Al Borde (2007), architecture firm based in Quito, Ecuador. Formed by David Barragán, Pascual Gangotena, Maríaluisa Borja and Esteban Benavides. It inhabits the territory of questioning, where certainties about what architecture should or should not be are under constant construction. Its ideas are developed in the making, and with greater precision and detail on site.
It pursues an architecture whose aesthetics is conscious of the energy expended in construction, seemingly effortless, where the way materials joined together is clear and logical. An architecture opens to the active participation of users in the design and construction process, where everyone can see the problem solved, with no more pretensions to address the project demands. The design faces the sustainability of life as the center of the discussion (resources, co-responsibility, consumption, gender, and social inequality).
It builds with the resources and techniques of the place, where the territory is always a particular and unique variable, the projects become an x-ray of the site, which speak of the customs of the people, their history, their problems, and needs. The diversity of the projects represents the people’s willingness to engage with ideas, taking risks, and participation in decision-making.