The City Council of El Paso and the School of Architecture of the University of Navarra have signed an agreement partnership agreement through which students and professors of Degree in programs of study of Architecture (subject of Oriented Designed Studio -ODS- II) will work on projects for the National Volcanological Center (CVN) -the City Council has applied as a municipality in which to host it- in the Cumbre Vieja area. Therefore, at the beginning of the second semester a trip was made to work 'in situ' the knowledge of the site, engage in discussions with experts and local managers and analyze any issues that may be of interest to the project. The three mentions (Creative, Urban and Technical) will work on the needs presented by the City Council of El Paso, making them compatible with the teaching methodologies and objectives.

Leire Gómez, a 5th year student of Degree in Architecture, tells us about the trip:

"The week of January 19-22 the students of the 5th year of Degree in programs of study Architecture made a trip to La Palma programs of study together with the teachers of Projects and Construction. In addition, we were accompanied by Eduardo Domingo, director of development of the School, who has been our link with the City Council of El Paso (La Palma).

During our stay, we took a trip by 'guagua' accompanied by guide Carlos Cecilio. We traveled along the new road that was built over the solidified magma expelled by the Tajogaite volcano in 2021. We saw how the volcano devastated part of El Paso, La Laguna and Todoque. We made stops next to zone 0 to observe this place from the closest point to the mouth of the volcano. 

After lunch, Sergio Rodriguez, mayor of El Paso, Alejandro Haddad, municipal architect, and Nemesio Perez, volcanologist, welcomed us to the El Paso auditorium for a session on the volcano.

On Saturday we took a walk through the Taburiente caldera and later we visited the plot that the City Council of El Paso has given us to make the project of semester. We took pictures of the place, the vegetation and the impressive views that we have to make the project. It is a pleasure to be able to count on this location. 

We would like to thank both School of Architecture and the City Council of El Paso for giving us this great opportunity and we hope to do our best to help as much as we can to the island of La Palma".

Before traveling to La Palma, the 5th year architecture students visited Madrid. There they visited the University's postgraduate program headquarters and companies such as Schüco, BBVA, Savills España and the BMI España factory in Toledo.

Students visiting BMI's facilities in Villaluenga de la Sagra, Toledo.

ABOUT THE PROJECT OF THE NATIONAL VOLCANOLOGICAL CENTER

The program proposed at subject of ODS II develops a building and landscape complex. The National Volcanological Center will consist of spaces for the research, for the knowledge dissemination and a residency program for scientists that will be tested as a housing prototype for emergency cases. Given the extension and location of the site, the complex will be accompanied by a landscape infrastructure that will serve to learn about, understand and enjoy the rich environmental heritage that La Palma offers by defining one or more observation points that can be linked to the Center, to trails and routes that start from it, or both.

As can be intuited, the program is open to very different approaches that can go through compactness or disintegration in one or several buildings. And it is open to analysis and interpretation and experimentation, so that hybrid approaches, program transfers, etc. can be made between its different areas. The surfaces are indicative and could be optimized according to the strategy of project.