With a GAMECHANGERS grant (http://gamechangers.architectureforhumanity.org/), the design team + community built a rural sports center that will be a foundation for the social, economic, sustainable and cultural development of the city and the community -- a hub for sport, recreation, entertainment, and commerce in San Pedro Apóstol.
Through skills training and workshops the center was built with the help of the local community, designers, and students. The design team trained builders in indigenous building techniques, using local materials and resources, while also providing the technical guidance to learn from traditional methods in innovative ways.
Project Background
San Pedro Apóstol | Community, Design + Construction
San Pedro Apóstol is a small municipality in the State of Oaxaca, México. One of dreams of this small community, especially the younger generation, is a community center + park with adequate space for various sport and social activities. The lack of resources has never allowed them to realize this. By using a piece of municipality donated community land, with magnificent natural surroundings, the center will host multiple sports functions aimed at different population segments, contributing to better social cohesion. The project will have two main fields, one for soccer and another for basketball. These will hold important “inter-villa” tournaments, as well as inter-school games for the schools in the locality.
The elderly population currently has the habit of taking walks on this specific land, therefore the sport’s center aims to materialize these paths, equipping them with resting, exercising and leisure areas. By taking advantage of the existing dam, nautical sports may be implemented (swimming, kayaks) that will be unique throughout the whole region. The Center will provided an area with locker rooms, medical post, multi-purpose area and an outdoor kitchen. A didactical vegetable garden will contribute to sustainable agriculture.
The project will be built, in a large, by the local community in an auto-construction system, providing the town with a sports center but also educating the community through participatory LEARNING BY BUILDING. Recuperating traditions in the use of materials and construction methods will be vital. The grant will mainly be used for purchasing materials and specialized labor, since the community will construct a large part of the project.
“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does.” Nelson Mandela
