The last three weeks of construction begin. Floors, ceilings, waterproofing and railings will be completed by the end of the week in order to keep on schedule.

Last week we completed all the landfills, the pitch, the lateral beams and concrete slab. Hydraulic and electric installations are now in the walls, floors and ceilings of the project. With the completed structure and installations, now its time to begin working on finishings and fixtures.

Work on the interior of the building has begun. The ramp and landfills are complete and the sub-base of the pitch is ready for the turf to be installed. Tubing for electric and hydraulic installations is being installed, and railings on external areas are being welded.

By the end of week 7 plasters and floors will be done, and water proofing on the exterior surfaces will begin.

On September 19 the Homeless World Cup. That meant that the Homeless World Cup team and Architecture for Humanity team were in Rio for the week. On Septemeber 24th the local architects and visiting teams did a site visit and walked for the first time on the ramp.

The metallic structure has been completed, landfills are being compacted and work on the interiors will begin this week.

September 19 marks the beggining of the Homeless World Cup, Rio de Janeiro 2010! It also marks the conclusion of construction of the steel pats of the structure.

Week 4 was a very heavy week in which tons of steel were added to the project, and the actual size of the center is now perceivable by the community. We received questions and comments like:
-It looks crooked.
-Why isn´t the column straight?
-Is the ramp going to be an auditorium?

Week 4 also marked the arrival of the turf which means that as soon as the turf installers have everything set in the Homeless World Cup they will arrive at Santa Cruz and it will be a matter of hours before the legacy center concludes its pitch.

Third week of construction and the community is finally "seeing" progress. After the initial work on foundations, walls columns and beams have started to be set on site. The project now looks like a ramp, and the internal spaces are now confined between walls.

The project is still on schedule and waiting for the September 25th visit in which it will be seen for the first time by local and international partners.

Week 2 of construction was all about foundations and excavation. A total of 50 caissons were hammered inside the terrain, and excavation around the caissons to do the foundation blocks started. The pitch has also been excavated, drained, and leveling will begin next week.

The project is still on schedule and the team is working hard in order to have the structure complete by September 20 when a pre-inauguration event will be held with representatives from Nike, Homeless World Cup, Bola pra Frente, OCAS, Architecture for Humanity and local authorities.

After the groundbreaking ceremony held August 16, the first week of construction took of with a fast pace. The site was enclosed, a container to hold materials and another one that will hold the temporary on-site office were installed, caissons have started to be hammered in the ground and the pitch has been excavated and is being leveled out.

More than 200 CV's of locals interested in working on the project were received. The construction attracted many curios visitors on site wanting to know what's being built and the time line set for the project. Visitors also brought many rumors that have been going around the community with regards to our project being a swimming academy, and a cell phone antenna. Due to the amount of interest the construction has raised, and the rumors that are running, an informative community meeting was scheduled on Saturday, and with that the first week of construction ended.

August 16, 2010 marks the beginning of the construction process in Santa Cruz. The
Groundbreaking Ceremony took place, and representatives from Bola Pra Frente, Nike, Jermo Engenharia, Architecture for Humanity and the Santa Cruz Community were present to see a local kid shovel out the first bit of land.

After a complex and prolonged tender process, Architecture for Humanity, design fellow Daniel Feldman, LN Arquitetos and NE Arquitetura have handed the project site to Jermo Engenharia, and construction of the Homeless World Cup Legacy center will have its ground breaking ceremony on Monday August 16, 2010. The project will be divided in 2 stages:
1. Main Structure, floor slabs, and street football pitch. Completion: September 20
2. Fixtures and finishing. Completion: October 20

Jermo Engenheria was announced winner of the tender process that included 4 other local contractors.

The design process has now entered a more technical phase and the "ramp" has become the main object to work on. Since time is short, and the construction of the ramp is the biggest challenge, it has been decided that the ramp should be pre-fabricated, and brought on site ready to be bolted in.

Ricardo Caruana form WoodMetal is in charge of the structural calculations for the project. He is also designing the different pieces that will compose the ramp. The pre-fabricated pieces will be done in wood, and over these will go a coat of waterproofing, and concrete.

Saturday June 19 was the first OFFICIAL community meeting in Santa Cruz. A fluctuating crowd of +/- 25 gathered round to see what is going to happen, when its going to happen, and who's gonna make it happen.

A small survey was handed out to get the locals perspective on what the project should be, and the impact it will have on the community. Also, a drawing of phase 1 was handed out for them to draw on top of, and show their ideas.

The ones who attended left very exited with the project, and have begun a word of mouth campaign to let everyone in the community know whats going to happen, and hopefully get involved.

This post includes pictures of the meeting, and results from the survey.

This post is not an update. Its just random images to be able to understand the people and places involved.

With an approved project, and still working to make all the bits and pieces fall into place (budget!) the technical drawings are being made, the different consultants are working to deliver the technical info., and community participation has started.

The project maintains the idea of being a ramp which will serve as a community space equipped with a classroom, an office, bathrooms and locker rooms, storage, open roofed areas, bleachers and an open air theater.

The bleachers will be a perfect space to enjoy the street football that is going to played on the pitch donated by Greenfields (www.greenfields.eu).

After a couple of fast paced months, the Big Picture has been approved by all the partners! LN Arquitectos and NE Arquitetura ended up designing 2 different Big Picture projects, and the second project was unanimously chosen by Bola pra Frente, Homeless World Cup, ThyssenKrupp and Architecture for Humanity.

This project differs from the initial one in the sense that it has a smaller scale=smaller impact, can be divided into several construction phases, and has a lower cost. All football pitches are now on ground level, and the project is made up of an “empty bean and column structure” which holds different boxes inside. It’s a flexible and dynamic concept that allows multiple materials and spaces.

After 2+ weeks of working on the Master Plan, LN Arquitetos+Nanada Eskes Arquitectura have been meeting with Boal pra Frente to show them the initial ideas of the project, and get some feedback to continue the design and pruction phase.

Bola pra Frente are excited about the proposal, and suggested a couple of modifications in order to be able to maintain their succesfull sports education program.

The final conceptualization will be done this week, and production phase will also kickoff this week.

Design phase of the Master Plan is under way, and Nanada Eskes + LN Arquitetos are working hard to create the best project possible for Bola Pra Frente and Homeless World Cup.

The project has grown since the competition, adn now includes an extra football field, more classrooms, a library, and a community intended open air theater.

Initial site visits, and meetings with Bola pra Frente and Santa Cruz community leaders have shapen up the proposal in order to satisfy both institutional and local community needs.

This update is accompanied by graphical information on the initial proposal that has been shown to Bola pra Frente and Santa Cruz community leaders. The proposal is still evolving, and by the end of April we´ll have a final Master Plan.

We have officially started post-competition design phase of the project!

LN Arquitectos + Nanda Eskes along side Homeless World Cup, Bola Pra Frente, Nike, and Architecture for Humanity have been meeting and discussing the different scenarios and possibilities that can be added to the winning competition entry.

The project will be broken down in 2 phases:
Phase 1: To be completed in Septembe: will be an initial intervention on the site that will allow the Brasilian Homeless World Cup team have a place to call HOME during their pre-Worldcup training. This space will also set awareness to the Santa Cruz community about the project and everyone involved in it.

Phase 2: (timeline still to be completed): will complete the project attending the requirements made by Bola pra Frente and Homeless World Cup. This phase will include the construction of Bola pra Frente Institute in Santa Cruz, alongside mixed use spaces that will be shared between Bola pra Frente and the community.