The project emerges as an exploration of the multiple possibilities of architecture understood through the lens of play. Rather than functioning as a sports facility, the proposal investigates how playfulness can become an organizing principle of space and a catalyst for intergenerational interaction. Located within one of Bogotá’s most vibrant cultural districts, near the historic center of Usaquén, the project is embedded in an urban context where gastronomy, art, music, and contemporary public life converge. Within this setting, architecture is conceived as an infrastructure capable of intensifying these relationships while fostering new forms of social engagement.
The site originally contained a house dating from the 1920s that, despite the passage of time and minor alterations, had retained much of its original character. This condition revealed the importance of preserving the existing structure as a fundamental component of the proposal, understanding it not as a constraint but as the project's point of departure. From this perspective, the extension is conceived as a restrained intervention that establishes a precise dialogue between the two buildings. The new volume follows the structural axes of the original house and is separated from it by a slender expansion joint, creating a subtle threshold that distinguishes the two structures without fragmenting their relationship.
The new building is constructed in exposed concrete, following an austere and essential material strategy that deliberately avoids competing with the existing architecture. Rather than establishing a sharp contrast, the intervention seeks a balanced relationship in which the new construction exists in critical continuity with the old.
The encounter between the original house and the extension creates a clear and respectful dialogue between architectures of different periods. Rather than attempting to imitate the existing building, the junction makes evident the coexistence of different times, construction techniques, and ways of inhabiting the site, all articulated through a careful reading of its context. In this sense, exposed concrete, employed in its most elemental form, becomes a quiet material that frames and enhances the pre-existing structure, allowing the historic building to retain its prominence while enabling the new intervention to integrate through precision, restraint, and respect.
