Rene Siu (bottom right) missed her University of Calgary graduation ceremonies last month. Instead, she was in Pijal, Ecuador, volunteering her design skills alongside a team of architects and engineers from across North America.
Together, they provided master planning and design for a building which will provide classrooms and an auditorium for conducting educational training in addition to a new sanctuary for worship and fellowship for the Ecumenical Foundation for Integral Development, Training and Education (FEDICE).
The church plays a vital role in the life of the indigenous community in Pijal, both spiritually and economically, and the existing church has become too small to meet the needs of the community. The volunteers met with FEDICE leadership and the community to catch the vision for the church building and to capture that vision on paper. Siu worked with the senior architects and assisted with working through the programming, recording the site details, and preparing renderings of the proposed design. At the end of the week, the team presented a master plan and schematic building design to FEDICE leadership and the community.
For Siu, who graduated with a Masters of Architecture from the Faculty of Environmental Design, the trip to Ecuador is part of a larger experience with Engineering Ministries International. Siu is currently volunteering at the eMi Canada office in Calgary, where she will finish up design work for the FEDICE project as the team continues to work on more detailed elements of the design. Engineering Ministries International will provide FEDICE with a final report and construction details in the coming months.
For more information about Rene's project, click here.
Image courtesy eMi Canada