Bloco Multifuncional - Unileão - 14ᵃ Bienal Internacional de Arquitetura de São Paulo

Project implementation: Brazil
Project development: Brazil

Located on Unileão's Lagoa Seca campus in Juazeiro do Norte, the new multifunctional building was conceived as a strategic element to strengthen the integration of teaching, research, culture, and community life. The building houses the Central Library, a thousand-seat auditorium, classrooms, healthcare laboratories, and administrative departments. These spaces are interconnected by open-plan and lounge areas that foster social interaction and encourage users to stay.

The design emphasizes dialogue with the rest of the campus and also serves as a gateway to the Veterinary Hospital. One of the project's highlights is the large grandstand that connects the entrance plaza to the auditorium foyer, becoming a meeting and contemplation space with a privileged view of the Chapada do Araripe and taking advantage of natural ventilation. More than just a topographical transition element, this grandstand serves a social and symbolic function, solidifying itself as a landmark on campus.

The building's materiality reinforces its connection to the surrounding area. Its reinforced concrete structure ensures robustness and rational construction, while the solid ceramic brick walls, produced locally, contribute to both climate control and the project's identity. On the east and west facades, hollow bricks filter intense sunlight, promoting thermal comfort—a key factor in the region's semi-arid climate.

The project incorporates indoor and outdoor gardens with native or adapted species, creating a pleasant microclimate through evaporative cooling. These gardens go beyond landscaping, playing a functional and environmental role, contributing to sustainability and the well-being of users.

The spatial organization follows a rational logic. The 8 x 10-meter structural modulation optimizes execution, reduces costs, and ensures flexibility of use over time, allowing the building to adapt to new demands and extend its useful life. Between the main volumes, a shaded roof connects the blocks and provides a space protected from the sun, expanding the outdoor living areas.

The ensemble's volume is notable for the contrast between the orthogonal blocks and the auditorium's elliptical shape. This choice breaks the rigidity of the composition and adds dynamism and architectural identity to the ensemble.

More than just an academic building, Unileão's new multifunctional building is a cultural, social, and environmental infrastructure, deeply rooted in the territory and sensitive to the local climate and cultural conditions. By valuing regional materials, integrating the landscape, and creating meeting spaces, the project reflects the campus's vocation as a space for knowledge, belonging, and well-being.

Participate in the program of debates, workshops and associated activities!

TODAY (10.10)

2:30 pm – table Risk-Free Periphery in the Context of Climate Change

4pm – table Knowing to Transform: Community Climate Risk Reduction and Adaptation Plans

6:30 pm – table Inclusive Adaptation: Nature-Based Solutions in the Peripheries

9am – Drawing Workshop: Oscar Niemeyer's Architecture in Ibirapuera Park and the Climate Challenge

IN THE NEXT DAYS (11 to 14.10)

ATTENTION the table Palmas: For 36 years, the ecological capital of Tocantins which would be held on 10/11 | 7pm was canceled.

11.10 and 12.10 | 9am – workshop Inventa(rio) Fronteiras: Playing for Multispecies Cities

11.10 | 10am – workshop Elémenterre teaching bag

11.10 | 11am – table Learning to inhabit the Anthropocene: the crisis of architecture

11.10 | 2pm – table Architecture for Learning and Civic Use

11.10 | 3pm – table Culture and Public Architecture

11.10 – 15h – workshop Elémenterre teaching bag

11.10 | 4pm – table Reconnecting with Nature & Circular Design

11.10 | 5pm – table Architecture of Belonging: Interpreting Heritage Through Place

12.10 | 10am – table Experience: Climate Refuges and Naturalized Public Spaces, with Eco-Neighborhood

12.10 | 10:30 am – table Childhoods and Climate: Climate Justice in Vulnerable Territories

12.10 | 10:30 am – Windsock Workshop with the Floating Collective

12.10 | 3pm – table Doing a lot with a little: architectures for a planet in transition with Esteban Benavides from Al Borde office

12.10 | 4:30 pm – table Earth – building a sustainable and democratic future

12.10 | 5:45 pm – table French presence at the Biennale and screening of the film AJAP – Albums of Young Architects and Landscape Architects

13.10 – activity Pantanal Action at IABsp

10/14 | 10am – table Urgent Panorama! Space as an act of permanence

14.10 | 6pm – Launch of the “Nature-Based Education” Guide

JOIN! IT'S ALL FREE!

And there's much more until October 19th!

NOTE OF CONDOLENCE

With deep sorrow, the Brazilian Institute of Architects – São Paulo Department (IABsp) mourns the passing of architect and landscape architect Kongjian Yu, a global leader in ecological urbanism, and the members of his team who accompanied him, tragically killed during the filming of a documentary. The institute is honored to have had him as a participant in the 14th São Paulo International Architecture Biennial, where his transformative vision strengthened the dialogue between global challenges and local realities. IABsp emphasizes that Yu's contribution, which transcends borders, will remain an inspiration for generations and expresses its condolences to China, to the families of all the deceased, to his friends, and to all those impacted by his genius and dedication. Read the full note here.

Multifunctional Block – Unileão

Lins Associated Architects