The “Jean Villar” Community Center is a social empowerment device open to all the neighborhood. Located in the middle of an 80’s courtyard (XL) social housing typology complex, the community center sits up north, at the end of a linear park, and visible from all the housing towers. It is a very introverted urban space, an inverted panopticon condition.

Originally built as part of the complex, our project is the reconstruction of the same facility destroyed by a storm some years ago. The new program includes a multipurpose space, community kitchen, offices, and a teenager hall, as a way to invite all generations of inhabitants into the building.
We took upon ourselves to create an inclusive place completely different from the existing in order to produce a new identity lacking in this “low income” local community. The building is conceived as a 360° object that spins around a patio with a threefold void organization principle connected to the park pedestrian network, so landscape and building becoming one entity. We tilted the building from the park axis, so the shelter terrace and the open multipurpose area connect directly to the park, therefore allowing the interior activities to stretch out between the diverse exterior spaces (park, terrace and patio).

The roof creates a soft umbrella kind of typology building that not only highlights the 3 void organizational principle (entrances) through the continuity of the roof line but also collects the rainwater into the patio as an environmental machine. The roof is made with a wooden structure and “red tainted” zinc cover. We proposed a concrete building for its robust massing quality as to enhance the idea of the void organization principle. The exterior is colored orange pink to detach it from the context creating a unifying object in the park. The void strategy performs as an icon especially during the night, where the lighting in building illuminates all the surrounding park area giving a sign to the residents of activities taking place, inviting everyone to come in and participate!

An inclusive participatory design process with the residents resulted in a building which not only plays with the singularity of its urban condition but also takes into account the future users desires