Open Architecture Network

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

Several structures are positioned around a large, central, green space. This courtyard serves as the community “Lawn” – an informal forum in which to meet, play, organize, and learn.

The Network Tower, located on the southern edge of the Lawn, serves as a radio antenna, cellular tower, and wireless network transmitter, as well as a visual landmark – a symbol of the technology that the entire community may now possess. Built of inexpensive prefabricated concrete sections, the Tower is an elegant beacon – a lighthouse at the heart of the community.

Six of the nine structures are based on a repeated module: a 32-square-meter self-sufficient unit. Built of local stone and mud-brick, the modules give a feeling of solidity and permanence within the shifting temporality of the surrounding sheds. A series of garden walls help define the “streets” that circumscribe the Lawn. Durable, framed, corrugated aluminum panels provide shading for the streets.

Roofs act as rain-harvesters in association with a filtered gutter system, which collects and cleans water during the [rainy] season, storing it in cisterns. Solar panels are securely fastened to the roofs and provide the necessary power for the computer equipment inside.

The Library is a 2-storey adaptation of the typical module, giving it hierarchy and allowing for maximum area for books and reading areas.

Rain gardens make up the spaces between the modules. These 4-meter zones are part of the overall drainage system of the site, and help to provide fresh, cool air for the ventilation of the modules. Overhead doors on the side a of the module can be opened up to connect to the adjacent module, effectively joining the interiors to create a contiguous 75-square-meter space.

The plaza in the read of the site can convert from tennis court to performance stage, from after-school basketball game to weekend vegetable market. The broadcasting station flanks the southern edge, while restrooms and storage are located in the corner of the site.

SIDAREC Village does not attempt to drastically formalize an urban situation, but rather it aims to provide an organization in which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It gives a feeling of permanence while allowing for adaptability for the changing needs of the community.