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2022

MCHAP

House of Music

Colectivo C733

Nacajuca, Mexico

May 2021

PRIMARY AUTHOR

José Amozurrutia, Gabriela Carrillo, Israel Espin, Carlos Facio, Eric Valdez

CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR

CLIENT

Rúben Linares

PHOTOGRAPHER

Yoshihiro Koitani

OBJECTIVE

Large, well-ventilated spaces were built with local coconut wood, bricks, and clay tiles to provide warmth, natural freshness, and good acoustics. The new Community Center reuses the foundation of the existing building and provides a generous space for the town's social gatherings. Mirroring this structure and forming a public promenade that works as a perpendicular extension of the street, each hall of the new music school has a large window to see the top of the trees, and if desired, the doors can be opened wide and connect the entire building crosswise, connecting the street through a lattice, the Hall, the boardwalk, the music rooms, the wetlands and the stream. It is the first building in the town to discharge clean water into the rivers, through a system that culminates in a series of treatment wetlands. In addition, the coconut wood for this site is highly sustainable, since it is an abundant and renewable resource, avoiding the felling of other species. Its production and transfer generate a minimal carbon footprint compared to other materials.

CONTEXT

In this region, the majority of the inhabitants are Chontal Mayans, and their ancestral traditions flow powerfully through music and festivals, both in the Pocho Dance of Mesoamerican roots and in the syncretism of contemporary manifestations.
It is a place with a hot and humid climate, always green, with scarce economic resources. The project is one of the four interventions carried out by SEDATU, as part of the urban improvement programs. Two of its main challenges were both the short time for its execution and its low budget (44.5 U.S. dollar per square feet).
On the site there were two buildings in poor condition, a semi-abandoned event hall and a small Music School with insufficient space and acoustic problems.

PERFORMANCE

The Great Multipurpose Hall hosts the main social and cultural events of the town. It is a community center where weddings, concerts, meetings, workshops, group classes, fairs or temporary shelters can take place. It is accessed along the entire central corridor, which is a perpendicular extension of the public space from the street towards the interior of the property, with mud brick pavers and vegetation of endemic trees that will generate shade over the years. and freshness. From that same open space you can directly access each of the music classrooms, the administration and the cafeteria. Students can practice in isolation in each of the modules, or completely open the wooden shutters on both sides to let out the sound. Each classroom has a controlled view of the treetops and the ability to open up to views of the wetlands and creek.

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