CENTRO CULTURAL SAN PABLO

Centro Académico y Cultural San Pablo is an institution of academic services located in the magnificent exconvento of San Pablo in the city of Oaxaca. Space that it shares with the directing offices and other initiatives of the Foundation Alfredo Harp Helú Oaxaca. The Center articulates academic projects with cultural activities aimed at valuing the pluricultural heritage, especially indigenous, from Oaxaca and Mexico. It participates in the study, documentation and preservation of cultural knowledge and manifestations that are being transformed or disappearing, but also promotes and opens up spaces for the cultural expressions, both traditional and innovative, of indigenous cultures. In the city of Oaxaca, the Center has organized exhibitions, seminars, courses, presentations and congresses, among which one of the most important international congresses on indigenous Mesoamerican languages. The Juan de Córdoba Library has a collection of books, manuscripts, Recordings and digital media dedicated to the history, cultures and languages ​​of Oaxaca and Mesoamerica. Its collections hold some outstanding collections for Oaxaca's historical and cultural studies, among them Luis Castañeda Guzmán, John Paddock and Irmgard Weitlaner-Johnson, pioneers Of Oaxacan history and anthropology.

 

 

Founded in 1529, it is considered the first convent built by the Dominicans in Oaxaca. Today it is the headquarters of the Alfredo Harp Helú Oaxaca Foundation [FAHHO] and its mission is to spread the work of FAHHO, which since 1994 has invested vital and economic resources to contribute to the construction of a more humane world.

 

San Pablo opened its doors on November 26, 2011 with a cultural and academic offer. This reality is possible, thanks to the FAHHO, since 2005, made an investment of 54.5 million pesos for the acquisition of 5 properties; And another more than 132 million pesos for their rescue and adaptation. With a total investment of 186 million pesos, the FAHHO succeeded in turning São Paulo into what it is today: a space for culture and the arts, from an intercultural perspective.

 

The former convent of Santo Domingo de Soriano, better known as San Pablo, was first built in Oaxaca by the Dominicans in 1529. Its history is linked to geological, political and commercial earthquakes, and after more than 400 years in which it has Has been desecrated in its sacred symbols, fragmented until the architectural deformation, hidden before the eyes of the Oaxaca, an integral restoration undertaken by the Foundation Alfredo Harp Helú Oaxaca (FAHHO) will allow, in addition to the rescue of a patrimonial building, the use of a site For the benefit of the community.

 

The architectural intervention

To get closer to an image of what the Architectural Workshop of the House of the City, and then the architect Mauricio Rocha, faced when starting the rescue of the ex-convent of Santo Domingo de Soriano, better known as San Pablo, it is necessary to consider That the history of the building, founded in 1529, is linked to earthquakes, the sale of land during the eighteenth century, the nationalization of Church property in 1860, the drastic intervention in its structure to draw a street, and that during the century XX housed a set of houses, business, a hotel, garage and parking.

 

Prior to the intervention, two meticulous investigations were undertaken: historical and archaeological, by Sebastián van Doesburg and Gilberto Hernández Díaz, respectively, which allowed the work of removal of structures by the architect Gerardo López Nogales, and later, the architectural intervention directed By Mauricio Rocha.

 

These investigations, as well as the restoration and adaptation of the site, were supervised and endorsed by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH). Each historical stage on the property of the ex-convent of San Pablo was visible in constructive layers that overloaded the structure of the Building, destroyed some parts, damaged quarry blocks, and in general added, one by one, different ways of conceiving place and space.

 

The challenges of the architectural intervention were raised from the removal of floors and walls that overloaded the structure of the building. Already in the design stage, one of the most difficult tasks was to reconcile the different architectural languages ​​in the site, considering the academic-cultural use it will have.

 

From the criterion of reversibility that prevails in the restoration, Mauricio Rocha decided to use bolted structures of metal and wood - also endorsed by INAH -, to create a "clean space"

 

Rocha says that the request of the president of the FAHHO, the art historian Maria Isabel Grañén Porrúa, was to design a cultural space that considered a library of public Access and a school of indigenous languages: " It was there that a contemporary intervention was decided, and I deeply believe that a 21st century affirmation can be made as long as it is with deep respect and care. " It was respected "the spirit of the cloister: a building that is collected in a courtyard, a patio that has a window, as Barragán said, which opens to the sky," continues the architect.

 

THE ACADEMIC AND CULTURAL CENTER

 

The former convent of San Pablo is an academic and cultural center dedicated to the study, teaching and diffusion of Mesoamerican origins.

 

"What we have tried to define is an academic and cultural center in which different cultural and academic activities related to the indigenous cultures of the state of Oaxaca and of Mexico in general can be based. Part of this is language, history, material culture, handicrafts, traditions ... but not seeing them as loose elements, folk-tourist type. This is a place that is dedicated to reflect and understand better the complexity and depth of the indigenous heritage, which in Oaxaca is felt everywhere, "explains the historian Sebastian van Doesburg.

 

The aim of the cultural center is to build bridges of understanding and work towards and between the indigenous communities of Oaxaca and the country. "It's about making those bridges. What happens in the indigenous communities is that they suffer marginalization within the political, economic, social and cultural project of the country. Only in certain areas are their expressions allowed, as in the Guelguetza, but at the moment of entering the political or economic plan, the situation changes totally.

 

"This has to do with an ancestral attitude of social segregation and discrimination, and one of the elements that we believe can bridge bridges and overcome these divisions is to better understand the depth, creativity, dignity and complexity of the original cultures of Oaxaca"

 

Http://www.san-pablo.mx

Https://www.facebook.com/fahhosanpablo/

 

 

The social contribution

The achievements of this project are diverse, among them the rescue of a convent that was hidden to the appreciation of the Oaxacans, the putting into public use of a patrimonial asset through an academic and cultural center, but above all, it will be a place For thought and social interaction, for the enjoyment of culture to the benefit of the Oaxacans.

 

In particular, it will be very relevant to rescue a perpendicular passage from Independencia Street to Hidalgo, which will allow access to the atrium of the church and former convent of San Pablo.

 

ENVIRONMENTAL CULTURE

 

Building on the vision that art and culture are intrinsically linked to sustainable development, both economic and environmental, the former convent of San Pablo has been built considering rainwater capture systems and photocells to take advantage of solar energy.

 

The architect Gerardo López Nogales explained that the use of solar energy will be made through 32 panels of 170 by 70 centimeters, placed in the form of a roof on one side of the building, near Independencia Street.

 

In addition to the photovoltaic system, a rainwater harvesting system that is an example of self-sustainability is also in the process of being concluded. Research and design of the Institute of Nature of Oaxaca (INSO), this project  captures the rainwater from the roofs of the San Pablo Academic and Cultural Center, and then store them in a cistern. The water collected will serve to supply water for sanitation services, cafeteria and irrigation of green areas.

 

 

Bilbioteca

The Juan de Córdova Research Library, located in the San Pablo Cultural Center in the historic city of Oaxaca, is an initiative of the Alfredo Harp Helú Oaxaca Foundation. It articulates services and academic collections with cultural projects, especially those whose purpose is to promote the cultural heritage of Oaxaca and Mexico. In addition to providing library services, its activities cover events, exhibitions, courses, academic research and protection of cultural heritage.

 

The research area of ​​the Juan de Córdova Research Library is a specialized academic unit whose objectives are "to locate, evaluate, gather, organize, preserve and provide timely access to information resources specialized in the language and culture of the indigenous peoples of Oaxaca, Mexico and Mesoamerica, seeking to be an intermediary between the peoples and their history. "

In this you can find books, magazines, archival documents, photographs, maps, plans, audio-visual materials, among others.

 

The Library Area is responsible for organizing and conducting activities to disseminate and link research and community experiences on various aspects of the linguistic and cultural diversity of the indigenous peoples of the state of Oaxaca and of Mexico in general, in order to encourage reflection And dissemination of knowledge.

 

These activities are grouped in thematic series that include: panels, conferences, language courses, workshops and talks with and by different researchers, both local and external to Oaxaca and other community actors.

As part of the link with various sectors with common objectives, book presentations, documentary projections, project presentations, exhibitions, etc. are organized.

 

Http://bibliotecajuandecordova.mx