The project of the Environmental Cultural Center was designed to solve specific problems of the conditions of the site and the architectural program itself. In order not to lose contact with nature, it starts under the central patio scheme, which is designed as a garden to walk through, which in turn generates a microclimate for the center, which allows spreading the importance of the environment to its visitors. It has a modular scheme, which allows its construction in stages in addition to its flexibility of spaces.
On the other hand, it becomes a determining element for the overall project by creating the connection between the 1st and the 2nd Section of the Chapultepec Forest, generating main and rear access with meeting places that provoke open forums for the dissemination of environmental issues.
The Environmental Cultural Center arises from 4 fundamental premises:
1) Analog formal design mechanism (named by Geo ff King Broadbent). Abstractly created the concept of "Forest" which alludes to the site and in turn to the environmental theme, thus forming a series of trunks with foliage (structure) that covers the user at different heights and allows contact with water and nature (Mirror of Water and Inner Courtyard).
2) Modular system Based on the design of a single hexagonal structure that allows flexibility of forms and uses that are repeatedly connected, having the possibility of growing if necessary without impacting the activities of the Center or its formal characteristics.
3) Low environmental impact Designed with sustainability principles that allow the recovery of rainwater, the use of plant covers, local materials, use of passive and active systems, and their diffusion. Its shape also has a low impact on the landscape, limiting its height to the level of Lake Menor, together with the foliage located on its terraces, allowing the building to camouflage itself with its context.
4) High Social Impact Generating a Plaza of connection with the Lago Menor provides a space that can be used for meetings, debates, public forums among other activities that reinforce the diffusion of environmental and social culture. Endowed with spaces for teaching urban gardens, water care, permaculture, composting, eco-techniques, and promoting Chapultepec as a model in environmental care.
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