The future Sesc Mogi is situated on the border between the metropolitan urban area and the dense rural vegetation of the Serra do Mar mountain range, and its site extends down a gentle slope toward the Tietê River. Its layout seeks to complement and enhance this pre-existing “natural-artificial” gradient in the landscape. We embrace the suggestion that the territory offers us. To this end, we chose to concentrate the program in the area closest to the established city, thereby freeing up more permeable landscape areas toward the parks; this results in a horizontal slab oriented north-south, allowing for the creation of a large permeable park facing the green belt that surrounds the exposed meanders of the Tietê River.

A large, lightweight metal canopy protects the built volumes from end to end, and beneath this vast canopy, the social or residential program is organized to the south, within a volume that houses communal spaces, a dining hall, a library, children’s and youth areas, administration, wellness facilities, and support services—that is, long-stay programs. At the other end of the building, to the north, are the physical and sports programs, or those for occasional use, with shorter stays, featuring spaces for swimming pools, locker rooms, sports courts, fitness, and meditation. To the east, somewhat secluded as if asking for silence, stands the cultural building, with a performance hall, café, and its support facilities.

The large canopy allows the building to be concentrated at the highest points of the site, yielding a number of advantages: reduced excavation and backfill areas; more economical and faster construction; a clean and efficient construction site; improved thermal performance in the program spaces; lower load and therefore reduced foundation depth; high thermal performance due to multiple layers of solar control and increased natural ventilation throughout the entire building.