RECLAIMING VALUE
Sacred Valley
The Reclaiming Value: Sacred Valley Design Immersion gathered a cohort of 30 creative leaders from across the globe to investigate purpose at the intersection of humanity and work, fostering meaningful relationships and exploring opportunities to design for multigenerational value.
Preserving regional ecosystems and culture
A circular business model encompassing a traditional Andean spirits distillery, reforestation and fire prevention brigade, ecolodge, organic farm, coffee roaster, private primary school, and community center, the multi-functional El Albergue team is preserving the region’s environment and culture.
The novel business model offered cohort members a new perspective on how to uncover and invest in socially-responsible business opportunities in their own communities.
“I've been grappling with how much we [Americans] wait for others to do what we can do locally in our own communities. We can make changes in our own little ecosystems, whether that be at work, in our neighborhoods, or with our families. It's systems design. When we build in habits and systems for ourselves and our communities, it will permeate.”
— L'Rai Arthur-Mensah, Local Projects
Sustaining ancestral knowledge
Named one of the 50 best restaurants in the world in 2018, Virgilio Martínez and Pía León founded MIL is not only a restaurant, but also a food lab and cultural preservation center. Critical to MIL's team are local community food and artisanal producers who are stewards of the land and quality of the produce, products, and services. The reciprocal relationship between these entities allows MIL to preserve ancestral knowledge via knowledge transfer to its visitors. By combining the global luxury dining market with local Andean heritage, MIL is able to sustainably preserve the region’s traditions, beliefs, and knowledge.
The cohort was struck by the importance of authentic, reciprocal relationships in good design, encouraging them to consider what role reciprocity plays in their personal design practices.
“I am reminded that the indigenous ancestors of this land knew the secrets of designing for warmth intuitively. Now we are here to reclaim some of that knowledge and reinvigorate our spirit in the process.”
— Stephanie Smith, Design Director
Rejecting assumptions to uncover novelty
Founded in the 1980’s, Cerámicas Seminario has evolved from a two-person operation to community employer and symbol of the Sacred Valley’s cultural fabric. Husband-wife duo Pablo Seminario and Marilu Behar embrace experimentation, evolving notions of Peruvian identity. Their artistic practice is founded on traditional Peruvian pottery techniques, yet the artists have created their own globally-recognizable visual vocabulary by merging the traditional with the contemporary–even digital.Time spent with the artists in their studio reminded the cohort that good design shouldn’t romanticize audiences, users, or communities with whom we seek to collaborate.
“We both try different things. We have a saying that we do what we want. Usually people don’t like the first new ideas, but I really don't care. We are selling more than we expected, and it's growing. We don't think about what people like, we just make the pottery and if people like it, they buy it.”
— Marilu Behar, Cerámicas Seminario
Scaling tradition equitably
Awamaki offers fiber artisans a cooperative platform to sell their goods, gain business skills, and teach visitors their craft. Establishing trust and essential infrastructure, Awamaki enables artisans to graduate beyond the nonprofit’s platform to run their businesses independently. The organization remains in close contact with all artisans, allowing them to access resources on an as-needed basis, thereby creating a sustainable pathway to scale traditional production and knowledge preservation.
The artisans’ livelihood provided an antidote to production and consumption- based economic systems that consistently prioritize speed, volume, and profit over purpose. Excellence comes from designing at the systemic level–the “why”–while also meticulously executing on the details.
“In the end, what we want for our Awamaki cooperatives is to be sustainable so they can establish their own clients and their own tours with other travel agencies. Once they have that, they can fly solo. However, if they ever need help with a project or filing taxes, they can always come back to the office and just ask for help.”
— Kennedy Leavens, Awamaki
“In getting close to the culture in Peru, we accessed an authentic view into a rich and varied set of approaches that have significant local impact. I look forward to uncovering how we can adapt and apply what we’ve seen and heard.”
— Joanne Mendel, Principal Designer
“When investigating interventions, you cannot romanticize reality. Ceramicas Seminario, for example, is preserving ancient ways of working but at the same time they’re experimenting with new technologies. There's a balance in considering what we can learn from traditional cultural practices, but without romanticizing them.”
— Rodrigo Isasi, Empathy
“Behind each of the models we’ve seen is a human story that is central to the value exchange. We can think about economic impact of global knowledge exchanges, but the exchange of humanity, emotion, tenderness is also vital. One can not exist without the other.”
— Masha Safina, Accenture Song
“We’ve seen systems that think hundreds of years into the future. In our lives, we talk about six months from now and we struggle. To think about creating something for our great, great, great grandchildren, that's the humility of our existence; to think about who we’re really building things for and thinking beyond shareholder quarterly meetings and even our own needs.”
— Wayne Suiter Matamoros, Empathy
CREDITS
EMPATHY
Immersion Co-Host
IIT INSTITUTE OF DESIGN
Immersion Partner
DYLAN CHANDLER
Photographer/Videographer
JACK DEMARZO
Photographer
EL ALBERGUE
DESTILERIA ANDINA
CAFÉ MAYU
MIL CENTRO
CERÁMICAS SEMINARIO
VIDAWASI
AWAMAKI
DIEGO VALDEIGLESIAS
Co-Founder and Executive Director of PUCA
MIGUEL MELAGAR
JOSÉ LUJÁN AND DIANA SAMANEX
Chef Founders of Cusqueñísima