The community of La Ceiba in Petare, Caracas Venezuela were the winners of the City Planting competition in 2017 which gave them access to the Citibank seed funding to build a more formal public space. This new project builds on the children´s slide and ball court that had been built as part of the program. Through educational games and participatory design workshops, the community designed several elements to build their new public space. These included the renovation of an underused small plaza with a canopy to protect people from the sun and rain, and yet tall enough and porous enough to allow light in and allow the air to circulate freely. The pavement incorporates children games such as hop-scotch and twister with recycled plastic bottle caps. New wood benches line the edges of the space so that people may sit and contemplate the children playing or wait for the jeeps which is the local means of transportation. Each bench is accompanied with a new tree that was planted in holes opened into the existing concrete pavement.

One unexpected component of the project came as a request from the community who desired to have their facades painted. This activity engaged the community even further and new families participated in the renewal initiative.

Area: 128 m2 | Client: Citibank Venezuela and Fudep Venezuela | Team: Fudep Venezuela, Enlace Arquitectura and Luis Manzoni Civil Engineer | Photography: Enlace Arquitectura