2024
MCHAP
Centro Cultural Aduana de San Blas
Colectivo C733
San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico
January 2023
PRIMARY AUTHOR
Gabriela Carrillo (Partner), Carlos Facio (Partner)
CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR
Sofía Pavón (Design Team), Labg + GIEE (Structural Design), Taller de Paisaje Hugo Sánchez (Landscape Design), Enrique Zenon (Electrical and mechanical engineering)
CLIENT
SEDATU - Agricultural, Territorial and Urban Development Secretary. Municipality of San Blas, Nayarit.
PHOTOGRAPHER
Rafael Gamo
OBJECTIVE
Until a few years ago, the building of the old San Blas customs still preserved its first level and an old corridor used as an exhibition space. In addition, there are a series of small workshops and remnants of the original structure, made of handmade adobe bricks. The intervention aimed to rescue these spaces preserving the lecture of the original typology. The additional structures were integrated to the compound using locally made adobe elements. The heart of the courtyards is inhabited by an industrial-style bridge, a viewing platform and vertical walkway that allows visitors to reach the rooftop of the historic building and the rooftop of the workshops.
CONTEXT
In 1768, the Port of San Blas was established in Nueva Galicia, Mexico, with the purpose of protecting the Pacific coast and becoming a gateway for Asian goods. The main objective of the current intervention in the historic building was its recovery for the cultural development of the community accompanied by the construction of workshops, a museum and exhibition area. The first phase of the intervention consisted in the consolidation of the historical handmade adobe bricks, preserving the memory of the past, whereas the following phase involved the addition of a contemporary structure fabricated with locally made adobe elements. The heart of the courtyards is inhabited by an industrial-style bridge, a viewing platform and vertical walkway that allows visitors to reach the rooftop of the historic building and the rooftop of the workshops. The building seeks to unfold activities to a second level with other opportunities for wind, views, and light, turning the same rooftops into box seat spaces for cultural activities. The vertical walkway becomes a journey through time in the memory of one of the oldest buildings in this port.
PERFORMANCE
There is an outdoor forum shaped like a Sikuli, a Wixárika structure that represents the composition of the universe and the connection between human beings, nature, and the universe. The composition of four adobe planes allowed for a new relationship between the existing building and the new structures, between the past and the present, and between nature and the constructed structures. The building seeks to unfold activities to a second level with other opportunities for wind, views, and light, turning the same rooftops into box seat spaces for cultural activities. The vertical walkway becomes a journey through time in the memory of one of the oldest buildings in this port.
