to provide the ecuadorian community of guadurnal with dining areas, the local architecture practice al borde has reused the exhibition pavilions from the united nations housing conference into a structure of two spaces. to prevent the damage from the floods — because of which the water sometimes reaches the level of 2 meters above the ground — the architects have elevated the house on functional legs featuring playful nets for the kids and shadowed area for the gatherings.
the mural tells the story of the community after the earthquake
after the earthquake in 2016, taller general, al borde’s partner in this project, started to technically assist the community of guadurnal, so the studio had a very good idea of the necessities of that community. the architects took advantage of the shadow, that is vital in coastal regions, to generate a meeting place, so they placed a couple of nets under the structure. this gave the space a playful character, not only for the kids but also for the adults.
the lunchroom is part of the public space of the community land
the project rapidly became iconic for the community, and its members decided to give the sugar cane walls a new cement covering. david sur, the urban artist and graphic designer of taller general, took charge of the mural which now tells the story of the community.
the ground floor as playground under the shade
the main entrance between the two structure
infonavit pavilion, UN habitat III, quito-ecuador 2016
concept drawing of the reuse of the pavilion
workshops with the guadurnal’s community
participative construction: community, volunteers, taller general staff and al borde staff
the lunchroom next to the prefab school built by the state after the earthquake
project info:
architects: al borde + taller general
collaboration: elise ytterstad, laura ardizzone, marialaura colagero & caatarina mateus
engineering: mathieu lamour
design: 2017
construction: al borde + taller general + comunidad de guadurnal, 2018
mural: david sur
illustration: carlos valarezo
location: guadurnal, esmeraldas, ecuador
community: board 2015-2017, board 2017-2019, martha ortiz correa teacher of the 6 de mayo school & parents board of the school
supported by: infonavit
design of the infonavit habitat III pavilion: la metropolitana
construction of the infonavit habitat III pavilion: turicom
photography: jag studio, carlos cuenca, taller general, al borde
designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.
edited by: maria erman | designboom
