Crixá Educational Center

1st Place – National Architecture Competition

The project begins with the design of the ground. Considering the nearly 9m elevation difference between the extremes of the site, the building’s placement was conceived to enhance access, without abrupt ruptures with the surrounding sidewalks. The main building, a slender modular slab, gently rests on the ground at the highest point of the plot, while at the other end, it is supported by a constructed base. This gesture facilitates the stepping of the natural topography into three distinct levels: the lower ground floor, facing the corner; the intermediate ground floor, facing the avenue; and the upper ground floor, more secluded, at the higher part of the site. Carefully settled on the ground, the school horizontally expands, creating a more inviting scale for visitors.

From the plateaus created, the school’s program was distributed according to the required levels of privacy. Thus, the public areas of the school are placed on the lower levels, along with administrative and support functions. The upper part, facing an internal courtyard, is reserved for pedagogical functions to ensure the intimacy and focus favorable to the teaching-learning process. This gradation between public and private is also expressed in the façades, which are designed to control (or avoid) visibility from the street.

The structure of the project was designed to facilitate rapid assembly, with a metal frame that fits the required modularity for industrial production, as well as the precise dimensioning of the school spaces. Integrated with the metal structure, the solid brick cladding system aims to connect with the local production of São Sebastião, where the brick kilns of the Federal District are concentrated. The combination of metal and ceramic technologies, conceived to allow for a cohesive reading of the whole, lies at the core of the project’s materiality.

Finally, the project proposes that the entrance to the school be permeable to the neighborhood from its main corner, opposite the square on Crixá Avenue. From there, the building positions itself in an inviting manner, providing access to the school’s public and recreational functions: the restaurant, the sports court, and the auditorium, without disrupting its daily activities. A small access square facilitates the community’s reception, ensuring a smooth transition between the street and the building. The school opens up, openly, to the city.