A sweeping colonnade and stepped plazas animate the concrete Boys and Girls Club that Centro de Colaboración Arquitectónica has built for children living in south-central Mexico.
The 3,400-square-metre complex is an after-school club for young people between the ages of six and 18 years who are living in unsafe or low-income neighbourhoods in Tecámac and Ecatepec.
It comprises three buildings that host a mix of recreational and educational facilities, linked by a corridor of 24 arches that Centro de Colaboración Arquitectónica (CCA) said is modelled on human vertebrae.
A colonnade is the centrepiece of the Boys and Girls Club in Mexico
"This is a space that provides extracurricular educational, artistic, and recreational activities that promote positive values and community integration," the studio explained. "The three buildings are linked by a long corridor that represents the idea of education as the backbone of the development of society ? its 24 arches represent each of the human vertebrae."
The campus is made from concrete donated to the scheme
CCA's Boys and Girls Club was completed in 2019 and is one of 10 similar campuses in Mexico that are initiated by the Boys & Girls Club of America.
The organisation exists to provide children and young people living in poor or unsafe areas with healthy and safe spaces to play, create and learn before and after school.
"CCA was commissioned by the Boys and Girls Club to build the tenth campus in...