Social Ensembles

Social Ensembles (“Collective Ensembles”) is the name of the project led by the Lavalle+Peniche studio, which was presented at the Mexican Pavilion during the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale. Bienal Comunicación developed the branding and audiovisual support as part of a team that included a select group of architects, photographers, documentary filmmakers, and visual artists.

The project analyzes the raised platforms built in the state of Yucatán, documenting their form, the assembly process, and the interdependent relationships between their builders and users. This research documents different types of these structures with the aim of reevaluating these social and cultural phenomena, preserving Mayan construction knowledge and ensuring its transmission to future generations.

The platforms are modular structural systems whose ephemeral placement in peninsular Mayan communities revitalizes, year after year, the open public space. The transmission of Mayan-origin construction knowledge, in syncretism with the traditions incorporated into mestizaje, results in the tangible architectural expression of the patron saint festivals. The construction system, a reflection of community participation and its social structure, incorporates a careful selection of materials and a thorough understanding of the environment at various scales.

A total of 106 localities in Yucatán where these stages are erected were mapped, and interviews were conducted with those responsible for their construction: the palqueros. In addition, their work was filmed, a scale model of the stage structure was built, and a time-lapse video was produced showing the assembly and disassembly of a stage in Tunkás, Yucatán.

Team: José Carlos Lavalle Alonzo, Luis Alejandro Peniche Arroyo, Eduardo Adolfo Calvo Santisbón, Jorge Alberto Bolio Rojas, Mauricio Gallegos Esquivo, Carlos Patrón Ibarra, Onnis Luque Rodríguez, David Emir Cervera Castro, Bienal Comunicación