Another public use object at La Selva: a boot-cleaning station we could call it, although when I asked around what was its proper name I was told it does not have one. An object without a name but with a clear function and a material presence that asserts its importance in the everyday life of this community. This is an object that few visitors to the station would notice, their minds probably tuned to discovering the exuberant flora and fauna of the place and not the local infrastructure. Yet, despite its anonymity, I realized on site that it is an important community object, frequently used by researchers to wash off the mud and dirt from their boots. It has the additional function of a lively meeting point and while washing off their boots, researchers inevitably engage in conversations that always last longer than the cleaning task. This object has a rather monolithic look, one that clearly highlights its status as artifact. Its materiality shouts that it does not want to integrate with the natural landscape, but assert its tectonic presence and function as a distinctive alternative to the natural landscape. In fact, researchers could easily wash off their boots in the nearby river, as much as they could sleep or relieve themselves in the forest. The existence of dormitories, toilets and boot-cleaning stations at La Selva defines design in its broadest possible sense, as the procurement of preferred ways of satisfying human needs.
