SOS Children’s Village, Chicago

A community center with shared design and resources

The Lavezzorio Community Center, which houses Chicago’s SOS Children’s Villages, is an essential part of the local community. It provides a range of social services and facilities to support local children and families in the foster care system.

With the construction came budgetary constraints, prompting the organization to appeal to local businesses. Cement manufacturers in the region also contributed to the architectural program by donating an important raw material: concrete. Stratified in the building layers, its color varies, pointing not only to its liquid nature but also its donor.

Constraint becomes an architectural lever, metabolizing into a project fusing shared design and shared resources, further anchoring the building in its local area.