Amapura
community-led design
Global Creative Graduate Showcase Winner, 2024
Global Creative Graduate Showcase
Winner, 2024
The prestigious competition of Global Creative Graduate Showcase 2024 featured various design categories where thesis projects from emerging talent worldwide vied for recognition.
With 5,200 candidates from over 100 countries participating in this call for entries, the competition represented the finest graduate work across multiple creative disciplines. After the judging process, Amapura was chosen as the winner within the Architecture/Interior Design section.
Such a privilege to see how a proposal with such consciousness of social problematics of a country like Costa Rica can catch the eyes of so many recognized designers who were judging this competition.
Design as Mental Healthcare
Concept: A system of environments using design as therapy, promoting creativity and personal expression to address mental health needs in rural Costa Rica.
Location: Pacific Central Region, Costa Rica.
Target: Young people and adults in coastal communities with limited access to mental health services.
01. Self-Construction
Local inhabitants become builders of their own therapeutic spaces, ensuring active participation in construction before benefiting from their uses.
02. Identity
Each center reflects the unique characteristics incorporated by local inhabitants in its design, capturing the diversity and singularity of each community.
03. Circularity
A dynamic cycle where people enter according to their schedules, participate in construction and use, then depart, creating intergenerational knowledge exchange.
04. Community Network
Local communities collaborate through collective intelligence, creating an interconnected network that facilitates mobility between nearby villages.
Local Materials
Bamboo
Sustainable, resistant local material used for basic structures through traditional tying techniques.
Adobe
Provides thermal insulation and works with local clay soil composition.
Palm Weaving
Traditional technique creating waterproof structures through density and layering.
Wood & Brick
Complementary materials using simple joinery systems.
Constructive Approach
Self-built structures using simple techniques that can be taught through community workshops, emphasizing knowledge transfer between generations.
Creating to later use their own environment, constantly exploring. A way to democratize mental health in rural areas.
Spaces & Applications
Brick Space
Houses ceramic and textile workshops where perforated brick walls provide ventilation and shade while creating defined learning spaces.
Bamboo Space
Incorporates organic forms and curves, facilitating artistic learning with bamboo for creating tools, crafts and furniture, while also teaching wicker weaving techniques.
Adobe & Palm Space
Creates an organic-shaped corridor that connects the other spaces, providing an open environment for photography learning and mura creation.
Wooden Space
A narrow two-story rectangular space where carpentry and gardening classes are taught, using the structure’s openings to provide natural light for plants.
Passive Strategies
Passive Cooling: Botijo Technique
Ceramic pieces on adobe walls that, when moistened, generate cooling through evaporation, offering an effective solution to mitigate heat in the region.
Rainwater Collection: Amapura Technique
Bamboo and tensioned fabric structures that, when positioned as funnels, capture rainwater through gravitational flow, providing an accessible solution to harvest precipitation for the project’s irrigation and consumption needs after filtration.
Project Stages
