
| 8. The New Houses The first ten houses are finished, and families of La Prusia are living in them. |
| Harvard Graduate School of Design, PARC Foundation & Casas de la Esperanza: partnership across borders for empowering People, Families and Communities. |




| admin@casas-de-la-esperanza.org |



1. The Well |






| 3. The Blue House for 8 Volunteers |



Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD)
“studio options”, directed by Prof. Teddy Cruz, for grad students of Architecture, Landscape and Urbanism. They have been working on an overall development plan for La Prusia, with the design and construction of private homes and communitarian buildings. This collaboration involves Harvard graduate students in an International Development Project, making them aware of the challenges facing the world’s poorest communities and empowering them to use their skills and resources to contribute to the fight against poverty. The designs they have created and their contribution will benefit the citizens of La Prusia in the short term with quality housing, and in the long term with new education and expertise that will be marketable skills. They will help also to develop innovative Architectural techniques in Nicaragua. PARC Foundation PARC (Planning + Art Resources for Communities) Foundation
development and promotion of contemporary architecture + art www.theparcfoundation.org EH&D thanks Harvard GSD and PARC Foundation for bringing to La Prusia their innovative perspectives to explore housing and shared infrastructure as integrative tools to generate urbanism at the scale of the poor neighborhoods and questioning the role of architects in facilitating social organization and community cohesion. In this context, all of us will be working in La Prusia with the premise that no advances in housing design can occur without reorganizing the existing social, political, and economic structures, in order to promote alternative systems for 'in' and 'co' habitation.
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| ACE 2 THE SECOND ACE PROJECT, ONGOING |
| Casas de La Esperanza |

Casas de la Esperanza, La Esperanza Housing & Development (ACE) is a non denominational, non political NGO, tax exempt: 501 (c) (3). It develops housing and provides technical education to families who are currently squatters, living on the outskirts of Granada, Nicaragua |
| Cezanne,THE WELL |






Thirteen graduate students from the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) and the Professors in charge of the studio, the PARC Foundation, some Architecture students of the UAM and volunteers of EH&D in La Prusia, Granada, Nicaragua. In EH&D1, in front of the School Workshop. |


| Meetings with ddifferent groups of adults about the most urgent needs and wishes of La Prusia. Meanwhile, Megan had activities with the children. |
| ACE2 has: 1. A Well |
| 2. The "Cuidadores": Carlos Porfirio & Estebana del Carmen with their family |

| The GSD's scale model |



| On May 9, Harvard GSD's team presented its proposal of project for ACE2. |
The Project of La Prusia was presented at the Auditorium of Harvard University GSD Julia Watson MLA, DK Osseo-Asare MArch, Juliana Silbermins MAUD Anne Vaterlaus MLA, Christine Canabou MArch, Quilian Riano MArch Simon Bussiere MLA, Chris Ryan MArch, Sara Lynch MArch, Brian Yang MArch Aron Chang MArch, Kristen Von Minden MArch, Doug Miller MArch Directed by Teddy Cruz, assisted by Andrew Sturm |
7. The three buildings for common services Under the direction of the Teddy Cruz's studio we have started the construction of three buildings for professional training and small business at the entry of the second project. |


| 5. The play ground |
Casas de la Esperanza ACE,February 2012 |
| Casas de La Esperanza provides homes, micro-loans, medical care, education, job creation, hope and dignity to the slum dwellers of La Prusia, Nicaragua. UN Millennium Development Goals, Goal 7, Target 10: "Reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water" |


| 6. The "bodega" (Warehouse) |

| Encounters with the Community |
| 4. The Yellow House for 13 Volunteers |











| The Land ACE has bought in La Prusia a beautiful piece of land. This second lot has about 360,000 square feet. We call it ACE 2 |








Since then, Teddy Cruz, Quilian Riaño, Cesar Fabela & Simon Bussiere have continued working on the design of the houses, the common services buildings and the common areas of the second ACE project. Many other architects, engineers, carpenters, etc. have collaborated in a very generous way: David, Fernando, Lola, Mercedes, Angela, Pablo, Nacho, Laura, Verónica, John, Cristian, Edu, Albaro, Liz, Dane, Ryan, James, Luis and many other volunteers. Thanks to all of them the second project is in progress and it will allow new families of the slums of La Prusia to substantially increase the quality of their lives. |
