The project is an intervention where preexisting structures were rehabilitated and new ones added. The starting point was the recovery of an auditorium with a portico covered by brick artisanal vaults that we recognized as the most valuable preexistence in architectural terms. So, we decided the rest of the buildings would be built with traditional clay elements, using different construction systems to produce a sense of unity. Although none of those pre-existing buildings had heritage value, we recovered, re-structured, and re-cladded to integrate them into the new complex with new buildings and landscape elements to produce the idea of a cultural public enclosure. They hybrid nature of the project made us reflect on the opportunity to foster traditional techniques in a contemporary architecture.
The entrance new building was solved in section with a brick vault at the ground level to convey the idea of threshold to the whole Center. It houses a library in the upper floor, illuminating with a sawtooth roof a multipurpose space, where children’s activities and book presentations are held. It was built entirely with load-bearing brick walls demonstrating the possibilities of artisanal work even for public commissions.
The services new building, was placed to produce a limit to the east and contains an open amphitheater, music and dance rooms. It was cladded with traditional ceramic elements evoking a “tejamanil”, a typical construction system of local vernacular traditions. Its longitudinal development takes advantage of the natural topography to transform from a one-level building to a two-level story.