Nearly a decade after earthquakes ravaged Mexico’s Oaxaca region, the newly renovated Casa de la Cultura de Juchitán stands as a totem of resilience. RootStudio embarked on a six-year architectural overhaul of the damaged community arts and education centre, founded in 1972 by painter and sculptor Francisco Toledo. Timber salvaged from homes destroyed in the 2017 disasters was worked into columns and beams that evoke rural Mexican architecture; the wood acts as seismic stabilizers in a poetic repurposing. Carefully positioned doorways and shaded open-air spaces promote cross-ventilation, while stone, earth and lime finishes bring built-in cooling to combat the near-constant heat.
Team: João Boto Caeiro, Fulvio Capurso, and Moisés Cruz Jerónimo Ruíz with Iván Díaz Arellano, Gerardo Coronel, Gerardo Agudo, Jorge Vázquez, Jorge Iván Rebolledo, Eldiza Macarena Vargas Ramos, Victoriano López, David de Jesús Baltazar Gómez, Ricardo Dorantes Ortiz, Ángela Marcial, Monserrat Guadalupe Ramírez, Gustavo Melixueiro Hernández, Ana Karen Aguilar, Gabriela Ávila Lobos, Hugo Said, Nicolás Cohelio, Josué Hernández


