Turn a wall into space through its excision. AquíAquí by Matter Design
30/01/2021.
[El Chamizal - Ciudad Juárez] México
metalocus, JULIO RODRÍGUEZ
metalocus, JULIO RODRÍGUEZ
Description of project by Matter Design
BUILDING COMMUNITIES WITHOUT BOUNDARIES
A Radical Concept Wins a BSA Honor Award
How do you unbuild a wall? AquíAquí brings together the fields of design, public policy, social programming, material science, and activism to build community by dismantling division.
AquíAquí is a collection of repositionable concrete elements that offer a range of gathering possibilities. It is a space for ceremony, for breaking bread, for protest, for celebration, for entertainment, for organizing, for community. Three colossal concrete elements pivot with ease to transform a single wall into a series of configurations that define space without enclosing it. These spaces radiate around, between, and beyond the elements. There is no perimeter, container, or finite solution—instead, a range of possible configurations. AquíAquí can be a space for an intimate family meal, or for a crowd of thousands.
This outdoor community center is designed with substantial but flexible concrete elements that offer structure to string canopies for shade, hammocks for lounging, or lighting for ambiance. The thickness of the concrete provides a thermal lag, cooling bodies during the day and warming them in the evening. Architecture can be more than a container to enclose space. AquíAquí imagines an alternative space to gather communities at a range of scales in a well-defined exterior condition.
AquíAquí is a malleable infrastructure, a blank canvas for intervention, a central destination, and a center for community in an uncertain future. It is a place for community that celebrates the joy of coexistence. In an effort to exercise the challenges of a community center in uncertain times, AquíAquí is launched as a case study in a site that is all too familiar with division. AquíAquí (or HERE HERE) refers to both sides of a complex whole defined by the people who live, work, and play at the confluence of two nations—the border region of Mexico and the United States.
Material Design.- CEMEX Global R&D. Social programming.- USMC Strategic Alliance. Design activist.- Public Displays of Affection.