Architecture for the end of the world

When I die, I want to be buried in the middle of the forest... that way, I can be reborn in tender green leaves, in fruits that from the tallest trees see the blue sea... in vines that now sneak furtively between the branches of the trees, the stones, the rivers... In springs of crystal-clear water that caress the stones and greet the multicolored birds with their cheerful laughter.

I also want to be reborn in the first rains of May, which like tears of happiness, flood the bluish green fields and dusty roads with hope... Society teaches us to think in a linear way, a beginning and an end. However, life has a more quantum-like behavior. Economically we are taught to think in scarcity. "Money isn’t enough" is probably one of the most popular phrases these days.

The fear of an economic collapse keeps humanity on edge and seems to lurk like an evil shadow over everyone's peace. The media, for their part, are flooded with debates about the possible solutions and actions to be taken to save humanity from such an economic embezzlement. However, what has caused this crisis, and how does it affect the way we have been doing architecture in Costa Rica?

Probably one of the most sustainable societies was that of our grandparents. There were no credit cards, no mortgages, every purchase was made in cash, and for this, there was a prior saving time. If there was no money to buy something, people simply waited until they had it. From a construction point of view, materials that were at hand were used. Wood, stone, and clay were used daily.

The climatic solutions were simple but effective. High ceilings, lattices, windows placed strategically to ventilate and light naturally. Use of vegetation, mostly native, extracted from the nearby mountains, added not only beauty but comfort by reducing temperatures and stopping gusts of wind and dust.

Most of these materials were manually extracted, consuming very little energy during the process, and their degradation did not imply long periods of time. But what happened? A brief historical review. For many years, architecture was more of a discipline for a small group of people who had the economic capacity to pay for it. Most of the representative buildings designed and constructed during the 20th century were institutional, religious, or belonged to the wealthy class of our country.

However, during the 90s, the world set its sights on our Costa Rica, largely due to the Nobel Peace Prize. Costa Rica then became a very attractive destination for investors who were fleeing the increasingly developed and saturated Mexican beaches like Cancún and Acapulco. Costa Rica offered a politically stable environment, beautiful beaches, and friendly people. From here, a wave of development was unleashed whose main driving force was the investment of large sums of money in immense works, where waste and excess were the order of the day.

However, everyone was too busy having fun, and no one even imagined that all this waste could come to an end. Thus, the crisis took everyone by surprise. Many lost their jobs, and many businesses went bankrupt, deeply affecting the country's economy. During a crisis, two sectors that are most affected are tourism and construction. People do not travel or build since they prefer to retain capital to meet immediate needs like buying food, paying bills, or simply to have a fund in case of emergencies.

It was thus that the way architecture had been done changed, creating a crossroads, a paradigm shift, and those who were coming to invest their money now thought twice, trying to make the most of the space, avoiding waste. It is said that those who manage to adapt to change are the ones who survive, however, many are still waiting for someone to come and save us.