Photo: Anne van der Heijden
Pamela is making these boxes with other students who are taking the same course. “Atelier is our version of ACT”. They want to use the boxes for a social experiment in Amsterdam. “We want to see if placing an object is enough to make a place crowded, or if a place needs to be crowded in order for an object to work”. Basically, they will put the boxes in a public space and see if people will play games with them. “The boxes needed to have a fun colour that was light and playful and stood out.” According to Pamela, this was the first time she did applied research like this in Wageningen, but she has done things like this before in Peru.
Pamela is from Peru where she studied architecture. “We had longer periods in Peru, so there was more time for big experiments like this”. Compared to Lima, where Pamela used to live, Wageningen is really small. “Especially when you want to get some food in the evening. Everything closes in Wageningen. There is always life in Lima, food places are open throughout the night.”
There is always life in Lima, food places are open throughout the night
Peru was not the only country Pamela has lived. “We moved to Germany when I was four because of terrorism in Peru. However, we moved back when I was six. My parents wanted to go back and the situation had improved in Peru.”
Even though she lived in Germany for a while, the culture shock was still great when she moved to the Netherlands. “I barely remember Germany”. Pamela misses the nightlife and the food in Lima. Luckily she found her own small community of people from Peru here in Wageningen. “With one girl I sometimes practice dancing in heels, that was my form of exercise in Peru. Managing your balance on your heels while dancing gives you a strong core stability”. Pamela also loves singing and photography, but landscape architecture above all. “It’s good that I love it, because you have to devote yourself 110 percent in this career.’