La Candelaria Roofscape

La Candelaria Roofscape explores the redevelopment of the historic downtown of Bogota, La Candelaria, through the design of a mixed-use arts and crafts center for a community of artists and artisans that combines living, working and exhibition spaces. The project exists within the current framework and larger 30 year goal of the city to transform the neighborhood into a cultural destination and economic engine. The project seeks to inject greater public connectivity within the block, while its formal strategy takes its cues from the colonial district. Emerging from the existing adjacent buildings on the site, it is a continuous surface that comprises varying spatial conditions: monolithic volumes, light canopies, and vegetal trellises comprising inner courtyards. The project also deals with the investigation and expression of brick as a dominant material: a textured expression of brick at the bottom of each volume allows for a tactile material experience while a thin terracotta screen system on top allows for variable penetration of light.