developed the social mediation work and the external consultancies of Eduardo Vázquez and Santiago Cirugeda .
Its realization was possible thanks to the sponsorship of Sedesol, Kansas City Southern of Mexico and Cemex .
The help of different people is heartily appreciated. students, groups and local citizens: Raymundo Balderas, Esgar Vasquez, (architecture); Gonzalo Estrada, Daniel Osvaldo, Gamaliel Rivera, Daniel Rodriguez (design and audiovisual); The Stable (Talia Barredo), Edufilm (Jose Elizalde), Edux Art and Aids (Miguel Servin), Cultural Station Collective; Egeo Cisneros, Jessica Cerna, Bernardo Linares, Luis Mendive.
The team is currently managed by Fernando Carrera, Lyj and Angel González with the support of Sketch, Dart, Spicke, Crack, Frogi, Gabriela, Tezi and Dan.
Ctrl+Z I would personally and independently like to dedicate this project to “The Raji” Ruben Ruiz Soriano, friend, valuable companion and person of great social sensitivity.
2011 - 2014 Management and evolution
Once the facility was built, elNodo began to develop its function as a base camp for the physical recovery of its surroundings and the foundation of the mental space in a completely independent manner, creating collaborations and cross-cutting projects between groups to define and experiment with living together in the space and to create activities and workshops.
The cultural activities were very diverse and reflected the diversity of the elNodo population. The documentary, recycling, screen printing, gardening, urban art workshops, English and dance classes were proposed for ages ranging from children to housewives, with a particular focus on young people and adolescents, to create a space where all these activities coexist, promoting the dialogue that is lacking in contemporary society.
Those interested in learning about the upcoming activities and workshops can find them on the official elNodo website.
Over the years, various events related to urban art and sports have been organised, such as skateboarding or graffiti competitions, which have helped to attract more young people to the centre and have contact with its offerings, or other activities aimed at rehabilitating specific spaces such as the station's landscaped courtyard or graffiti on the side wall of the station.
For 2011 the objective was to equip the exterior areas and begin the rehabilitation of the station building as a whole, an independent socio-cultural architectural program, a cultural center, but above all the creation of guest residences based on the restoration of the small hotel that the station had, this being a fundamental tool for the development of a more varied cultural program, offering the possibility of hosting foreign teachers in their own facilities without having to face the costs of an external solution.
As in the first phase, the aim was to make the creation of the residences the pretext for the development of workshops, so that the various operations necessary for rehabilitation would allow them to advance in the training programme started with the first self-construction workshops, with direct advantages in the employment conditions of the young people involved.
elnodo latren cultural center architecture marginal peripheries
During 2012, the space outside the station began to be colonised to create a “Media Lab” on the ground floor, a space that can also be used as a classroom for other activities, and a recording centre built using ship containers on the upper floor, also used as a studio for broadcasting a neighbourhood radio station. In general, as reported on the official website, the philosophy of this new facility remains faithful to that of the initial project, being to “offer members the use of the space and tools to research, develop and produce their own projects”.
During 2012, the space outside the station began to be colonised to create a “Media Lab” on the ground floor, a space that can also be used as a classroom for other activities, and a recording centre built using ship containers on the upper floor, also used as a studio for broadcasting a neighbourhood radio station. In general, as reported on the official website, the philosophy of this new facility remains faithful to that of the initial project, being to “offer members the use of the space and tools to research, develop and produce their own projects”.
ATTENTION: This short film was made by Dan Rodriguez of Beast Films.
2015 Evaluation
Five years after the beginning of this fantastic adventure, we can look back and analyse the project with the necessary distance from the emotional processes that the process of creating the centre has involved.
Our work was focused on empowerment, providing the local team with tools aimed at developing a long-term process in the various aspects that comprised it.
For this reason, the main objective of the construction of the first facility, apart from providing the centre with a physical space, was to serve as a tool, a test bench, to learn and test preparatory work schemes for the implementation of a solid and lasting socio/cultural project and the creation of a mental space that revolved around the proposal. Its successful management and the completion of new construction phases completely independent of us, and with schemes that were partly different from those proposed for the first phase, endorse our work, demonstrating that it has empowered the local community, providing it with development and resilience, and not the dependency that often accompanies this type of process.
The news we receive is received with great satisfaction and undoubtedly exceeds expectations and the expected results. This is the fruit of the hard work that Fernando Carrera and the elNodo team have been doing over the years and which has earned them the attention and recognition of different institutions at a national and international level, and also where it is more complicated: at a local level.
As proof of this, the construction of four other cultural centers with similar characteristics is planned for 2015, with which they will bring their sociocultural programs to different neighborhoods of Saltillo.
From a personal point of view, I cannot thank Fernando enough for having believed in me and counting on me to carry out this project, giving me the opportunity to get involved and get closer to the reality of the different sociocultural components that actively participated in its creation, deepening their relationships and redefining my role as an architect several times throughout the process.
The process was long, in my case a marathon of almost twenty months in which there were really very difficult moments in which the goal seemed unattainable, in which all efforts seemed useless. In those moments, which now seem so distant and almost anecdotal, it was essential to continue believing in the project and the presence of such good companions with whom we shared energies and dreams when someone seemed to be going down the drain.
In my case, Jaime's presence was fundamental, as long as it lasted, helping me focus on what worked versus what didn't. Dulce was always supporting. But above all, Fernando, whose firm belief in the need and opportunity of the project never waned and with whom we managed to hold on even in the most difficult moments. I think he deserves all the success he is reaping and I wish him and the entire elNodo team much more for the new initiatives they are developing.
Newspaper Archive and Videography
The process of creating the center, the initiatives promoted by the people who participated in it, as well as the role of the space itself as a place of opportunities for the local sociocultural scene, have had several occasions of visualization both in the press and in audiovisual pieces, we report some of them:
20 January 2019 La Vanguardia – 'Notes & Memories' combine passions in a music video
12 October 2018 La Vanguardia – Crew, support urban art
October 15, 2018 El Diario de Coahuila – They seek to rescue lands adjacent to the railroad
October 8, 2016 La Vanguardia – Urban art, crime or freedom of expression?
July 25, 2015 Zócalo – Saltillo collectives: Art unites them
02 July 2015 Zócalo – The Node promotes creators
November 18, 2014 Milenio – They will fight drugs with 4 Art Centers
July 14, 2014 Zócalo – Nodes will be brought to unsafe neighborhoods
12 May 2014 La Vanguardia – Railway node will rise from the ashes
December 19, 2013 El Diario de Coahuila – Jericó recognizes the work of El Nodo
July 20, 2013 El Heraldo de Saltillo – “El Nodo” will teach diplomas for young people
July 11, 2013 La Vanguardia – 'La Tren' art gallery 'at full speed'
December 14, 2012 Zócalo – Jericho recognizes young people
December 13, 2012 Zócalo – Jericó Abramo meets with 'El Nodo' documentary on self-construction of an independent cultural center
July 18, 2012 Zócalo – Subsemun funds allocated to youth
07 July 2012 La Vanguardia – El Nodo, urban dream of creativity
February 11, 2011 Milenio – Police officers are sensitized to understand the city
July 29, 2011 La Vanguardia – They rescue and give life to the train station in Saltillo
July 29, 2011 – Pathways for arts and crafts
July 31, 2011 La Vanguardia – 'La Tren': They exhibit their urban art in Saltillo
July 24, 2011 El Heraldo de Saltillo – Train station reborn for cultural production
June 12, 2010 La Vanguardia – Railway Station will be a Cultural Center
May 13, 2010 La Vanguardia – Freedom in Aerosol
August 12, 2009 Zócalo – Urban forum inaugurated
09 August 2009 La Vanguardia – Proposal to create suitable spaces in Saltillo
July 29, 2009 La Vanguardia – They will shape 'City X'
Videos produced during the first Documentary course directed by Guillermo Cruz (2010):
Acknowledgements
The activities organised by the team that manages the elNodo Cultural Centre have had a positive influence on their surroundings, providing training and opportunities to some of the local talent and creativity that could not find places to express themselves, and at the same time carrying out socially-focused activities aimed at the inhabitants of the surrounding neighbourhoods.
At the local level, the initiative as a whole has been recognized as a “Promising Practice” by the National Center for Crime Prevention and Citizen Participation (CNPDyPC) and the Program for Citizen Coexistence (PCC) of Mexico, while at the international level it has received recognition as a “Good Practice” by the “Dubai International Award for Best Practices” / United Nations Human Settlements Programme.
ElNodo was an integral part of the winning proposal of the “eme3_2010 Award” from the Fondazione Jesus Serra (Barcelona) in 2016, of the official exhibition of the Italian Pavilion for the XV Venice Architecture Biennale and the process of its creation has been the subject of articles in various specialized international magazines.
At the local level, the initiative as a whole has been recognized as a “Promising Practice” by the National Center for Crime Prevention and Citizen Participation (CNPDyPC) and the Program for Citizen Coexistence (PCC) of Mexico, while at the international level it has received recognition as a “Good Practice” by the “Dubai International Award for Best Practices” / United Nations Human Settlements Programme.
ElNodo was an integral part of the winning proposal of the “eme3_2010 Award” from the Fondazione Jesus Serra (Barcelona) in 2016, of the official exhibition of the Italian Pavilion for the XV Venice Architecture Biennale and the process of its creation has been the subject of articles in various specialized international magazines.
