SOS Children’s Villages Lavezzorio Community Center

Chicago, USA
Photo © Steve Hall © Hedrich Blessing, Courtesy of Studio Gang Architect
Photo © Steve Hall © Hedrich Blessing, Courtesy of Studio Gang Architect
Photo © Steve Hall © Hedrich Blessing, Courtesy of Studio Gang Architect
Photo © Steve Hall © Hedrich Blessing, Courtesy of Studio Gang Architect
Photo © Steve Hall © Hedrich Blessing, Courtesy of Studio Gang Architect
Photo © Steve Hall © Hedrich Blessing, Courtesy of Studio Gang Architect
Architects
Studio Gang
Location
Chicago, USA
Year
2008

Thinking of change as a liberating architectural opportunity rather than a limitation led to the original design of the SOS Lavezzorio Community Center. As the central hub of SOS Children’s Village Chicago, an organization in Chicago’s Auburn-Gresham neighborhood that serves foster care families, the building combines services for foster care and neighborhood families under one roof.

With its limited budget, contributions and in-kind donations were necessary to complete the Center. The building’s main “strata-wall” (made of varying mixes of concrete cast into wavy horizontal layers) preserves and reveals the complex donation system that shaped the project. It also demonstrates the material properties of concrete by exposing its liquid nature.

Inside the building, multi-faceted, naturally lit public spaces encourage a range of learning opportunities and social interaction. An extra-wide bleacher stair in the lobby doubles as classroom seating and an impromptu stage for performance, while a large community room on the second floor serves as classroom, exercise room, and meeting space.

Related Projects

  • Promenade Favorita, Lugano TI
    mavo gmbh
  • Garten Höhenweg St.Gallen
    mavo gmbh
  • Sagiareal, Greppen LU
    mavo gmbh
  • Progressive cleanroom expansion
    Lindner Group
  • Büro Allmendstrasse
    BFB Architekten AG

Magazine

Other Projects by Studio Gang

Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts
Little Rock, AR, USA
Taipei Pop Music Center
Taipei, China
Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership
Kalamazoo, USA
WMS Boathouse at Clark Park
Chicago, IL, USA
University of Chicago Campus North
Chicago, USA