David Vaca Cartagena
Tierra de Tránsito
Points of Opportunities
Tierra de Tránsito (Transit Land) begins with a human encounter. While working in social services in Mexico, I had the opportunity to meet and listen to migrants, many of whom were teenagers, as they moved north across the country. Their stories revealed not only the dangers of the road, exhaustion, violence and exposure to the elements, but also the urgency of finding ways to make the journey more bearable. That experience became the foundation of this project: a question of how architecture can respond with resilience.
The project does not present fixed solutions, but a set of principles. These principles yield different outcomes depending on the place and circumstance. Through sketches and experiments, I developed a toolkit of interventions, portable shelters made from safety blankets and bamboo, cardboard resting modules beneath bridges, water catchers for dew and fog, and flexible structures that provide shade or transform into spaces for play. These are not final answers but gestures that demonstrate how design can open up possibilities.
Central to the work is an awareness of materials and site, utilising what is at hand, such as bamboo, cardboard and fabric, and rethinking what ‘home’ can mean in transit. Sometimes it is no more than a safe corner to rest, a blanket stretched into shade, or a structure that offers temporary relief.
The project culminates in the design of an app that compiles shelter locations and manuals for these tools. More importantly, it is conceived as an open platform, where migrants, designers and organisations can adapt, share and improve interventions. In this way, Tierra de Tránsito is not an ending, but a beginning – a basis for further development, rooted in the belief that even small architectural acts can convey dignity, protection and hope.
Graduation date: 28 August 2025
Graduation committee: Machiel Spaan (mentor), Patrick Roegiers, David Keuning
Additional members for the exam: Jo Barnett, Anna Torres