Community of Maize is a project that want to bring back on the spotlight the advantages and the diversity of the maize. After the scandals of Monsanto’s OGM it is now important to preserve and take care of the original landraces of maize.
In Mexico maize is traditionnaly called tonacayotl which means “our subsistance” in Nuhatl , a mexican traditionnal lanugage. More than their subsistance it also means what their body are made of and what their life depends of. The origins of Maize culture take his roots in prehistorian mexico and his diversity is a result of millennia of traditionnal culture. There is evidence the aztec civilisation was deeply connected to this agriculture. Archeologist found some trace of structure that are pretty similar to the actual mexican “Cuexcomate”. This structure, still in use in the countryside, can conservate the production of grains for the year. The stones used for the base are taken on the ground, the argile or the dirt for the “pot” is made out of the soil under their feet and the roof is constructed with the different plants of the surroundings. An interesting aspect of these granaries is that they are shared, you can found them in the courtyard of 2 or 3 houses. The people stock their grains in it and come to this granary to gather food for a week. In the development of my project these sujects were all preponderant and significant.
The choice of the site for this project has some unavoidable necessities. This project take advantages of the potential of the flat roofs in the city and it responds to the masterplan of Daegu global studio and the tranformation of the old urban tissue. In this case the project keeps the existing building to give them a second life by producing food with them. The choosen buildings are situated in the east side of the historic center of Daegu, where we can still find low density buildings but with rich urban spaces. On the floor plan there is a plenty of programs that are mixed like simple houses housing and appartment housing but especially a micro economy round the production of Maize that stands on the roof ; maize nuddle production, comme kitchen, tools reparation workshops, restaurants. These “pots” on the roofs are self-sufficient in terms of rainwater with roof collector, dimensionned especially for each roofs and made out of the unused rod of the plants. These light roofs are design to sustain a year and be rebuild every year. The production of maize is based on the milpa, also known as the three sisters ; a mode of porduction that combines the advantages of the pumpkin, the beans and the maize in terms of needs and biological support. The grains are stored in a big “cuexcomate” in the center of the urban space which ritualise the food, but also sacralised it.