Where the stars are born | CDI Cuna de campeones by Espacio Colectivo Arquitectos

AUTHOR: Valentina Martin Millán

Architect graduated from the Javeriana University of Cali, Colombia. Passionate about architecture, interior design, illustration and nature. Seeking to build a more sensitive world for everyone.

CDI Cuna de Campeones

CONSTRUCTION NAME: CDI Cuna de Campeones

ARCHITECTS: Espacio Colectivo Architects

PHOTOGRAPHY: Santiago Robayo

LOCATION: Cali - Colombia

YEAR: 2022

M2: 2.800 M2

Within the city of Cali, in one of the neighborhoods most affected by violence, inequality and poverty, we find a small respite from the chaos. A place where, despite the fact that people die every day, there is still hope of recovering life and giving a better future to those who are on their way.

In the Siloé neighborhood, we can see that hope marked in the form of an educational institution. However, here education is not given to just anyone, but to the most important people, who in turn are the most vulnerable in every way: the children.

The project was designed by the firm Espacio Colectivo Arquitectos of Cali, Colombia. Initially, the project was conceived as a public competition by the Mayor's Office of Cali, in 2018. A year later, the project was built.

It is known as “Cradle of Champions”, alluding to the fact that Siloé is the only neighborhood in Colombia to have won 2 Olympic medals. Thanks to this, it was decided that sports would be important in terms of its pedagogical program, being the first of its kind in Colombia.

“The CDI Cuna de Campeones has the opportunity to show education as a constructive act. The project should highlight the urban dimension of education, the collective value of the educational system and educational action as the most appropriate instrument in the construction of citizenship.”

- Official report of the project designed by Espacio Colectivo Arquitectos.

Siloé constitutes a point of convergence between different cultures and populations in Colombia. In the beginning, it was a neighborhood originated by miners who settled informally when work in the coal mines predominated. Years later, multiple groups of people affected by violence, forced displacement and poverty migrated to this area in search of a home. Due to this informality, the urban fabric is currently irregular, housing occupancy on hillsides is high and difficult to access, and the amount of public green areas is almost nil. In the midst of this reality, the CDI Cuna de Campeones was built.

This is an example of how public architecture can become a political instrument, depending on the interests of the leaders. In this case, the position they had regarding the idea of social welfare could be evidenced, showing education as a constructive act, and at the same time rebuilding the sense of belonging in Siloé. The project seeks to build citizenship and offer support to the neighborhood community, providing them with an inclusive and ecological public space, through the design of a building for children.

Being a project for the children of the community, the idea of protecting them, isolating them from the intensity of their daily environment, was taken into account. For this reason, it was decided to locate the children's classrooms at a height, alluding to a bird's nest. At the same time, since it is also a community space that allows the social cohesion of the inhabitants, the architecture of this building had to allow the possibility of these two scenarios. Thanks to this determinant, it was decided to locate the classrooms on a second level, in order to generate a first public floor, which will activate the urban potential of the building.

The volumetric strategy developed for this project consists of freeing the second floor and supporting the volume of the second floor on columns, creating a threshold that allows this intermediate space between the public and the common. This space constitutes one of the most important approaches for the development of this proposal, as it is a space that emphasizes the search for hospitality. “The construction of quality meeting spaces that are open to the city and that multiply contact is a strategy to overcome distrust and dilute the differences of citizens” - Taken from the project's Memory. With this, the project seeks to give the neighborhood the opportunity to share and coexist among people who pick up their children, surrounded by a quiet space, with nature and protected from the sun.

As for its second level, known as “the nest”, it seeks to be a pedagogical and recreational space, bringing children closer to the sky. This is a space that allows a clear view of its surroundings, observing the treetops, the heights of Siloé, and the magnificence of the cliffs. This is a space that is conceived as a place within a place, where the community of the sector is dignified through education.

As for the architectural elements that give life to this space, we can highlight in the first instance the threshold. This space is the one that allows the extension of the central courtyard, at the moment of opening the gates. In the middle of this space we can see the alternating columns that support the volume of the second level, generating a sense of lightness and movement, typical of the architecture of the area. Here we can find a blue playground, which uses the alternating columns for children's entertainment.

Inside the playground, we can find a ramp-roller, which alludes to the organic paths found in the sector. This ramp seeks to energize the playground and bring it to life with its vibrant red color.

And finally, another architectural element that stands out in the project are the skylights in the children's classrooms. They are independent and changeable, generating different profiles of the volume, depending on the position of the viewer. These are veneered with different shades of blue, creating an inter-visibility effect between the neighborhood and the building. These skylights, in addition to generating a constant entry of natural light into the classrooms, allow the children to get closer to the sky.

Each element that makes up the building has a purpose. The colors seek to compensate for the hardness of the materials; The shutter of prefabricated concrete elements serves to protect from the sun and at the same time, to protect the children from stray bullets that constantly injure people in the sector, due to gang confrontations; All the elements fulfill a purpose in this building.

To conclude, a person develops a large percentage of their mental and physical capacities between the ages of 0 and 10. This is why, in designing a children's project, you put the next generation of the sector's population at stake. It is not a project that should be taken lightly, on the contrary, it is where more creativity and recursion should be taken, and even more considering the resources of the sector.

This is why FOCUS highlights this project as an example for future designs of early childhood educational spaces. Recursion, ingenuity and development, make this project the possibility of giving a better future to those who are on their way, even if the reality of their environment does not have the best conditions. This is a project that can promote change.

I invite you to learn more about the project and the firm Espacio Colectivo Arquitectos and get inspired this children's month to design projects with them in mind!