Open Architecture Network

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

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Introduction

The aim of the Lusaka Pride Centre is to give the people of Lusaka a chance to plan their own future. This can be achieved by creating not just a football pitch, but a cultural centre and a community space. The plan combines football with music and education, housing them all in the same sustainable, flexible structure. The centre will help them educate the community, develop their skills, and kick off the fight against AIDS.

Visual Identity

The team logo tries to merge traditional Zambian textile art with the universal motif of the soccer ball. The objective of the logo design was to create something that celebrates the Zambian culture and does not succumb to European influences.

The team uniform tries to infuse the spirit of nationalism by using the same copper-orange colour of the national team. The design is simple and draws inspiration from the flowing lines used in traditional Zambian art.

Architecture

The design for the Lusaka Pride Centre tries to merge two of the things that Zambian people love - Football and Music. We believe that it is much easier to spread AIDS awareness if it is integrated in local culture and entertainment. We also want to use the structure to reinforce the sense of community, by creating a common space that can be used for local markets.

The structure is extremely flexible, as the rooms for market stalls and education are made out of fabric screens. These rooms can easily be resized according to the need of the community. The plan also includes the generation of power using the kinetic energy of the audience, to try and make the stadium self-sustaining. We aim to create a structure that doesn’t stop at being functional. It needs to be beautiful enough for the people of Lusaka to be proud of.

The structure is shaped like an infinity symbol, so that it can incorporate a football pitch and a community space.

The structure will be held up by pillars and will use solar powered lights that can absorb solar energy during the day, to create a faint luminescence during the night. This will enable people to play until dusk, and will boost the aesthetics of the building.

The football pitch will measure 40x20m and will be surrounded by a standing-only audience space. The floor of this space will be covered with energy generating panels, which will use the kinetic energy created by the dancing and cheering audiences to produce electricity. The adjacent circular space will have a community park where people can spend time together.

In between the two spaces is a stage that can be used for musical concerts on match days. It can also be used for AIDS awareness plays and public announcements. On either side of the stage are two structures made out of the shipping containers that were used to bring the artificial turf to Lusaka. One of them will be a locker room, the other will be a recording studio.

The entire circumference of the structure is covered with drapes, which serve as flexible walls for the various rooms of the centre. These rooms will be used for AIDS awareness classrooms, art and craft rooms, music classrooms, and market stalls. The objective of this design is to keep the structure flexible, so that the people of the centre can increase or decrease the size of classrooms, depending on the number of students they have, and create as many market stalls as they want to. These fabric screens will be in bold colours and will incorporate the same fluid lines from the logo of the centre.

Social Programme

The centre aims to create a sense of community amongst the people of Lusaka with various cultural, educational and social programs. The main event is a weekly soccer match. It is open to the public, and will include performances by the children, as well as by local music artists. The matches will be followed by concerts.

The centre can take the opportunity to record concerts and compile CDs in the music studio, and sell them during match days. These CDs will generate revenue, promote AIDS awareness, and give the young musicians an outlet for their talent. These CDs can also be promoted on local radio channels in Lusaka, both on ZNBC-One, a 7-language radio station, and ZNBC-Four, an English radio station. In addition to music, the children can be taught about traditional Zambian art, craft, dance and food – skills that are on the verge of dying out due to a dwindling population.

Sustainability Programme
The Lusaka Pride center is designed to be sustainable both in terms of energy and finance.

• Energy-creating stands – The centre will be powered by energy created by the people of Lusaka. The audience stands will have a waterproof floor made of a series of springs and power generators. When the power generators are pressed by the steps of the people, they produce a flowing current in a process called Piezoelectricity. This recharges a set of underground batteries, which can then power the entire complex.
• Solar powered lights – In addition to this, we will be using solar powered lights on the roof of the structure, so that it can have a gentle illumination at night.
• Finances – The centre will be able to finance itself with the help of revenue collected from the CDs sold during performances.

Multimedia
Example of Regenerative Energy

Lusaka Pride Authors:

Namyoung An (South Korea), Lawrence Blankebyl (New Zealand), Giulia De Meo (Italy), Jade Follawi (UK), Valerie Gudenus (Austria), Jin Kang (South Korea), Priya Khatri (India), Elisabetta Marchese (Italy), Pushkar Nagwekar (India), Jennifer Osborne (Canada), Heloisa Sartorato (Brazil), Vidhi Shah (India), Tomonaga Tokuyama (Japan), and Lars Wannop (Australia).