A School For Zaachila / Cocoon Mexico Project – María González Aranguren | Zaachila, Oaxaca, Mexico

This development project is a co-operation established by the Technical University of Berlin. The Mexico program consists of the complete construction process of a building in a low-income community in rural Mexico.

For a whole year, the students analyzed the place, proposed a design, carried out the executive project (from its constructive details to plumbing, electricity, sanitation, and anti-seismic structure), got funding, and finally, during 3 and a half months they built with their own hands the proposed building in Mexico.

During this process, María González Aranguren was one of the 20 students involved and was in charge of the material and budget in place, as well as part of the designing and construction team.

The project aims to combine an extensive flexible program, in which —among other things— a meeting space was requested, eight classrooms dedicated to teaching, a library, and a kitchen. Due to the conditions of use of the site, the project must be flexible in order to host large events such as annual retreats.

For this process, community participation is crucial because it allows a cultural exchange, fundamental for the understanding of the project and its future management.

Location:SpainArchitect: María González ArangurenArchitecture Office:The Mexico Project 2009/10 team: Zaachila (Technical University of Berlin)Design Team: Group of Students that participate in the project: María González Aranguren, Antonio Moya Latorre, Carolin Andraschko, Carolin Kuhn, Daniel Becker, Immanuel Tashiro, Ingo Lerch, Johanna Frieben, Jorge Sobejano, Julia Pinter, Juliane Buck, Karl Woitke, Katja Godejohann, Maria Möser, Marisa Lubinsky, Milena Engelhardt, Paul Künzel, Sebastian Helmer, Susanna Rieser, Thomas Spiller, Tim Bornebusch, Tyco Cote, Uwe Gimpel, Yves RoggerClient: Zaachila community (Oaxaca, Mexico)Photographer: The team