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.The Palo Monte, Ritual Centre
Author: Sara Shafiei and Ben Cowd

The Project is a building design for a Palo Monte Ritual Centre, situated in the National Botanical Gardens, Havana, Cuba. The Palo Monte is a popular Cuban religion that originated in the Congo region of Central Africa.

Throughout the design process we worked hard to develop a language of architecture that could symbolically and spiritually represent the Palo Monte religion. We used drawings, collages and study models, built from natural and local materials to experiment with materiality, spirituality and spatial conditions. Oceanic art, architecture and pattern making inspired the form and organization of the building and resulted in an architectural language personal to the Palo Monte’s history, beliefs and culture. The reading of the building aims to educate visitors and tourists of the true practice of Palo Mote, unveil the mysteries behind the religion and lay to rest the common misconceptions and myths surrounding it.

We experimented with bamboo forming, bending and layering techniques to create the 7 spiritual ‘pods’ in the building. Each pod represents a specific god and responds to the very unique and functional, spiritual and symbolic requirements of the Palo Mote.

The building is hoped to be an opportunity for Cuba to experiment with this sustainable building material and learn and develop the various processing and construction techniques to enable them to use bamboo throughout Cuba.