Date of Submission
Spring 5-9-2023
Degree Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Architecture
Department
Architecture
Committee Chair/First Advisor
Jade Yang
Abstract
Over the last eight years, millions of Venezuelans have had to get used to living between blackouts and electricity rationing. The causes of the crisis are multiple and complex and differ depending on whom you ask. The government rejects that there are problems in the electrical system and attributes the cuts to alleged sabotage, and the rationing to the drought and excessive demand. Electrical engineers attribute power outages to power generation deficits, on the one hand, and lack of system maintenance, on the other. Because of the situation with the electrical resource, the government shuts down the power for four to six hours daily.
Zulia, a border region in the northwest of the country, is the most affected state by the very serious economic, social, cultural, and environmental rights crisis in Venezuela. For years, its inhabitants have faced adverse conditions ranging from power cuts that last several days and challenges in securing food, medicine, and drinking water, to restrictions on fuel supply and the almost non-existent public transportation service or communication.
This thesis intends to use the architecture of a Sojourn designed as a conductor of a national phenomenon, the Catatumbo Lightning, and harvest the energy of the lightning strikes to later be used as a resource of power to the community, interrupting the problems that blackouts entail. The purpose of this sojourn is to attract tourists who promote the economic development of the community, while, at the same time, encouraging cultural exchange, creating awareness of the area's problems, and living the experience of a natural phenomenon that occurs through the unique geography of the site.