The CondoQuest of Paradise´part 1

For many road weary travellers like me, averse to the more frigid latitudes, the tropics is Paradise found.Unfortunately the more i see of 23 degrees north and south of the equator, the more it looks like Paradise lost!
Dense equitorial rain forests have been denuded at an alarming rate around the globe,more for their wood resources than any idea of surburban habitation.However a few more degrees of lat north or south and the Sun Belt becomes an attractive Real Estate proposition. Having grown up in semi tropical Oz, i know how attractive that kind of living can be,especially if you are situated by the coast.Here on the Riveria Maya it is no exception, with crystal clear aquamarine waters, talcum powdered white sands, cenoytes , and pockets of exotic rain forest scattered througth out the more coarse low lying selva.This side of Mexico might not have the surf of the Pacific coast, but it does have alot to offer the self unemployed beach bum, in between gigs. Leaving aside sleeping in a hammock suspended between two palm trees on a Tulum beach, civilisation here has exploded like the big bang ,along the Caribe Mexicano coast line.Its only & what seems to be its prime directive was proglamated about 40yrs ago in direct competition to the thriving tourism of the Pacific west coast, with popular resorts like Acapulco.
Go forth and multiply
And multiply was what has happened since, in the shape of Condos , Mega Hotels & Beach Resorts. Often with little or no eco impact planning, creative architecture, or a thoughtful urban infrastructue.Paradise lost. Well for a while ...maybe ?
When i lived here for 2 years thats pretty much all i saw, and most of it was an eye sore, devoid of anything distinctively Mexican in its venacular or inspiring in its design.The ubiquitous Condominium was so homogenus that you wouldnt know you were in Mexico, let alone in tropical latitudes. To be sure there were some exceptions but alas few and far between. Eventually i turned my eye to the world of natural beauty here for which there is no man made competition when it comes to creativity and organic design.
Where some maverick builders had sort to integrate natural harmonies in construction & materials was south of Tulum a little out of the geographical reach of the general investor, at least at that time.
6 months ago i came back to Playa del Carmen to teach, and witnessed at 1st hand how that town , now city i guess had expanded. At one time it was Latin Americas fastest growing location .When i lived just south of there in Puerto Aventuras it reminded me of an energetic frontier boon town, that sprawled in dissaray every which way.I once made the rather unkind comment that it looked no different after a hurricane had ripped through it.Re organise chaos with chaos and it is still chaos. One taste- plain ugly.
But then on my last trip i saw something new, i discovered something between the gaps in the prime directive , i experienced a vibrant Mayan community that filled the space outside of the Glitzy distractions of 5th Avenue. I also saw evidence of a return to a more inspiring design ethos in some resturants, boutique hotels , shops, ocean front appartments and in the general beach culture.

The CondoQuest of Paradise will continue all around the global tropical zone, nothing will prevent that. If you build um they will come ! maybe not so fast in these slightly surreal financial times, but they will come and alas, Paradise will go.

Part of what i am searching for on this trip around the Caribbean, is that unique creative spark, that holistic design intelligence, that x factor essence of wonderment, which is inspiring in tropical architecture & living. Where designers have created a tropical space, a place , where the heart & soul of a sensitive sentient ( not a client or the buyer or an investor)can sojourn at peace. For that at least in this ever changing mundo, will be return to Paradise.
In part 2 i will be looking for The Lotus in The Mud.