In 2014, the architectural office Taller, headed by Mauricio Rocha and Gabriela Carrillo, was entrusted by the public authorities with the challenging task of designing the first public space for the Carolina neighbourhood community in the Mexican city of Cuernavaca. It was to be an infrastructure for community development. An infrastructure in which cultural and sports neighbourhood events and various workshops for young and old would be held. The concept of an open, inviting architecture is obvious. However, the community centre, which was completed in 2018, looks like protective monastery architecture from the outside with its massive walls. There were good reasons for the architects to design the building as a closed structure: The building is located in the state of Morelos, which has been overrun by a wave of violence in recent years. The neighbourhood centre is known as a socially deprived area. The architects of Taller, who are known in Mexico for their socially motivated architecture, therefore decided on a house that offers protection given the context. They accepted the fact that the building is not very open to the immediate neighbourhood and that the communal use is hardly legible from the outside.

The community centre, which was completed in early 2018, was named «Los Chocolates». A chocolate brown façade colour is used symbolically, reminiscent of its former use, a bus depot for the «Los Chocolates» buses, which were popularly called that because of their colour. The centre comprises a street corner with an entrance gate in the middle. To the left is the south-facing, closed volume; to the right, three smaller buildings protrude at regular intervals over a single-storey continuous volume. The conical accentuation of the buildings leads the visitor into the entrance area.

Bridges of creativity reinforce the industrial flair © Laure Nashed

The suspended atelier bridges

Inside the centre, the visitor is surprised by an unusual combination of gravity and lightness as well as an unexpected openness. In a rough atmosphere, the three external volumes, which can be seen as cantilevered volumes, now float as bridges over an external square enclosed on four sides. The space is filled with an interplay of light and shadow and a pleasant breeze that flows through the various structural components. As in their previous projects, the architects of Taller used traditional building materials and translated them in a contemporary way. For the façade cladding they used the regional tepetate stone, which is similarly porous to tufa stone and has been used in Mexico for centuries. In addition to the matching chocolate colour, the extensively used stone lends an aesthetical appeal, but also a rough texture, which interacts well with the industrial effect of the bridge structures, the exposed concrete and the large steel windows facing north.

The forum, spanned by bridges, is the heart of the complex. The central area of the square is lowered and surrounded by a promenade for the spectators. Due to its mild climate, this popular spot is used all year round for a wide variety of interactions: as a skate park for young people, a band rehearsal room, a dance stage, a football pitch and so on. Right next to it, the library with a view of the small garden is used for concentrated reading and directly above it, the «habitable bridges» are used for creative workshops. The various workshop volumes on the upper floor are completely closed to the south and have a large window front to the north. Their respective vestibules are connected by pedestrian bridges, which are located outside and offer small seating areas.