eHTC (Experiments in History, Theory, and Criticism)

eHTC (Experiments in History, Theory, and Criticism) is a rogue unit, originally founded by Carlos A. Segura in 2023 as a pilot program to test practice-based research methods and concepts at the School of Architecture, LCI Veritas (Costa Rica), where it initiated—despite the school itself—the project Cement Landscapes and Unauthorized Biographies, dedicated to producing a theoretical and visual framework of the special environments surrounding the cement industry in Costa Rica. Alongside Operaciones (Costa Rica) and Truncata Workshop (USA), eHTC developed an experimental research residency under the Residencias Remotas program at UNAB SoA (2024), where it later conducted a new theory/media unit (2025). It has exhibited and published its recent work in forums across academic units of Geophysics, Philosophy, and History (University of Costa Rica), Architecture (Universidad Andrés Bello and ETSAM, in Chile and Spain, respectively), and Art (Universidad Nacional de San Martín, Argentina). It has recently joined Autonomías Forenses, the network of Forensic Architecture agencies in Latin America, and continues its research independently.

Javier Peña is a digital artist, independent researcher, and computational designer, and an architect trained at LCI Veritas. His recent work in ceramics, digital fabrication, and installation examines contemporary climate challenges and explores the use of 3D clay printing technologies for coral reef regeneration in Costa Rica. He has been a collaborator in eHTC’s collective research project Cementation Landscapes and Unauthorized Biographies (2023), a research resident at Operaciones (Costa Rica, 2023), and an experimental resident in the Residencias Remotas III program at the School of Architecture, UNAB (Chile, 2024). He is a research assistant at eHTC.

Luis Alejandro Sánchez Rivera is an advanced architecture student at LCI Veritas. He has been a research assistant in the project Cementation Landscapes and Unauthorized Biographies (eHTC, 2023–2024), an experimental resident in the Residencias Remotas III program at the School of Architecture, UNAB (Chile, 2024), and co-author of a recent article published in Edumeet Ecotopías: IV International Conference of Architecture and Transdisciplinarity (2024). He is a research assistant at eHTC.