Atemporal in La Graciosa

The context in which the workshop is held is marked by the friction generated by the sudden arrival of mass tourism on the island, the wear caused by this invasion in a culture characterised by a highly specific, slower rhythm, incapable of assimilating the demands of modern tourism all at once.

The forced encounter between these two realities led to frictions that threaten the quality of life of the inhabitants and place the island on an edge, a turning point that requires a strategyto be adopted urgently to prevent its isolated and magic character from disappearing, to prevent the disappearance of their particular perceptionof time that impregnates each and every corner of the island and which make it unique. We know that not protecting the true potencial of a place leads to an irreparable loss os its identity and finally leads to its disappearance, as has happened i nthe case of Valle Gran Rey, on La Gomera, Corralejo on Fuerteventura or Caleta de Famara on Lazarote, the closets reference for La Graciosa and perhaps a reflection of what clould happen to the island.

An estimated 300 people live on the island, most of them in the summer. The economic contribution made by the arrival of tourism has driven a change in the local economy, increasing the purchasing power of the inhabitants and, therefore, their capacity to consume and transform the territory. The growing demand for accomodation is causing a strong development of the town, based on building housing for second residences. On the other hand, an economic movement has been generated that has little to do with the inhabitants of the island, as a visit to the island is increasingly seen as an add-on excursion that is part of a package offered by Lanzarote, which translates into an enormous increase in waste and no economic benefit fot he islanders.

Atemporal

Workshop of Arcuitecture and Urbanism

La Graciosa. Canarias

September 2007