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Digital Archive Launched to Imagine Alternative Urban Futures for Moravia, Medellin

2 January 2024

Archivo Vivo Moravia, or the Moravia Living Archive, is a collaborative research project which highlights the importance of intergenerational memory and collective action.

Mural of the history and territorial claims of the Moravia neighbourhood in Medell铆n.

is a pedagogical digital archive imagining alternative urban futures for Moravia in Medell铆n, Colombia, which has historically been threatened with eviction while exemplifying community resistance.

The archival digital platform is the culmination of a four-year collaboration of Moravia鈥檚 Living Heritage Alliance, which includes 果冻影院 academics and Building and Urban Design in Development MSc students, Newcastle University, Centro de Desarrollo Cultural de Moravia, Planearte S.A.S, alongside community organisations such as Moravia Resiste, JARUM, Fundaci贸n Oasis Tropical, Colectivo TriciLab, Mama Chila Tours, and the Red Cultural Comuna 4.

Archivo Vivo Moravia represents a community tool for collective action and a political tool for territorial resistance and reclamation. The digital platform aims to support the work of organisations in Moravia advocating for the defence of the territory, as well as researchers, students and individuals interested in self-built neighbourhoods, living heritage and living archives. Part of the project was funded by the second phase of the 鈥樷 Award, led by the University of Exeter and sponsored by the聽Arts and Humanities Research Council and Global Challenges Research Fund.

Commenting on the purpose of the digital platform, Dr Catalina Ortiz, Associate Professor in The Bartlett鈥檚 Development Planning Unit (DPU) and member of 果冻影院 Urban Lab's steering committee, said:

As we celebrate the launch of Moravia鈥檚 Living Archive, it is clear that this repository is a representation of a neighbourhood that is alive and a community that remains active. It is also a tribute to the women of Moravia. Beyond neighbourhood care practices and mutual support initiatives, the women of Moravia have played a crucial role in leading the struggle for the right to a dignified life shaping their identities as builders of the city and shapers of Moravia鈥檚 future.

Features of the digital archive

Archivo Vivo Moravia is a polyphonic space with stories, social cartographies, testimonies and research-based design speculations around the territorial claims of the neighbourhood.

The archive has over 600 records and allows users to feed the repository through a form. The web tool allows direct filtering of content linked to heritage and living archive projects developed in the partnership. The archive also offers a timeline visualisation of the neighbourhood's historical processes and a series of maps depicting the neighbourhood's growth, settlement and planning processes.

This platform will facilitate and guide creative activities that explore comprehensive solutions to disputes. It invites the local and global community to participate in a dialogue about fostering a more decentralised and distributed understanding of urban learning.

The project was coordinated by Catalina Ortiz (DPU), Natalia Villamizar Duarte (School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, Newcastle University), Luz Mila Hernandez (Moravia Resiste), and M贸nica Saldarriaga (Centro de Desarrollo Cultural de Moravia). The archive records are structured and compiled by Mar铆a Juliana Yepes Burgos, who also oversaw the web design with Juli谩n Giraldo Hoyos.

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More information

  • Read the research report in and in
  • Watch Archivo Vivo videos 鈥 , , and