The Planetary Scale, part 1

S1: It's a beautiful Saturday morning. Kind of rained on us. A little bit gloomy , overcast. But you oversee the ins and out of bay. We're on the stretch of , um. The point. It stretches out into the Pacific Ocean.

S2: Earlier this year , our producer , Julio , headed down to a remote hill near Labrador , a neighborhood close to the southernmost tip of the bay of and.

S3: Off roading through hillsides and deserted dirt roads. The greenery of the spring rains contoured the cloudy skyline and was split by the beige of the dirt road on the horizon , the dark blue color of the ocean. It was a 2.5 hour drive from Tijuana to a remote side in the outskirts of the municipality of Ensenada , 30 minutes away from the main road.

S2: He was heading there to meet a community of earth builders that specialize in building with biomaterials. Like Adobe , Cobb and other clay variants. They go by the name of Tokyo collectors.

S1: We are going to get a lesson or two.

S3:

S2: As we approach the site , we could see the Adobe structure and a couple of people stomping down on something in front of it.

S3: Julio was there to talk to Miguel Angel , the coordinator of the Tokyo community in Ensenada. We're here guys. Unfortunately , Miguel Angel couldn't make it that day. Hola.

S1: Hola. Yo. Digamos si.

S4: Como esta ? Mucho gusto. Gusto. Diego. Diego.

S2: Julio was greeted by Diego , the owner of the property and the house that the tech crew was working on that day.

S3: His dog an Australian shepherd and leader of a small pack running around on the half acre property , also greeted him.

S2: The house stood overlooking the whole bay as it started to sprinkle. Julio and Diego walked into the Adobe house and they were greeted by the rest of the crew.

S3: Diego jokingly announced to everyone that we were eager to get our hands dirty.

S4: Minus Julio. Hola , Roberta. Arriba , estaban Alexis de.

S1: La Ola.

S4: Las manos.

S3: Diego's house reminded us of something straight out of a Tolkien movie. It was a story and a half cylindrical structure made with super Adobe and topped with a circular cone roof with wooden beams protruding skyward. The dimensions were much like those of a large gazebo , 16ft of diameter and about 13ft tall from ground to roof. Once inside , the interior was something akin to a loft not much bigger than a large room or a small studio apartment. If you were to look up , there was a small platform where the wooden roofing started and where the main bedding would be placed. The structure had a few windows and a clear skylight where the wooden beams meet.

S5: All of the tall materials.

S4: Local material. Local. Este es un un cylinder de su parada con un techo reciprocal de sombrero y unas botas de concreto y de roca. Piedra del Rio mas de Peter del Rio de Janeiro.

S2: Most of the elements that made up the house were sourced from the local area. Soil , sand , straw , manure , cacti , drippings and water.

S3: The house was designed to be completely self-sustainable.

S2: In fact , that's why we were there.

S3: Because this small crew of earth builders has a tried and true approach to sustainable building.

S4: Esta es una manera de depois de disfrutar la tierra también Como de Olvera estar en contacto con Ella por lo mismo te digo no ya tanta construction tradicional después van a.

S2: The remarkable thing is that most of the natural materials used to build the house were sourced directly from where the house was being built.

S3: If something was missing , it wasn't sourced from more than a 3 to 5 mile radius of the site , significantly reducing the dependency of mainstream materials that have a higher carbon footprint , like cement or steel rods , among other materials used to build houses , which , according to Diego , they almost never use.

S4: Donde todo esto es la tierra de nuevo.

UU: Pues Como si.

S4: Nunca esta aqui. Pero una constitucion Como la detras la. la la la. La la la. No pero pero a pasar algunos de pero yo.

S2: Diego shared that your members have taken an approach to building that minimizes the impact that constructing a house has on the planet.

S3: And no impact approach. Eventually , the materials will go back to form part of the local terrain.

S2: That's not the case with a traditional building , he says as he points to a house up the hill , which was built using mainstream materials.

S4: Like Dia de la. Okay. Okay. Natural. Todas las conferencia una pequena.

S3: San Diego designed a water capture system on the roofing that guides the rainwater to a couple of reservoirs. And then with a pump , he plans to make use of it.

S4: Si Unas canal. Entonces vias se en una reserva y con una bomba , ya poder utilizar el subterranean para ser suficiente grandes. Okay.

S2: The tech community believes that marrying these ancient techniques with current tech could be the key to helping relieve the impact the construction sector has on the environmental crisis.

S3: The community members are a healthy mix of environmentalists , architects and builders. About 15 people working on Diego's house men , women and children a true community affair. Food was getting prepared on a pop up camp next to the house. The work is muddy , plastering over the walls up and down so it gets quite messy. But it's also relaxing , like a meditation.

S2: Everyone there was very down to earth , literally. Silvia , one of the community members , explained how the Adobe is prepared.

S1: Come on.

S6: Those parties.

S7: Tierra y una arena. Por ejemplo , si es una serie de tierra e una gran.

S3: At its core , Adobe is made up of a few key components clay or soil , sand , manure , straw , water and a binder. When all these elements come together , they create a durable , natural material that's been used for millennia in construction around the world.

S7: So do I turn the , uh , agua para la ? ESO es el agua.

S3: Take your member. Rachel was stomping away , making new batches of Adobe.

S2: When done , she and another member would fill bucketloads that would eventually get plastered on the house walls.

S3: Little by little , the chicken wire and socks used as structure transformed into a wall. The house looked healthier , fuller , Something so different from what you normally see in a city or in an urban setting , which is how we came to the question.

S2:

S1:

S2: Remember , Peralta , from our episode on the Right to the city ? Our producer , Julio , met with him at a pub in the neighborhood of La Cacho in Tijuana.

S3: There he met other like minded architects and urbanists , including someone we had been looking forward to talking to.

S8: Alex Santander what is the right of the city of for whom ? Right. I think if we for whom we start asking for whom ? And in that aspect , there's an interesting text which Renee was part of a book. It's called Tijuana Dreaming.

S3: Alex is the founder and director of Santander Architecture , Design and Urbanism Studio and director of Sala , a forum dedicated to the discussion of the new frontiers of architecture in Latin America.

S2: Alex Irina's colleague and friend. He shared his insights on Tijuana's unique design , what having the right to the city means , and the challenges of modern architecture. But there was something he shared that really burst our bubble to reveal a new perspective.

S3: And that set into motion the central theme for the next few episodes.

S8: And listen , if we start erasing a little bit the idea of city , right ? And look at it more as a , as a system , a planetary system. So a city is no longer that city , right ? It's tied to everything else , including all the forces , ecological forces. Right. And therefore all the animals , all the organisms , water , everything else.

S3: Alex is one of those architects who is sounding the alarm in the region to rethink architecture in terms of the impact will have on not just the immediate environment , but the planet.

S8: What we think of we're thinking about planetary scales and we're thinking about planetary. Some of that I call , um , operational architecture and operational architecture , revisits the idea of when the human started to be detached from nature , right when it when it started building what the primitive hut that we use a lot in architecture in , in that action of separation from nature. Right. It's a planet and all these systems work together. Right ? So , so architecture started deviating and separating us from those systems. So what if we go back and I'm not going in a romantic way. We revisit the primitive hut so that our architecture becomes operational. And in what respect operation to the systems of the planet.

S3: Today's episode is part one of a three part series about rethinking the impact we have on the planet.

S2: Join us as we explore what it means to build with the planet in mind , revisiting old ways of building to solve current problems.

S3:

S2:

S3: If this is your first time tuning in to the season , we're showcasing stories of people with out-of-the-box approaches to common problems.

S2: This season is all about visionaries and shapers of the borderlands. Stay tuned.

S3: From KPBS. This is Port of Entry , where we.

S2: Tell crossborder stories that connect. Us.

S3: Us. I'm Alan Lilienthal.

S2: And I'm Natalia Gonzalez. You're listening to Port of Entry. Alex got us thinking about how we build and shape cities and how that impacts the planet.

S3: We left that night at the bar with two main questions. What exactly is the planetary scale and what does it look like in a practical sense ? So we got in touch with Alex again to get some answers.

S6: On that.

S2: He suggests that we meet at a place in downtown Tijuana , which turned out to be on the terrace of the building where Anima Catalina.

S3: Silva's marketing studio is. Located.

S2: Located.

S3: Remember Catalina from the past episode design comes to town. Well , check it out if you haven't.

S2: The studio happens to be next to a popular coffee chain from Tijuana.

S3: So we had to make a stop for some cafecito. When Alex walked in on Alex's.

S6: Espresso to. Give us some money to cool. It was para poder hablar de las cosas afuera. No. Juan Como se sobre.

S3: Alex was wearing a black blazer and sporting his short ponytail that kept his gray hair in place and matched his full mustache.

S6: This is Miguel. Oh , let me get it. We chose the city.

S3: And we walked into Enigma and met Miguel Gomez , one of the executives who escorted us through the building toward the terrace.

S2: The terrace was high enough that you could appreciate at 360 , glimpse of the downtown Tijuana skyline. They settled in and got to it. Right.

S1: Right. Could you describe the state of architecture of us right now as you see it right now , the state where it is.

S8: There is a big crisis in planning and a big discussion around that. And in Latin America , you see a lot of these potentials , the possibilities of emerging , of how do we address especially ecological problems. There is a crisis within architecture that goes beyond the production of buildings. We need to understand that architecture is not only buildings. Those buildings are related to everything else in the planet. And architecture is not only sustainability , It's much more than that. It's still incomplete. So yes , there is the importance of all of the old masters , of doing beautiful things and knowing how to craft a beautiful building that serves people and delights. Where architecture is at the moment is it needs to confront the realities , the realities of a huge emergency that we're in and a huge urgency with.

S2: The emergency that Alex is referring to is the possibility of ecological collapse , simply from the way we live our day to day lives.

S3: Alex says the consensus in the architecture world is that our current lifestyle and urban development worsen the environmental crisis , with resource depletion , carbon emissions and waste production being major factors.

S2: And the construction industry plays a significant role in this exacerbation.

S3: And according to him , architects need to not only create sustainable designs that minimize the ecological footprint and mitigate climate change , but.

S2: Rethink our relationship with the planet.

S8: We can no longer separate ourselves from the planet , and architecture , in a way , is trying to do that. The one of the things that's happening , for example , and when a small part of the city is development. Correct. And this is market forces that shape the city. So when market forces shape the city , and the most important thing is the market. I'm not saying let's forget about the market , but the most important thing is the market. You are going to forget a lot of things that don't benefit the bottom line. There is less space for this , for having an open space. There's less space for implementing strategies that could benefit the ecology , the structures. Some call it sustainability , and there is less need of also thinking about long term.

S3: And it's. Seen.

S8: Seen. It's not even seen. It's there. It's blind. They're blind to it because it's not here. It's not relevant. It's not visible. And this is something the architecture that architects that we're doing a lot of architects doing a great job at it , we need to talk and we need to with developers we need to talk to our clients. This is not all architecture ceasing to be only about the building. It's about the planet.

S3: Our current mode of building and urbanizing has placed us at odds with the planetary forces that make our existence possible the air , the soil , the bodies of water , the forests and jungles.

S8: It's a theoretical debate also , and it's a practical debate to Cultivated debate in practice is a debate in the user. Material wise , I'm open to explore any material. Let's say there's some material that can be used and that they composes in about ten years , and you need a new building. I'm cool with that. I don't have a strict opinion on that , but what I do have an opinion is that buildings do need to address the planetary forces , right ? The scales of the planet , not the global. Its global is very different than planet. Global is just the reality that us humans live. That's our world , right ? But the planet is has was here before us. And the reason why humans emerge is because all the planets are the planetary of the forces of the planet , of the atmosphere. This is why we emerge. And then we as humans started detaching ourselves from that.

S3: For Alex , architects face a heightened responsibility. According to him , architects need to look beyond mere aesthetics. They must also consider the environmental impact their designs have on the planet and the well-being of those around them.

S2: No planet ? No. Bottom line. You're listening to Port of Entry. Our producer , Julio , got a second invitation from the tech folks to help build another house.

S3: This time , Michelangelo would be there. The coordinator of the tech community.

S2: This site was located at 30 minute drive from the main road , in a remote location in the mountain range in between the communities of Parvenir and also Sal. Just before you arrive in Antonella. This time Alan joined for the adventure.

S1: This is. The road. It's the wilderness.

UU: I give my soul to you. In the future.

S4: You take your son. Desarrollo.

S3: Desarrollo.

S6:

S2:

S3: Oh , well , it's just like.

S1: You , I don't know. No , I think he was right here.

S3: But this is a miracle , John. Yeah.

S1: Yeah. I mean , look at.

S3: What appeared to be like two Adobe silos , 2 to 3 storeys high , poked out of the mountain horizon. To the right , four circular , contiguous structures that looked like stars of David or Dreamcatchers overlook the mountain range.

S2: After some rough terrain and getting lost , Julio and Alan made it to the tech camp in one piece.

S3: This time Miguel Angel was there. Hola.

S9: Hola. That wasn't verdad.

S1: Okay , so , Julio.

S9: The KPBS , Alan San Miguel. Angel.

S10: Miguel Angel.

S3: Unlike the last location , this one just had the beginning of the foundation and the first 1.5ft of material over the ground. The site was a couple of metres away from a cliff that overlooked the mountain range behind , and Sanada Miguel Angel , the tech coordinator , was getting his hands dirty stacking the cob mud mix.

S6: Si , si.

S11: Mucho gusto , mucho gusto.

S9: El programa. De.

S11: De.

S9: Bueno K. No.

S11: No. No.

S9: No. Hola ! Man.

S11:

UU: No , no. What's that ? Can.

S6: This.

S12: This.

S6:

S4: Esperamos aqui. Tenemos toda.

S13: La mezcla. Mestalla.

S6: Esta la.

S13: La manana y arriba. Adriana.

S3: Miguel and his wife Adriana was there as well. She explained that they worked on the Adobe Mix that morning. The camp radiated merry community spirit. Everyone was completely covered in mud and looked very happy to be there. Loud music played to make the sweat and toil of manual labor less grueling. Once there , Miguel Angel introduced us to what he was doing as he wiped his hands to say hello. He had mud splattered all over his body and face , from his braided ponytails to his boots , and he got going.

S11: Aqui ya estaba Plano y en un fin de semana. Es una Sanja francesa.

S2:

S11: Abajo es una sancha con caida. Ferrara de lona Q no es no es una lona impermeable. Es Rosa y esta. Es una sanja Francesca French drain y ahi es para agua de Euboea. No entre dentro de la casa. Si no llega de bajo la limitation y la la.

S3: The water drain redirects surface water and groundwater away from a specific location. In the case of Rachel's compound , it was redirecting it downhill into the mountain cliffs.

S2: This helps prevent any water damage and offsets the possibility of damaging the foundation.

S11: Estas viendo Rita fresco esto es una mr. barro. Arena y paja y agua. Pero vez abajo esta aqui. ESAs son Costas. Este de esa es la dicen earth bags son un costales de. Sousa para la cerveza de Malta. Malt.

S9:

S3: Explained that the structure was getting plastered with cob.

S2: A mixture of mud , sand , straw and water.

S3: Underneath the cob were rested beer sacks that they filled with gravel , also known as earth bags.

S11: A veces también usamos Costa de the arena de la sobre de las Canarias para hacer este tipo de construction.

S3: The earth bags would get covered with the cob mix and a new row of earth bags would be added , and then a new stack of cob or Adobe till the desired height was reached.

S11: A esta es una construction de cob con una sobre segmentation de costales de costales e esa aquela la fuerza de la comunidad. No somos una comunidad de constructors. Is.

S4: Is. A.

S11: A.

S2: Miguel Angel added that the success of the project comes from the strength of the community and from the fact that they were builders.

S3: He added that not everyone is a seasoned builder. They're some were there for the first time , while others were in the process of finishing their own house.

S11: I can't take avenue por primera vez este fin de semana. A gente esta a punto de su casa.

S2: Alan rolled up his sleeves , tightened his man bun and got to it.

S3: Miguel Angel was leading us in how to plaster mascara.

S11: Una y ponerle asi esto no pega I Ike trabajando con Los players o con Los con Los con Los dados. IL y Los viendo nino. Pero pero la la la directions de arriba si abajo. No.

S3: You have to weave your fingers into the mix , not just patted down together. Miguel Angel explained.

S11: To me la se escucha. No. es un equilibrio del del aumento de lo del del barro y se escucha asi Como. Y también se escuchar Como el al del arena. No. Cuando cuando lo mismo.

S3: The texture of the kob mix is both sticky and crunchy. The water makes it adhere and the sand makes it feel like you're digging your fingers into cold rice. Crispy marshmallow treats.

S11: El al material es tierra Arceus. Entonces tierra con asi en todo el mundo. Tierra con eso generalmente no lo tinas comprar Los mas de la de la cementation de tu casa de Escobar o de la la forma.

S4: De aqui esta propiedad.

S11: Casi bueno y la reina. La reina tuvo comprar. Pero la reina es solamente una fraction de the material.

S2: The main components of the cup mix are our clay.

S3: Which can be found anywhere like the site they were working on , as.

S2: Well as sand and straw.

S3: The sand was the only thing that needed to be sourced from outside the building site , but that only accounted for a fraction of the building materials used.

S2: Miguel Angel explained as he layered more cup mix over the structure. Miguel Angel went on to note that he prefers building with his hands instead of machines , which is how other Adobe and Cup structures have been constructed as of late.

S11: Las manos y Los banos. Porque hacemos Javier ? No. Si , si. Yo yo creo tiene otra otra energia.

S3: Here we were curious about Tokyo and wanted to know how it all began.

S11: Uh , okay. So we had some friends in Oregon , which I think once a month would all come together , and it would also be a potluck and then just work on one friend or family's property. So here in in Sonata , we had some particular friends , uh , the Alvarez brothers , who are starting their strawberry structure. So they hired me to do the drainage , the French strain and a dry stack stone wall. And they , they , they needed , uh , just help along the way. So then they noticed that we needed help on our place , and they said , we'll help you out. And. Okay , so then we thought , oh , will you help us out and we help you out ? And then there was other friends like , hey , everybody , go help one person out or one family out. And then there are.

S2: Five current take your projects on the roster right now , each belonging to a current member.

S3: The community gathers once a month to work on the project of a fellow technical member. They work for a whole weekend on a project sunup to sundown.

S11: And then one thing led to another. And then we started having like volunteers , although we did have to , I think after a year like , hey , let's make up some rules , like either you're in or you're out , like if you're gonna help , like , do you know , not just wait for , oh , it's my turn , everybody come over and then don't show up for the rest of the year.

S3: As the day was winding down , we said our goodbyes and agreed to meet me at a better time where he wasn't busy leading the workshop.

S2: Miguel Angel invited us to his homestead in cuatro , a neighborhood in the outskirts of El Suzanne. His own house was also built with Cub.

S3: Once inside , Miguel Angel pulled out the homemade kombucha to help us cool down.

S11: One that I really like that then it mixes with with plants that are growing outside with the lemon balm , not the lemon verbena with , um , lavender. And to you , something else. Yeah. Is it.

S1: Is good.

S11: Salute , salute.

S3: Julio followed up about why the people attack. You build the way they do.

S1: Like this presumed assumption within construction that things are going to last forever. Mhm. And so it seems like what you're doing almost challenges that presumption. Mhm. Why should we last forever. Right. Why should we.

S11: I had I have to mention this , a friend who came all the way from Texas to , to help in a build as , as consultant was invited to a party where all these hotshot architects were from and he came up like angry to her and you natural builders. You think you got all the answers. The houses Over time , they just crumble back to the earth like mad. Like we had a point to tell her. And this , this good friend Jess , who builds an Austin , Texas , she said that's the point. And but and the guy stopped and started thinking. And I think if we can at least share what we know , even just plants the seed in whoever is interested , um , I think in some cases it's been called retrograde. But I think just as you see , people are starting to drink kombucha again , making craft beer , many things that were thought to be in the past are coming back to life or they never went away , I have hope. I have a lot of hope. And for a while back we had our nonprofit and we were more adamant , more more active in giving talks and showing people what can be done. At this point , I'm just happy to show by example and share.

S3: What starts in the earth eventually goes back to the earth.

S2: Oh my God , so wise , Master Allen.

S3: While some folks may feel that the time to build with these sorts of ways has passed , the Tokyo folks proved that it might still be worth a shot. People like Miguel Angel are open to combining old techniques with future technology. Looking back might just be the key to moving forward.

UU: Whoa , whoa , wait. Hold on.

S2: Hold on , hold the exit. Music.

S1:

S2: How much did it cost to build all those structures ? I mean , we talked about building this way and how it's great for the planet and all that , but how much does it cost ? Uh.

S14:

S1: I don't think I asked Alan.

S3: I'm not the producer.

S1: I mean , that I was so wrapped up thinking about , you know , the impact of building this way on the planet that I completely forgot to ask about the price or costs.

UU: But hold on.

S1: No bueno. Angel.

S9: Angel.

S1: Hey , Miguel , I just forgot to ask. How much did it cost to build the compounds in your house ? Ah , well , it's actually.

S11: A lot cheaper than building with conventional materials. Wait.

S1: Wait.

S11: Mainstream materials.

S1: Wait , is it dirt cheap ? Yeah , and actually is dirty , but it's a lot of work. Okay. Um. Hey , can I come over again ? And we. So we can talk about this ? Sure.

S11: Yeah. Come on over. And we can talk about costs. About building.

S1: Costs ? Awesome. Good. I'll see you there. Yeah. All right.

S3: In the next episode of Port of Entry , we explore the costs and feasibility of building Adobe houses in city environments.

S2: Could this ancient technique help us build more affordable housing. Stay tuned for part two of this series. Nos vemos pronto ! This episode of Port of Entry was written produced by Julio Cesar Ortiz Franco.

S3: Adrian Villalobos technical producer and sound designer. This episode was edited by Elma Gonzalez , Lima Brandao and Melissa Sandoval.

S2: Lisa morrissette is director of audio programming and operations.

S3: This program is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting , a private corporation funded by the American people.

S2: This project was also made possible with support from California Humanities , a nonprofit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Visit call home. Org.

S3: I'm Alan Lilienthal.

S2: And I'm Natalia Gonzalez. Nos vemos pronto.