The Moimenta Social Center Project: Exploring Strategies for Revitalizing the Rural Core

Revitalizing Rural Centers: A Multi-Purpose Model

Multi-purpose social centers are an effective means to promote local development in rural areas. This is clearly demonstrated through initiatives aimed at revitalizing villages experiencing depopulation, focusing on reclaiming adjacent high-yield lands and enhancing the existing built environment.

Objectives of Rural Development

These initiatives concentrate on improving the quality of life for local residents through several key areas, notably:

• Encouraging youth to remain in the area and preventing migration to major cities.
• Attracting new residents to support the demographic balance of rural villages.
• Strengthening local economic activity by supporting traditional crafts and developing small businesses.
• Providing affordable housing that meets the needs of diverse population groups.
• Enhancing technological services to facilitate access to information and promote social and economic connectivity.

Impact of Integrated Models

Adopting a multi-purpose model in rural villages enhances integration between economic, social, and environmental development. This approach enables the creation of a sustainable environment that supports current residents and attracts new ones, contributing to revitalizing villages and achieving balanced long-term growth.

Location and Design Significance

The social center is situated at the highest point in the village, near the church, reflecting the planners’ emphasis on selecting strategic locations that integrate the center with the existing urban core. This location not only ensures clear visibility and easy access but also enhances communication among the various components of the local community.

Integration with Previous Initiatives

The center is part of a series of interventions that included establishing community kitchens and laundries, providing temporary public housing, and developing distinctive spaces within the urban core. This integration helps create a comprehensive environment that directly serves residents while linking social, economic, and cultural activities within the village.

Flexibility of Functions and Uses

The center is designed to be flexible in terms of usage, featuring three multi-functional spaces. These spaces can host celebrations and community events, serve as a small daytime center, or act as venues for workshops that help local entrepreneurs develop their projects. This diversity of uses enhances the center’s role as a driver of social and economic activity and provides a platform for knowledge and experience exchange within the community.

Respecting the Natural Topography

The starting point of the intervention lies in understanding the different levels or terraces, a traditional technique used in Galicia’s steep areas. This method reflects a deep knowledge of how to utilize natural terrain to meet agricultural and construction needs without harming the landscape or environment.

Preserving the Site’s Potential

The planners based their approach on a fundamental decision not to alter the plot’s topographical conditions. This strategy allows for maximum use of the site’s potential, including natural views and unique land features, while maintaining a balance between human intervention and the environment. It also helps integrate the project seamlessly into its surrounding context, enhancing its sustainability and minimizing negative environmental impacts.

Rehabilitation of Existing Buildings

The strategy proposes rehabilitating the existing house on the plot, which was partially damaged by the Moimenta fires in 2018. This building serves as an important link between the first and second terraces, enhancing continuity across the site’s different levels and maintaining spatial cohesion within the overall plan.

Flexible Multi-Purpose Design

Two spaces within the building, one per level, are designated to support a variety of activities such as work, lectures, courses, exhibitions, or social gatherings. The design aims to achieve maximum flexibility, moving away from rigid hierarchical organization, allowing the spaces to continuously adapt to the needs of residents and the local community.

Supporting the Core

These spaces connect to a core located toward the northern façade, which houses essential components such as vertical circulation, sanitary facilities, storage areas, and some public amenities. This arrangement facilitates daily use of the building and ensures that its various functions remain integrated and easily accessible within the center’s overall planning context.

Utilizing the Intermediate Terrace

In response to the required expansion of the program, the focus was placed on the intermediate terrace as a primary resource for new spaces. The plan is based on the idea of creating a multi-purpose wing parallel to an existing retaining wall, which previously supported simple granite structures topped with old vines. This approach allows for the use of the existing terrain while enhancing the site’s environmental characteristics.

Flexible and Multi-Functional Design

A new wooden structure, supported by columns and a tiled roof, is proposed to activate the terrace’s green surface. This design offers a critical reinterpretation of some of the original principles used in previous idea competitions, while incorporating an entrance for those accessing the plot from the western side.

Enhancing Integration and Flexibility

The relationship between the new wing and the existing building, along with the partial independence of the wing, provides greater flexibility in uses. This arrangement allows for the simultaneous organization of different activities without interference, enhancing the center’s capacity to host diverse programs that continuously and effectively meet the needs of the local community.

Restoring Local Heritage

The intervention complements the rehabilitation of the social center by restoring heritage elements present on the site, such as the horreo (traditional grain store in Galicia), the washing well, and the boundary wall surrounding the plot. This approach serves as a bridge between the past and the present, preserving the cultural identity of the place while enhancing the connection between traditional elements and new functions within the built environment.

Environmental Preparation and Infrastructure Projects

In addition to restoring heritage elements, the intervention includes some urban preparation works, such as partially stabilizing existing elevations using materials extracted during renovation works inside the house. This contributes to activating certain spaces and transforming them into areas suitable for social and cultural use.

Enhancing Movement and Connectivity Between Spaces

A pedestrian path has also been created linking the two main entrances of the plot, facilitating circulation within the site and enhancing interaction among its various components. This arrangement provides users with an integrated experience while preserving the historical character of the place and harmoniously incorporating new elements within the project.

✦ ArchUp Editorial Insight

The Moimenta social center project can be viewed as a model highlighting the theoretical potential of integrating rural development with architectural interventions. It demonstrates strengths in flexible usage, utilization of natural terraces, rehabilitation of existing buildings, and the incorporation of local heritage within the overall planning.

However, the project remains limited in its ability to comprehensively address the practical challenges of the rural environment, particularly regarding sustainable financing, daily management of multi-functional spaces, and the long-term effectiveness of these interventions in attracting residents and preventing migration.

Moreover, relying on flexible, multi-purpose spaces may present difficulties in regulating interactions between different activities and may require careful monitoring to ensure sustainable use of these facilities.

Nevertheless, the project provides valuable material for architectural analysis and can serve as a reference for developing flexible and integrated strategies in similar projects, taking into account the practical and environmental needs of each rural context individually.