丨巴西里约热内卢丨Atelier 77

Architects:Atelier 77

Area:1297m²

Year:2024

Photographs:Rafael Salim

Manufacturers:Gerdau,Gypsum

Category:Educational Architecture,Institute

Coordination:Nanda Eskes

Project Team:Raquel Azevedo, Thainá Besssa, Henrique Coutinho

Engineering & Consulting > Civil:Trini Engenharia

Engineering & Consulting > Lighting:Lightdrops

Engineering & Consulting > Structural:Ramon Alberto Ayoroa Patino

Engineering & Consulting > Facilities:Equiper

Engineering & Consulting > Others:Vetor Consultoria Projeto e Engenharia, Atacfire, TPX Projetos, Solar On, Gileade Telecomunicações, Gualter Pupo, Samuel Bretts, Eduardo Casulo, Ricardo Sawl, Mariana Pinto, Versa Saboya

Engineering & Consulting > Quantification:André Ushino, Teresa Faria e Luiz Cortes Menezes

Engineering & Consulting > Acoustics:RTM Arquitetos

Architecture Offices:Fernando Cunha

City:Rio de Janeiro

Country:Brazil

Text description provided by the architects. The expansion of the Ser Cidadão Headquarters in Santa Cruz, the west zone of Rio de Janeiro, embodies in architecture the commitment of a social organization to human and community development. Since 2002, the organization has been involved in projects related to education, culture, work, and health, promoting opportunities for youth in vulnerable territories. In 2006, it received a donation of a historic mansion, the former residence of doctor and senator Júlio Cesário de Melo, whose legacy of care inspired the very essence of the project: to build spaces that welcome, educate, and transform.

The land, located in the center of the neighborhood, preserves a generous garden and century-old trees, which guided the implementation of the new building. The challenge was to expand the facilities without interrupting activities and without compromising the symbolic and landscape value of the original house. Thus, the new volume was placed at the back, amid the existing vegetation, respecting the heritage and memory of the place.

The project is based on a simple, accessible, and sustainable construction logic. It uses a metal structure and cement panels in a dry construction system, with details that favor execution, low cost, and reduced maintenance. The strategy prioritizes thermal and acoustic comfort through cross ventilation and natural lighting, associated with rainwater harvesting and solar energy generation. These solutions result in a high-performance environmental building, designed to last and belong.

From a spatial perspective, the complex is organized into two transverse blocks connected by a covered plaza: a passage and gathering space that articulates activities and invites people to linger. The pathway culminates in a collective terrace, open to the landscape and the winds of Santa Cruz, where the urban horizon reveals itself as a symbolic extension of learning and culture.

More than a physical expansion, the project reaffirms the role of architecture as a tool for inclusion and belonging. By preserving the old and incorporating the new, the headquarters of Ser Cidadão becomes a manifesto on the transformative power of space.

"The expansion of Ser Cidadão reflects the role of architecture as a social tool: preserving the past, enhancing the present, and inspiring futures."

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