International design firm Aidia Studio designed a community centre in Oaxaca, Mexico complete with vaulted roofs that shade a series of screens composed of square concrete blocks.
Known as Centro DIF Comitancillo, the 312-square metre (3,362-square foot) complex was completed in 2024 in the small town of San Pedro Comitancillo by Aidia Studio.
Aidia Studio has completed a community centre in Mexico
Located on the main road but focused internally, the building is divided into five sections ? each crowned with a shallow vault measuring three metres wide ? on a plot that previously housed a one-storey community centre.
"The building achieves a simple sense of beauty by playing with different textures and patterns, and maximizing light-shadow movements," Aidia Studio cofounder Natalia Wrzask told Dezeen. It is wrapped in a "mysterious" facade that conceals the building
"It's an introverted, smaller-sized building with a mysterious facade that does not reveal straight away the activities happening inside."
The team selected different finishes and shades of concrete to emphasize the varying geometries. The curved elements ? like the vaults and sculptural staircase and forms a focal point on the southern corner ? have a smooth, semi-polished terracotta finish, while the orthogonal forms are characterized by horizontal bands with an earthy, sand tone.
It features a vaulted roof and screens composed of concrete block
The perimeter of the building is sha...