Collaborating with local architects and kids, Spanish Enorme Studio has built a park pavilion in Chihuahua, inspired by fantastical Mexican creatures. The boldly colored Arachi pavilion is the result of an architecture summer workshop called Taller del Desierto, which is organized annually by the Institute of Architecture and Design of Chihuahua (ISAD).
This year, the school has commissioned Enorme Studio, and locally based architects Juan Castillo and Miguel Heredia to build a small urban infrastructure in the Santa Cecilia neighborhood in Chihuahua, Mexico.
Following discussions with the community, the design team decided to create a structure that would provide shelter for a range of outdoor activities. These include a traditional dance called Mariachis, events for the local church and a place for children to socialize.
“The need for a large space of shade seems fundamental,” said the team in a project description. “‘Arachi’ or the ‘urban alebrije’ is designed as a great canopy that gathers all those communities and desires existing in the colony.”
The project is inspired by the alebrije, typical Mexican folklore figures, totemic and colorful animals from which derive the geometric patterns and the bright shades of the pavilion.
“We worked during the workshop with ‘popular’ Mexican iconographies such as the artisanal and colorful work of the alebrijes, the symbols that define the mariachis, or the traditional costumes of the Rarámuris or Tarahumara women, native of the Sierra de Chihuahua,” the team said.
The project presents a metal structure that supports a canopy, with seats at the corner edges of the pavilion. A large space is left in the middle for dancing and musical shows.
The team used simple, cheap and easily accessible materials throughout the pavilion. Wooden pallets slotted into the base of the upper volumes provide a covering to the structure, while strips of fabric are pulled taught across the top to offer additional shade.