Tonny Zwollo facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Tonny Zwollo
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Architect Tonny Zwollo overlooking the Atitlán Lake (Guatemala) in 1976
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| Born | 1 February 1942 Amsterdam, the Netherlands
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| Nationality | Dutch |
| Occupation | Architect |
| Years active | 1964– |
| Known for | Otavalo Market, Imbabura Province, Ecuador |
Tonny Zwollo, born in 1942, is a talented architect from the Netherlands. Since 1964, she has worked in North and South America. She is known for designing and building many important places. For example, she built over 35 schools in Mexico. She also designed the biggest outdoor market for local people in South America. This market is in Otavalo, Ecuador.
Tonny Zwollo believes in building things that are truly helpful for the people living there. Besides schools, she has created a hotel, special tourist villages, and even a swimming pool. These projects in Oaxaca, Mexico, helped create jobs for many local residents.
Contents
About Tonny Zwollo
Early Life and Education
Tonny Zwollo was born on February 1, 1942, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Her father, Marinus Zwollo, was a goldsmith. In 1964, Tonny finished her architecture degree at the Delft University of Technology. It was hard for women architects to find work in the Netherlands back then.
Building Schools in Mexico
In 1964, Tonny Zwollo got a job offer from the Mexican government. Her task was to build schools. She started in Mexico City, but she found it hard to work there as a woman. So, she asked to be moved to more distant areas. She was sent to Oaxaca, a region where she had to convince villagers to help her. They worked for free to build schools for their own communities.
Often, they needed to build small airstrips to get building materials to the sites. In just two years, Tonny built almost 30 airstrips and 35 schools! Her amazing work was even shown in Life magazine in 1967. She finished her work with the Mexican government in 1968. Later, in 1970, she earned an engineering degree and received a special award called the Prix d'Excellence.
Designing the Otavalo Market
For her final student project in 1970, Tonny Zwollo traveled to Ecuador. She planned to design the famous Otavalo Market. This market is the largest outdoor market in South America. It was finally completed in 1973. She designed 90 concrete market stalls to create the Plaza de los Ponchos. This area helps local craftspeople sell their handmade goods.
In 1975, her important paper called Fantasy and architecture was published. It came out in English, Spanish, and Dutch.
Restoring a Historic Convent
In 1976, Tonny Zwollo went back to Oaxaca. She worked with another architect, Martín Ruíz Camino, on a special project. They helped restore an old convent from the 1500s called Santa Catalina. This historic building was turned into a fancy five-star hotel named El Presidente. For this project, Tonny Zwollo won another Prix d'Excellence Award, this time from France.
New Projects in Oaxaca
In 1990, Tonny Zwollo designed another open-air market. This one was in Tlacolula de Matamoros. It had two floors, with a food court on the second floor and shops on the ground floor.
In 1992, she had an idea to help tourism in Tlacolula. She talked to Martín Ruíz Camino, who was then in charge of tourist development. Her idea was to build small tourist houses that looked like traditional local homes. These houses would let visitors experience local life and create jobs for the people living there. Ruíz liked the idea, and the Tourist Yú'ù Program started in nine villages in Oaxaca's Central Valley.
In 1993, Zwollo and Ruíz wrote a book about their projects. It was first published in Spanish. Later, it came out in English as The Lost Paradise: Architecture and Ecology in the Oaxaca Valley.
Working with the Governor
In 1996, Tonny Zwollo became a special consultant for Diódoro Carrasco Altamirano, who was the Governor of Oaxaca. One of her projects was at Hierve el Agua. This ancient site has natural rock formations that look like waterfalls. Swimming used to be forbidden there to protect the old archaeological site. But Tonny helped create new pools. This allowed the local community to earn money from tourism and create jobs for people. She also made a documentary film about this project called Blue is my colour: designing as an answer to nature.
Images for kids
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Architect Tonny Zwollo overlooking the Atitlán Lake (Guatemala) in 1976
See also
In Spanish: Tonny Zwollo para niños
