Estudio Cavernas is a social architecture and construction non-profit organization based in Mae Sot, on the Thai-Burma border. This area hosts a large population of migrants and refugees who have fled their villages due to longstanding conflict in Burma. Upon arriving, many find themselves living under scarce and unstable conditions.
One of several problems that refugees and migrants face is a lack of infrastructure security. We believe that our worrk recognizes this gap and by working closely with local migrant communities and organizations to meet their infrastructure needs in the simplest and most accessible way possible.
The solutions that we offer are sustainable and environmentally friendly. Through a combination of innovation and design, our team aspires to create something functional and unique that is well connected to the surrounding natural and cultural environments.
The end result of our projects must be reflective of the community needs and adaptive to suit the climate and culture of our partners. We only work with locally purchased materials to promote the growth of small businesses and with a construction team that shares our philosophy and practise of ‘do no harm’
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Our team is composed of migrants without previous experience in construction and also by individuals impacted by social exclusion. Estudio Cavernas works closely with marginalized communities by providing training on basic building principles in theory and application. By instilling a sense of purpose and confidence, the individuals we work with are able to in turn give back to their own communities in a way that promotes long term, sustainable change through future infrastructure development.
We encourage our workers to become independent and self-sufficient, so they can provide for themselves and their families. To do so, Estudio Cavernas combines the process of building with the training of the workers. We ensure a working environment exists in which the learning process occurs in a natural and progressive way, and that is is adapted to the needs and abilities of every individual worker.
Our goal is to ensure a process and outcome that reflects and supports the local culture, environment and way of living.
