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Over the past few years, Mexico’s Administrative Committee for the Federal Programme for School Construction (CAPFCE) has developed regional contests on school building design. In 2005, this central government organisation helped one state government to hold its own competition.
The first regional competition, held in 2003 in the framework of the International School Building Facilities Congress, was open to students of architecture and civil engineering in the country’s southeast region where the congress took place. The students’ teachers oversaw their work. The project was to design a school for basic education (pre-school, primary and lower secondary levels), with sports, cultural and community facilities. The plans submitted were judged on innovation in defining architectural space and on the use of new materials and techniques.
In 2004, the competition was open to Mexico’s central states, and in 2005, to the northern states.
In November 2005, the Administrative Committee for the Tamaulipas State Programme for School Construction (CAPCET) organised a version of the awards aimed not only at students but also at professionals from the field of educational building. This project covered both basic education and upper secondary, and the Tamaulipas State government committed to build the winning project. To make the experience even more fruitful, the state education authorities held workshops with teachers and facilities managers to discuss their needs.
The winner, chosen from over 20 plans received, was selected by a jury composed of locally known architects and representatives from CAPCET, CAPFCE, and the Ministry of Public Education. The winning plan will be built on a 20-hectares site in a dense urban area on the outskirts of Cuidad Victoria.
The jury appreciated the architect’s response to a variety of issues – from curricular needs to public transportation – and his choice of concrete throughout the building. This material is not only resistant, resulting in low maintenance costs, but also visually connects the school to a local cultural building. The city’s new Regional Museum of Tamaulipas History, with its concrete façade, was designed by the same person, Francicso J. Marvan Carmona, professional architect and builder as well as a professor of architecture.
Following these competitions, other states have shown interest in finding ways to increasingly involve the community in developing future school facilities.
For further information:
Jaime de la Garza Reyna, Ministry of Public Education (SEP), Mexico, e-mail: jdelagarza@dgp.com.mx
CAPFCE – www.capfce.gob.mx
CAPCET – www.tamaulipas.gob.mx/gobierno/secretarias/sec_obras/capcet
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