#3 VERNACULAR VOICES - Montserrat Durán

Workshop "Arquitectura Maya", Becal, Mexico - August 2025

It may happen that you wonder what impact practising vernacular architecture could have for a student or an architect in the world full of high-technology solutions.

The statement of Montserrat Durán, the participant of Workshop "Arquitectura Maya" representing Universidad Modelo in Mexico, is nothing, but a confirmation that practising it has a deep sense and value.

Through Durán's story, we will see that vernacular way is not only about architecture, or techniques and materials, but also about cooperation, creating a community, respect for the past and most importantly openess to one another and constant learing.

Montserrat Durán during workshops in Mexico

"My name is Montserrat Durán and I learned about the association Taller & Patrimoine through Universidad Modelo, where I am currently studying. They offered us the workshop as an integral part of the master’s program in Bioarchitecture and Sustainable Construction. In some of our courses we had already seen parts of the process and aesthetics of the Maya House, which is what motivated my classmates and me to participate in this project. What mainly caught my attention was that we were going to have a different kind of experience—we would have practical work in which we would learn from our ancestors and their architecture, and we would also live and work with people from another part of the world. That seemed extraordinary to me, since everything would be a first-time experience for me.

Arriving in Becal was an interesting change of air. The place itself and the community gave me a good atmosphere, a different sense of comfort and tranquility. Everything was simpler: the people, the way of life, the landscape, and so on. In addition, living with the students from France was an experience I will never forget. I learned many things from them, including practicing their language. They were very kind and warm with me, and I can say that the whole team I worked with was just right, since each of us had a way of complementing one another. I cannot mention just one particular person who supported or inspired me in the project, because everyone supported me at some point. Every single one of them left something different in me; they left their mark on my heart and on my new thoughts—with an action, a conversation, a phrase, a drawing, and even a photograph.

Speaking now about the work on site, I was able to better understand how the construction and restoration of a Maya house works. I practiced the vernacular technique of the bahareque wall as a structural method, the kancab coating, the formation and construction of the huano roof, and I learned the meaning and placement of the interior structure in this vernacular architecture. With all of this, I can say that the most challenging part was the collection and technique of the huano, since the method and process took a long time at the beginning because I had never done anything like it before. Cutting the trunk, cutting the leaf, shaping it and deciding where to leave it, then the method of placing it on the wood—all while following a specific schedule, since the sun affected us strongly during certain hours while we were working. It was very tiring and very heavy work. I ended up dirty and injured from the cuts, but it is something I do not regret doing. I learned a lot with our friend Pedillo, and I think he was a great instructor.

Something that meant a lot to me in that place was discovering the local caves. Several houses had their own family cave, but there were also communal caves. In these caves people would gather to carry out artisan work using the jipi-japa technique. The reason for doing it in the caves was because there was a lot of humidity inside them and it was a cool place where they could work and handle that technique more easily. The people in the community were very kind in teaching us these techniques. They let us try to make some pieces ourselves, and they even created custom items for us in the short time we had before leaving.

This experience in the vernacular architecture workshop contributed greatly to personal discoveries within myself. I realized how fortunate I am to be able to learn and at the same time help someone who needs it. My values grew when I saw what I have, what I want, and what I can do as an architect and a volunteer. To say that I did something “without receiving anything in return” would be a lie—I take with me learning, the affection of the family I helped, the culture and traditions of the place, and the experience of something that perhaps only happens once in a lifetime.

After this experience, I would absolutely agree to participate again in similar projects. They are experiences from which I will always take something good. I know this because what I lived there has helped me have a better vision when creating my school projects, conducting research while trying to find alternative materials similar to those used in the Maya house, and using that knowledge to improve my personal projects that might one day become reality.

If someone is hesitating about participating in a project with Taller & Patrimoine, I would tell them not to overthink it—to dare to live and experience new things, to follow their instinct for values and learning, and to be curious about discovering nature in its most organic form within a community.

If I had to summarize my experience in one sentence, I would say:“Architecture is not only designed; it is also learned from the people who live it.”