PACHAMAMA CONCRETE
Guendalina Salini
The title Pachamama Concrete is a play on words, a metaphor for a place. The word Pachamama, which in archaic Incan culture means Mother Earth, is intended to emphasize the link with the original principle of creation, generous Goddess of fertility and agriculture, nourishing mother who gives life. The ancient goddess, Ceres, dear to the ancient Romans, symbol of fertility and regeneration is the pivotal element of this project, which originated in Corviale, a suburb of Rome, not far from the temple dedicated to her by the Arvali friars. Concrete, on the other hand, alludes to the residential complex, almost one kilometer long, built at the end of the 1970s by the architect Mario Fiorentino, that over the years has become a symbol of the failure of housing policies. Concrete is therefore the cement with which the building was constructed, but it also alludes to the concreteness and resilience of the women who live there.