THE COLLECTOR
Self-sufficient floating module reviving Babahoyo’s heritage—solar-powered, water-purifying, food-growing, and carbon-cutting. A resilient, replicable structure delivering dignity, energy, and clean water to riverine communities.
ABSTRACT
In Latin America, more than 160 million people lack access to basic water and electricity services. In Babahoyo, Ecuador, this deficit is even more critical in vulnerable communities such as El Barrio de las Balsas, where available water is often highly contaminated and monthly energy costs significantly impact household economies. This situation directly affects the health, stability, and development capacity of families living along the riverbanks, a territory where the relationship with water has long defined habitat, traditions, and ways of life.
As part of the 2025 Chicago Architecture Biennial, the project’s resources are not used for the construction of an ephemeral pavilion, but rather for the implementation of useful and lasting infrastructure for Babahoyo’s riverine community. The system generates an average of 17 kWh of solar energy per day and produces between 180 and 280 liters of drinking water daily, enough to supply up to four floating homes. This shared infrastructure reduces inhabitants expenses on water and electricity by 80–90%, saving USD 350–600 per year per family, equivalent to around 20% of their annual income, while also lowering fossil fuel use and preventing the discharge of contaminated water into the river.
The Collector is built on a 3.60 × 4.20-meter floating platform, made of local wood and a base of recycled plastic tanks. The main structure is composed of two modular inclined trusses, allowing for easy transport, assembly, and replication, while respecting local construction practices and materials available in the territory. At its core, a vertical water filtration tank with layers of sand, gravel, and activated carbon supplies both a water collection point and a small community garden. The filtration system operates through a solar-powered pump connected to four photovoltaic panels located at the top of the structure, distributing the remaining energy to nearby floating houses.
The Collector explores the potential of replicable, community-based public infrastructure thought to confront ongoing ecological and economic crises. Offering fluvial communities access to sustainable basic services while valuing their cultural heritage, local materials, and traditional construction systems.
WHY THE COLLECTOR?
This floating module is a climate-resilient platform for Babahoyo’s riverine communities. By harnessing solar energy and filtering river water, it provides essential service like clean water, electricity, food productive. Places where state infrastructure has failed. Rooted in traditional floating architecture, it not only preserves cultural heritage but transforms it into a replicable model of sustainability, health, and self-sufficiency in the face of ecological and economic crisis.
HISTORY
The floating houses of Babahoyo once thrived as essential hubs along Ecuador’s river trade routes, built from wood and bamboo to adapt to seasonal floods and host riverine life.
From over 250 mid-century structures, fewer than 25 remain today—threatened by urbanization but now being reclaimed through community-led efforts that highlight their cultural and ecological value.
STRUCTURAL DETAILS
SUSTAINBLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS LINK
Quality education/Cultural and Ecological Preservation/Gender equality: Respects and revitalizes the traditional floating architecture of Babahoyo, reinforcing identity and protecting a vanishing heritage.
