Preserving earth, memory and future in the Interactive Living Museum Yatiyawi

In the rapidly urbanising outskirts of the La Paz-El Alto metropolitan area lies the peri-urban neighbourhood of Tilata, where the El Getsemaní Foundation has worked with children and young adults in the local communities since the 1990s. Addressing the demand for adjunct spaces to carry on their work while fostering cultural engagement through exhibitions and workshops, the Interactive Living Museum Yatiyawi (Museo Vivo Interactivo Yatiyawi) was designed by Bolivia-based architect Samuel Hilari. Amidst the proliferating urban sprawl, the sustainable design of the museum reintroduces traditional building techniques, where earthen structures, "witnesses of a recent rural past" as the architect describes them in a concept note, are being replaced by concrete and brick structures.

This concern with materiality determined the museum design conceived by Hilari. The use of rammed earth was not simply guided by aesthetic considerations but by a measured structural and contextual response to the site conditions. "In the case of the rammed earth technique used here, the module given by the formwork determined the height and length of the walls and the openings. Since the earth walls are load-bearing, every other material used was a response towards the walls," Hilari explains. He continues, "There was also a more aesthetic search for a strong contrast between the heavy, massive walls and the light and thin structure of the roof." Guided by the logic of contrast between heaviness and lightness, the museum recedes humbly into its context. The material restraint displayed in the construction further enhances the spatial experience for visitors.

The museum architecture is almost elementary given its use of rammed earth, apart from contending with a limited budget for construction. Two annexes, one involving the refurbishment of an existing structure on site and the other an extension to facilitate more space for display and other activities house the museum. The decision to preserve the abandoned structure—Casa Barbara—was rooted in an ethical stance on circularity in design. "In the 21st century, no demolition can possibly make sense, at least from an ecological point of view. Any existing structure is precious because of the embodied energy it represents," Hilari expounds in a conversation with STIR. The structure, a hybrid of concrete and adobe, required little intervention to adapt to the museum’s programme. A wall was removed to create a more open space and new earthen plaster was applied to revive its material integrity. The decision to extend the museum from Casa Barbara was synonymous with the architect’s attempt at extending the conversation towards local building practices and attempts at rethinking the rapidly changing built environment of Tilata.

Sustainability, a core ethos for engagement with the museum, was also one of Hilari’s prime considerations for its construction. The design team repurposed demolished adobe bricks from ongoing upgradation in the surrounding area to create the rammed earth walls, symbolically ensuring continuity between the past and present. The process of construction itself was an act of community engagement. Following a rural tradition of collective labour, the parents of children who are part of the El Getsemaní Foundation contributed to the building process, Hilari elucidates in conversation. The local community’s direct contribution to the building, with up to 20 people helping out every month, allows for a deeper engagement and understanding of the vitality of the region’s building traditions.

Within the space, the warm, muted hues of the earthen aesthetic that tie both buildings together enhance this connection to the land and building. In the new annexe, a central axis runs longitudinally through the space, guiding visitors toward a northern exit that leads to an open-air patio where two Kiswara trees stand. The Andean high plateau hosts scarce vegetation, with the Kiswara being one of the few native trees. The decision to preserve them further engages the conversation about an ongoing dialogue between the constructed and the natural. In this dialogue, natural light plays a crucial role in animating the spaces. A polycarbonate ridge along the roof filters daylight into the interiors, creating a dynamic interplay of light and shadow that shifts throughout the day. The careful orchestration of materials, form and light results in an immersive sensory experience, where architecture and nature are woven together.

Currently Bolivia’s largest contemporary rammed earth structure, according to the architect, the Yatiyawi Museum demonstrates a resolute approach to cost-effectiveness and sustainability in design. It stands as both a vessel and a monument—a vessel for Indigenous knowledge, community collaboration and environmental consciousness and a monument to the resilience of earth as a material. The museum does not just preserve memory; it attempts to showcase a future where architecture remains deeply rooted in place, people and material heritage.

Project Details

Name: Museo Vivo Interactivo Yatiyawi
Client: Sievers Family / El Getsemaní Foundation
Location: Zona Nueva Tilata, Viacha, Bolivia
Architect: Samuel Hilari
Technical Consultant: Pacha Yampara Blanco, Marcelo Murguía Fernandez (Yapu Tierra)
Project Builders: Eduardo Escobar Osco, Raul Quispe Kama, Omar Quezada Carvajal, Ivan Viracocha.
Project Year: 2024
Constructed Area: 320 sqm

(Text by Arryan S Siingh, Intern at STIR)