The community center called Las Tejedoras (the weavers) in Chongón (Ecuador), a work of Natura Futura Arquitectura and Juan Carlos Bamba, has earned for them the Emerging Practice Award of 2024. Given by the Illinois Institute of Technoogy College of Architecture, this biennial accolade that falls under the general Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize (MCHAP) recognizes the best works completed on the American continent by practices under ten years old. The jury of this fifth MCHAP.emerge was chaired by Maurice Cox, with Giovanna Borasi, Gregg Pasquarelli, Mauricio Rocha, and Sofia von Ellrichshausen among those sitting.

The Ecuadorean parish of Chongón, in Guayaquil Canton, has since 2009 benefited from the support of the Young Living Foundation, which works toward creating employment in communities bereft of resources. Thanks to it, women of the Organización de Mujeres Artesanas Bromelias began to handmake fabrics with natural fibers, and the endeavor soon needed a building of its own. The project carried out by Futura Arquitectura and Juan Carlos Bamba doubled as a construction-training tool through workshops aimed at fostering overall local development.

Arranged around a patio are two side sheds and a central one. They contain classrooms, workshops, a cafeteria, and a store in which the handcrafted textiles are sold. The main front is a production-exhibition gallery that acts as a filter for the patio and as an element to generate urbanity towards the street. Teak wood is used for the main structure. The brick walls present a herringbone pattern and are stiffened by the very shape of the interlocked walls.