Sofia Bensadon PHmuseum Limited Edition Print
Sofia Bensadon PHmuseum Limited Edition Print
The clay mountains of the Chuquiago Valley are transformed into bricks every day. Which return to the hillside and spread over the altiplano for the construction of houses in the two largest cities in Bolivia, La Paz and El Alto. The plaster-free facades of the houses stained the landscape brick orange. For the first time in the history of Bolivia, more than half of the population lives within urban areas. The growth and demographic transformation of these two cities were mainly due to “state development policies” in the 1940s that aimed at de-ruralization and produced a strong rural-urban migration, which implied a significant mobilization of the indigenous population to the city. The photograph was taken from the red aerial tramway that connects the historical centre of La Paz city with La Ceja, one of the commercial centres of El Alto city. The houses built on steep slopes, take different heights and shapes. My gaze fell on the facades of the houses. The stone and the adobe bricks are juxtaposed with the fired bricks joined with concrete. Reflecting the mixtures of techniques and the various rhythms and styles of self-construction. This image belongs to a work in progress project called "50 kg" that among other things asks about the construction processes of cities. In this expansion, women were involved in various processes of urbanization and construction of the city. One of the ways to get to know the territory was walking together with them. The project investigates the relationships that building has with inhabiting a territory and the various ways of domesticating space. Especially from the hand of women who at some point in their lives went to work in the construction industry.