Community

After the 2017 Mexico big earthquake, due to structural damage in the sports center of Xoxocotla Municipality in Morelos, the PADF-Mexico (Pan-American Development Foundation), proposed to citizens a comprehensive rehabilitation project in this area, and a new community center with cultural and leisure facilities. The new public program is articulated in two buildings that fit in a remaining triangle-shaped area of the sport center.

The new ‘Mercantec – Midtbyens Gymnasium’ emphasizes the city’s ambitious visions for urban development. Here, 1,200 students and 130 employees unfold and thrive in innovative and inspiring settings that support learning, development, and social life within the building and the surrounding urban environment. The project completes the overall urban development project that Cubo Arkitekter has been part of, which also includes 2 bridges along The Ancient Road ‘Hærvejsbroen’,. The Ancient Road runs from Northern Germany to the very top of Denmark. The bridges are the city’s new central connection, that connects the city center to the new urban development area, ‘Viborg Baneby’.

BACKGROUND
Zijin County is located in the middle east of Guangdong Province, southeast of Heyuan City, and the east bank of the middle reaches of the Dongjiang River. More than 80% of the county is mountainous and hilly, known as eight mountains, one river, and one field. Feng’an Town is located 56 kilometers southwest of Zijin County, which is known as Dreamlike Feng’an and looks like Lijiang River, featuring the phenomenon of ten miles of different styles and hundred miles of different customs. Huilong Village, which is located in a low-mountain and hilly environment, is one of the most remote villages in Feng’an Town, Zijin County, with a pleasant climate and beautiful mountains and clear waters. The texture of the village is both sparse and dense, and the buildings follow the road as they please, dotted among the green hills and green forests.

“The donut effect” – a familiar occurrence in Austrian communities. It slowly draws traffic away from town centers via local suppliers on the periphery, leaving the center to die out. Our new community center, however, is fighting back against the donut effect. Developed out of the row of houses at the main square, this new heart of the village opens up as an inviting and welcoming gesture. Citizens and visitors alike will not only feel welcome, but also feel encouraged to make use of the building. A strong symmetry to the main square adds gravitas and meaning to the self-evident gathering place. The rotation of the structure and the resulting opening of the site, along with the orientation of the main entrance onto the main square, expresses an ultimate gesture of welcome. encouraging visitors to explore and discover.

The Qinchang Village Town hall is located directly to the east of the Qinchang Village CPC Community Center in Xiuwu County, Jiaozuo, Henan Province. It is the second phase of the Qinchang Village CPC Center Complex. While Phase I on the west side accommodates mostly non-profit community services programs and ceremonial spaces, the east side focuses on the introduction of small local businesses as well as cultural and recreational programs, including a store selling local farm produce and handicrafts souvenirs, a small café, a restaurant, a gallery as well as a children’s library. The space here is both a medium and a “generator” to create potential employment and start-up business opportunities for the villagers, exploring an “innovative and sustainable” model of the economic and cultural revitalization of the rural communities.

Over the last three years, the architectural firm of Saia Barbarese Topouzanov has revitalized Les Habitations Saint-Michel Nord, a 185-unit social housing complex in Montreal’s Saint-Michel neighbourhood. Designed by Montreal architect Philip Bobrow in the early 1970s, when brutalism was in vogue, the complex now features plenty of light and colour. It has become a joyful part of the landscape, a dignified and respectful environment for all residents. After a study of the housing complex, whose components had reached the end of their useful life, the proposal that was finally adopted entailed a remodelling of the entire complex, including the creation of a street in the centre of the block and the addition of a third floor to the existing two-story buildings. The project brief included the re-use of the buildings’ wood framework and a requirement to maintain the same number of units as before.