QuITo VElasCo Director General de CasaCor Bolivia. // MANAGING DIRECTOR OF CASACOR BOLIVIA. santa cruz de la sierra the cheerfulness of its people, always willing to talk, sha-re and celebrate. In the streets on the outskirts, you cannot fail to notice the traditional stately homes with patios full of plants and hammocks, as if they were permanently defen-ding the colonial concept so appreciated by travellers from the other hemisphere. The first contrast is on one side of the temple: Manzana Uno Espacio de Arte. An ‘open doors’ gallery that receives 170,000 visitors every year. Its voluntary director is the Slovene artist, Ejti Stih. She assures that the people of Santa Cruz are inte-rested in art but she points out that ‘You need to offer it in a friendly way, without porters, police and the obligation to register when you enter’. Judging by the constant hustle and bustle inside the premises, it looks like the formula works. If you’re looking for a genuine and colouristic experien-ce, you need to go to the traditional markets in the city, such as the Abasto Minorista. It’s difficult to walk along the aisles without chatting to the saleswomen and enjoying the wide variety of fruit and vegetables recently brought from all over Bolivia. Here there are colourful vitamins that do wonders for the eyesight, but are also good for taking selfies. However, there is another Santa Cruz. We’re referring to the modern, ground-breaking and cosmopolitan city that looks towards the sky. The home of the MSC Tower –with a heliport on the roof, quite an event in the city– or the Equipetrol district, a 21st-century business centre, with its modern office blocks, hotels, shopping centres, restau-rants and designer bars. Nevertheless, if you want to try the region’s typical dishes, it’s better to turn your back on modernity. If you’re looking for a good majadito de charque (sloppy rice with beef jerky), sopa de maní (Bolivian peanut soup), locro de gallina (hen and potato stew), keperí or sonso de yuca (flu-ffy yucca pancakes with cheese), you should go to traditio-nal restaurants or the cocinerías (spit roasters) in some of the markets, such as the Nuevo de Sucre, in the city centre. Other must-eats are salteñas (savoury pastries filled with chicken or meat stew. They are served in specialised establishments in the morning, in the same way as the horneaditos that accompany coffee in the afternoon: cuñapé (Bolivian bread), empanada de queso (cheese pastry), masaco de plátano or yuca (banana or yucca mashed with jerky, empanada de arroz (baked rice pudding patties). The local fashion also has its own personality, which, according to the designer Claudia Mercado, ‘incorporates the traditional culture of Santa Cruz and missions’. Her bags, earrings, pendants and chokers are inspired by the shapes, colours and textures of rural areas. Quite a bit further on from her shop is Güembé Park, which pays tribute to Boli-vian biodiversity with its Butterfly Sanctuary. In this coun-try, even arts and crafts are committed to the environment, as shown by the objects carved by the Kirah Design orga-nisation; the items are sustainable and the activity creates employment. ‘We transform recycled and discarded wood from Bolivia rosewood to create unique designs’, affirms the founder, Gabriela Flores. Her philosophy is to raise ecological awareness. And they’ve got off to a very good start. El respeto por la tradición y el fomento de un desarrollo en sintonía con las últimas tenden-cias constituyen la razón de ser de CasaCor, la mayor muestra de arquitectura, decoración, diseño, arte y paisajismo de América. CasaCor apoya a profesionales bolivianos de estos cam-pos para que alcancen una mayor proyección y contribuyan a generar una ciudad que marque tendencia en Latinoamérica. Al mismo tiempo, queremos esforzarnos de forma especial por conservar lo que ya tenemos, por lo que cada año estamos restaurando un inmueble repre-sentativo de nuestro patrimonio arquitectónico. The respect for tradition and promoting deve-lopment in line with the latest trends are the rationale behind CasaCor, the largest exhibi-tion of architecture, decoration, design, art and landscaping in America. CasaCor supports Boli-vian professionals in these fields to achieve a higher profile and contribute towards creating a city that can set the trend in Latin America. We also want to make a concerted effort to preserve what we already have, which is why each year we are restoring a building that is representati-ve of our architectural heritage. Apuesta por el diseño boliviano Go for Bolivian design