El Faro

This was an open competition for the Delegacion Miguel Hidalgo in Mexico City. Authorities reflect the necessity of cultural spaces for young people, basing this purposes in a plan conceived in Curitiba, Brasil,called “El Faro del Saber” translated as “The lighthouse of knowledge” which involved a series of public libraries with free access to computers, technicaleducation and various public services. The invitation was extended to a number of architecture faculties, as a space for its students to develop the project.

We reinterpreted the concept of the lighthouse transforming it into a horizontal luminous building that stands through a thick mass of trees in the park in which the site stood.

A premise for the competition was the access to everyone, so we decided to use horizontality as a mean to develop the project as a series of ramps which evolve around a concrete wall that becomes the medullar spine of the project, not only does it support the ramps, but with help of the steel structure which surrounds it, the wall works as the structure from which all the spaces hang, suspending slabs cover important distances which do not work as single slabs but as a story high built-in framework.

We took advantage of the existing infrastructure and we made an addition to the requirements, using our lighthouse as a mean of projection and lightning for an open scenic stage which existed in site.

We worked in the possibility of using the glasses which we proposed to sponsorship, so that the lighthouse would not need a great investment from city authorities for its operation and maintenance.

School Works UIA 1998-2003

Tacubaya-Mexico City

Construction VI

Team: Gina Ampudia-Rodrigo Langarica-Guillermo Ramirez