On a grey, windy morning in La Paz, I’m walking over to the local café in Sopocachi, thinking about coffee, art and
aesthetics. Do I order an espresso, a latte or a cappuccino? Like identity and self-expression, the choices you make
tend to reflect your own design aesthetic. I ordered the cappuccino.
‘Design can be art. Design can be aesthetics. Everything is design. Everything!’ said the late American graphic designer Paul
Rand. Can graphic design embrace art and aesthetics, too? You decide. Walk to la plaza del estudiante and take a look at the giant Photoshopped billboard of the Pope, Evo Morales and el Illimani. Everywhere you walk, you see design, sometimes hidden in the form of efficient visual communication (and, sometimes, contamination).
Rand’s claim that ‘everything is design’ may seem like a bit of hyperbole, but there is significant truth in those words. Design goes deeper than the visual and the aesthetic. Design is procedural, it is experiential. It is much more than the final visual result.
An idea becomes a reality through actionable tasks and processes designed for optimal experiences. Here in the cities of Bolivia, centuries of urban and architectural design have created unique experiences and processes for those of us who inhabit this place.
Good design can be sustainable and solve problems for communities. Fast-paced urban development in the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra led city planners to prepare for exponential growth by designing four concentric ‘rings’. Designer and architect Cameron Sinclair reminds us, ‘When you design, you either improve or you create a detriment to the community in which you’re designing.’ What will urban planners implement next? The Bolivian Express will continue to report on and investigate the thriving future of Bolivia’s economic capital and fastest-growing city.
American graphic designer Paula Scher warns, ‘Be culturally literate, because if you don’t have any understanding of the world you live in and the culture you live in, you’re not going to express anything to anybody else.’ This month our journalists are taking Scher’s advice and experiencing Bolivia under the visual umbrella of design. If experience can be created, exactly how embedded is design within our collective Bolivian experiences? To what extent do we interact with design, art and aesthetics in our daily lives in Bolivia? Our team explores the creativity of textiles and masks worn at festivals; the visual significance of the wiphala flag; the architectural future of Santa Cruz; alternative material for musical acoustics; the artisanal flavours of craft beer; recycled and cultural street fashion; moveable parks; winding roads; historical architecture; and the printing process of magazines like the Bolivian Express.
If you ask Austrian designer and art directors Stefan Sagmeister, ‘You can have an art experience in front of a Rembrandt… or in front of a piece of graphic design.’ This issue is dedicated to all of the Bolivian designers who create these experiences for us to participate in, share and enjoy on a daily basis.
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Creating the Chukuta Fashion District
Fashion lovers flock to Paris and Milan every day, and most are sure not to miss a visit to Montaige Avenue and the Quadrilatero D’oro to see the boutiques on the streets of Monzani, SantAndrea and Della Spiga. But what can such visitors do in La Paz? Which places would they visit to enjoy the most authentic fashion design of this city? Perhaps the best answer would be the ‘14 de Septiembre’ neighborhood. There you will find the ‘Chukuta Fashion District’, made up of the streets of Santa Cruz and Max Paredes and Baptista Avenue. It is here where you will find the best in Chola Paceña fashion.
But what is Chola Paceña? Who creates the designs and fashion trends for this group? And who are the true Andean fashionistas of La Paz?
In 1781, when the revolution conducted by the Inca Túpac Amaru was calmed down, the Crown of Spain forbade the wearing of any attire associated with the Inca Empire. Indigenous people were to change their clothes to look like the Spanish chulos, or assistants to bullfighters, and chulas, or the wives of the assistants. Chula dress comprised a long, pleated skirt, a blouse and a mantilla with fringes. In this way, indigenous women were obliged to transform their appearance in order to be easily identified as ‘not Spanish’ for the society of the times. This was the beginning of what we now know as the Chola Paceña.
Indigenous women of the time quickly became the owners of this imposed apparel, and started to change it in order to find a new identity within it. Soon, a chula’s skirt would be known as pollera and the mantilla would be named manta. Little by little, both would become emblems of refinement and not objects of discrimination as before.
The first adjustments in fashion among these women happened during the 19th century, when cholas decided to wear boots with heels like Spanish ladies did (later the Chola Paceña would change her boots for more comfortable shoes). Little by little, as these women began to climb social and economic ladders, they wanted to show their achievements through their appearance. Borsalino bowler hats were added to their attire as a sign of elegance, since these expensive accessories were imported from Italy. The women started wearing jewelry made of gold, and these earrings, rings, prendedores and ramilletes were the elements used to differentiate rich cholas from others ladies.
Luckily, the fashion of these cholas from long ago has survived, and has even evolved. Now it is modern, avant-garde, and has even developed its own trends. Since the beginning of the new century, a fashion industry has sprouted, and is growing at a morenada’s rhythm. Nowadays, looking like a true Chola Paceña is not easy, nor is it cheap. These women can spend thousands of dollars on clothes and accessories, knowing they must turn to the best designers in order to look gorgeous.
They know that the best of these fashion artists are in the ‘14 de Septiembre’ neighborhood.
There they can find the best brands’ boutiques, including ‘La Orquidea’, ‘Danzart Verónica’, ‘Pollerería Primi’ and others.
In this neighborhood, you can find all components of Chola Paceña fashion, from fabric for polleras and mantas to Borsalino hats or jewelry. Taking a tour around these special and popular boutiques is obligatory if you are in La Paz to visit. Fashion lovers will see the ‘Valentinos’, ‘Diors’ or ‘Dolce&Gabanas’ of chola society, known by more indigenous names, such as ‘Limachi’, ‘Cussi’, ‘Paco’ and others, who are recognized as the creators of the authentic Chukuta fashion industry.
ZEF is a Bolivian fashion house that upcycles donated second-hand clothes. The items that aren’t selected to be redesigned are given to local charities.
ZEF aims to produce high-quality, creative and ecological clothing.
Putting recycling on the school desk
‘La basura mata’ – litter kills – is one of the most frequent slogans plastered on the walls of La Paz. For a city that is rapidly expanding, management of waste is a serious issue. Paceños produce approximately 560 tonnes of litter every year, all of which end up in the landfill of Alpacoma, the only dumpsite in the area. Experts predict the landfill site will reach full capacity in 20 years, hence the pressing need to find new ways to manage solid waste disposal.
In the last couple of years, management of litter – its recollection, disposal and recycling – as well as the safeguarding of the environment, have become priorities on the city council’s agenda. In order to address these issues, the council is implementing an eco-friendly programme in La Paz in collaboration with Emaverde (Empresa Municipal de Areas Verdes), a local office in charge of managing parks and green areas in the city. The programme began with the construction of two factories that opened in 2014. One of them classifies waste and is located near the landfill of Alpacoma. The other is near the offices of Emaverde and produces an innovative recycled material, plastimadera, from the plastic waste collected at Alpacoma.
Plastimadera – or, ‘plasticwood’ – is recycled plastic (obtained from polyethylene and polypropylene) turned into boards measuring 2.55m by 1.25m. Its properties resemble those of wood, specifically its flexibility and resistance. Unlike wood, however, plastimadera is impermeable and inflammable, ecological and less expensive, making it a worthwhile investment. The plastimadera project is designed to reuse non-renewable resources consumed in the city, and reduce the amount of waste stored at the landfill.
At present, the plasticwood factory has not yet reached industrial scale, but it manufactures 100 boards daily. Engineer Nelson Nina Perez, head of plastimadera production, knows that the project only minimizes the problem of waste management in La Paz. However, ‘in 10 years time,’ he tells me, ‘citizens in La Paz will lead a sustainable life only if recycling projects such as this one continue to develop.’
Nelson can barely hide his enthusiasm for his job as he shows me the different stages of the recycling process at the factory. After speaking to him, it’s clear that the prime concern of the city council and Emaverde is establishing a culture of recycling among the population, something that’s currently absent.
Only a few years ago, there was no specific treatment of litter in the city. This is still the dominant trend across Bolivia. Citizens are sceptical about recycling in general, as well as about the ways in which it could solve the problems of an expanding community. Some have doubts about the process of recollection. They see dustmen collect trash and they wonder how it could ever be useful to separate plastic from paper or organic waste. Despite these recurring questions, students in La Paz are taught to recycle at school. They are given snacks on a daily basis, the waste of which is placed in appropriate bins.
Last year, the plastimadera factory produced 525 pieces of furniture, distributed to different schools in various districts. It’s no accident that the chosen beneficiaries of the programme are the local schools of La Paz. The point is to show students that they are making a meaningful contribution to the recycling chain when they divide their rubbish at school. The cycle starts and ends with them.
‘Citizens realise that something useful can be made out of their waste,’ Nelson says, highlighting the role of the project in changing the mindset of the population. For Daniel Gustavo Cartagena, who works for the Department of Education in the city, local authorities must provide schools with furniture anyway, which is why the plastimadera initiative helps the council fulfill one of its primary tasks. They hope students will bring this lesson home so their parents will learn about the advantages of recycling with them.
Amanda Villca Beltrán works for the Municipal Secretary of Environmental Management, and confirms that the citizen response to the recycling project has been satisfactory thus far. Almost 35 tonnes of waste have already been collected this year. Throughout the week, locals can take their rubbish to 99 different recollection spots where plastic, nylon, paper, cardboard and batteries are collected separately. On Sunday mornings, 23 recollection points operate around the city. The goal is to reach 40 tonnes of plastic by the end of this year to produce furniture for more schools in the city.
The work done so far covers only a small part of the waste generated in the city, but the local council is working hard to promote similar recycling projects with other disposable materials. Everyone involved in the plastimadera project (from the city council to Emaverde’s employees) strongly believes in what they are doing for La Paz.
I was expecting to see the same excitement for the project in the schools where plastimadera furniture has been sent. However, I was disillusioned when I learnt that one school was not actually implementing the program of recycling. The most challenging aspect of the project remains its implementation, which depends exclusively on the community’s participation. The city council may develop methods of supervision, or put forward incentives to promote the recycling programme, but the main responsibility continues to be that of the citizens.
