Community

As part of the ODOP initiative, the district of Agra has been identified as a hub for producing leather and leather goods. In line with this, the Common Facilitation Centre (CFC) Agra has been developed to provide technical support and services specifically to the footwear industry in the region. The primary aim of CFC Agra is to improve the quality of footwear products produced in the region and enhance the industry’s competitiveness in both domestic and international markets.

Atobiu, meaning “meeting” in Sardinian, is an urban installation in S’Olivariu Park in Uta (CA). The local administration promoted the project intending to create an outdoor theater that re-designs the square behind City Hall, transforming it into a vibrant social hub for the Uta community. This space is designed to be enjoyed by everyone at various times of the day, fostering a sense of community and togetherness.

More than 60 units for assisted living and a new community centre are placed at the core of an existing building block in Hoboken, a small town in Antwerp, Belgium. The former industrial sawmill that occupied the site was demolished and replaced with a compact housing project that densifies the city centre and seeks a reconnection with the neighbourhood.

With a growing constituent staff, students, and residents, the Foundation sought a new space to commune its population for varied affairs-chief among them worship. Ford 3 developed a simple design with a flexible interior that puts focus on its surroundings with wraparound floor-to-ceiling gazing. Sited on a flat area between wetlands and existing roads of a larger campus, the design places the building’s utilities nearest to the main road and hides them under a planted grass mound with integrated outdoor amphitheater seating. This seating choice reflects the client’s modesty and creates privacy for the community center while remaining near and engaged with the remainder of the campus.

In Huai Pichai Subdistrict, Pak Chom District, Loei Province, Ban Pak Niam School is situated along the Mekong River. The school is significantly isolated from the development area, which results in a lack of facilities for various activities. As a result, these activities are organized in the school’s old cafeteria. Therefore, villagers and volunteers for rural development camps agreed to plan and construct a multipurpose pavilion. This pavilion serves as an outdoor learning space and a venue for the village community to participate in activities with the students.

Like most urban environments, Cambridge is subject to the inevitable effects of climate change and seemingly growing socioeconomic inequities within urban planning of the public realm. These phenomena often affect communities living in neighborhoods that were not originally planned for high population density and lack shaded infrastructure for their inhabitants during the summer months.

The Luanda Waterpoints project improved and adapted three water access points on the outskirts of the city. The project aims to show how small-scale interventions and low-cost solutions can have an impact on the quality of life of disadvantaged populations. The interventions favour local labour and encourage the reuse of materials. With this in mind, we visited informal, open-air markets in Luanda and found a series of metal modules that were originally used in guardrails on urban elements in the city centre. These modules were purchased and adapted for use in the waterpoints project.

In the densely built-up area of Jingumae, where workers and residences are intermingled, we designed a complex facility open to the public with a series of marble floors. The circular slabs create a generous gap between the building and the adjacent properties, allowing maximum light and wind to enter from the outside.