Skip to content

Press Release

DesignNewswire · COMO, Italy ·

Casa Una Community Center by Matheus Diniz Is Granted the Silver A' Design Award in Architecture, Building and Structure Design

Matheus Diniz honored for architecture, building and structure design by the international grand jury of the 2022 - 2023 A' Design Award & Competition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COMO, Italy, April 20, 2023 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has announced that Casa Una Community Center by Matheus Diniz, designed for Idealiza Cidades, has been granted the Silver A' Design Award in the Architecture, Building and Structure Design category. The result belongs to the 2022 - 2023 A' Design Award & Competition and was decided through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who assessed anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.

About the Silver A' Design Award

The Silver A' Design Award celebrates top-tier designs that embody excellence and innovation. This award acknowledges creations that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also highly functional, reflecting the designer's deep understanding and skill. Silver A' Design Award recipients are recognized for their contribution to raising industry standards and advancing the practice of design. Their work often incorporates original innovations and elicits a strong emotional response, making a notable impact on the improvement of everyday life.

Regarding Casa Una Community Center

In a park in the city of Uberlandia, Brazil stands Casa Una, a community center and gathering space for park visitors and neighborhood residents. In addition to other uses, it has an open auditorium, a food hall, an office for the neighborhood association, and an exhibition space. Built with a laminated timber structure, the building uses energy-saving passive ventilation and thermal comfort techniques. Lastly, the roof is topped with three species of vegetation covered in a geometric pattern, reducing the heat gained from solar exposure and acting as a fifth facade when viewed from above.

About Matheus Diniz

Matheus Diniz is an award-wining architect praised for his spatial sensibility and his drive to improve the urban fabric with his projects. He worked in internationally renowned architecture studios in Brazil, Switzerland and Iceland before founding in 2012 his own studio, MDAD, where he develops projects in several scales. His projects were featured in several publications and he was unanimously awarded with the grand prize for the 57th Annual Architects Awards of the Brazilian Institute of Architects – Rio de Janeiro. He was selected to present two of his projects in the 27th World Congress of Architects that took place in Rio de Janeiro in 2021.

Award Record

This recognition makes Matheus Diniz a winner of 1 A' Design Award.

About the A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Award

The A' Architecture Design Award is an international architectural design competition recognizing good architectural designs by best architects worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to architectural design studios, building contractors, structural engineering firms and architecture and design consultants from all countries. Entries typically include skyscrapers, museums, residential buildings, commercial complexes, educational institutions and religious structures. Awarded architectural projects are published at https://designers.org/design-category/architecture

About A' Design Award & Competition

A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission to advance society through good design by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, the upload of a work and the preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com

Press Resources

Media Contact

Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953

###

Fact Sheet

The Work

Project
Casa Una Community Center
Function
Community Center
Category
Architecture, Building and Structure Design
Discipline
Spatial Design
Industry
Architecture
Colors
Steel Blue, Cornflower Blue, Olive Drab, Dark Olive Green and Sky Blue
Images
5
Client
Idealiza Cidades

The Recognition

Laureate
Matheus Diniz
Country
Brazil
Recognition
Silver A' Design Award
Edition
2022 - 2023
Design ID
#148141

Credits

Team
Carlito Calil Neto, Edemir Caetano Simonato, Douglas Rossi, Ricardo Vaz de Souza, Fabio José Fernandes Mota, Mauricio Pinto de Arruda and Rafael Lazzarini
Image Credits
Render #1: Fillipe Farias Render #2: Fillipe Farias Render #3: Fillipe Farias Render #4: Fillipe Farias Render #5: Fillipe Farias

Design Details

Unique Properties
Casa Una is a multi-purpose community center that will serve as a focal point for a new mixed-use neighborhood in the city of Uberlandia, Brazil. Located in a public park that is the heart of the new neighborhood, the building houses a food hall, an open auditorium, an exhibition space and an office for the community association. It also houses a social program for high school students of the public education system.
Inspiration
For this project our main ambition was to have the building act as an extension of the public park. We looked to Brazilian Modernism and especially the work of architect Severiano Porto, with his organic forms made with timber, as inspiration. Formally, its main feature is the green roof, which appears to peel off from the park surface, extending its area. In plan, the curves of the building follow the adjoining lake and bring dynamism to its form, in effect transforming it at every new viewpoint.
Research
For this project, we researched timber construction, specially the flexibility and sustainability of the system. We also studied the local climate, and with a hired consultant we ran several simulations to reduce the solar heat gain and reduce energy consumption for the building. Lastly, we researched lightweight vegetated roofing systems to attain the aesthetic and energy saving results while reducing the overall structural load.
Challenge
Our main challenge creatively with this building was how to negotiate between the different functions and their relationship with the public park. Each space needed differing heights, with the optimal solution being curved roof that adjusted to the needs of each interior use. As the building is placed in a prominent position on a public park, it had to adjust its form to a lake towards the south and a curved plaza to the north. The result was a curved form with a twisted curving roof.
Realization and Technology
For the building structure, we used laminated timber from certified sources and left it exposed. The roof is composed of OSB panels and a vegetation system that helps cool the interior spaces. The building is cooled even further with the use of passive techniques such as cross ventilation and heat exhaust openings. All the exterior openings were fit with glass that reduces solar heat gain.
Operation and Interaction
The building was organized along a central axis, with the main access to the north from the street and passage to the south, towards the lake. This central double height space features a welcoming lounge area and a model of the future neighborhood. To the west we have more functional spaces, such as office spaces, technical areas and bathrooms. To the east are the open auditorium, the food court and an elevated viewing platform.
Project Duration and Location
The Project was started in August of 2018 and the building is expected to open to the public April 2023. The Building is located in Uberlandia in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Specifications
1099 square meters 55 by 28 meters 9 meters height
Keywords
wood, sustainable, community center, green roof, public building

Good Design Deserves Great Recognition

Nominate Your Work for the A' Design Award.

Nominate