Modern-day globalization compels us to highlight the existence of regional values, as an expression of a culture now facing the dilemma of yielding to the banalities of international trends or, on the contrary, asserting its position by valuating expressions that are more in harmony with the local environment. Traditional architecture has passed down solutions that award character to construction works. Our intention has been to better understand the spirit behind those solutions and, in echoing their lessons, create contemporary solutions.

Located within the property of the Humboldt School and surrounded by buildings that lack architectural character, rises this building destined to the teachers’ training rooms. The building, consisting of one unit for classrooms and cafeteria, and a taller unit for seminars and library, was designed according to a basic plan and in line with several German government standards. Both units are interconnected by stairways. The taller three-story building is supported by brick curtain walls and eight triangular concrete columns that provide stiffness. Enclosed in their parallel faces, the triangular columns feature windows that also serve as sunshades. The non-structural walls are made of hollow bricks with vertical and horizontal metal reinforcements and non-overlapping masonry joints. The triangular columns are built on the exterior with the purpose of freeing the internal space of secondary columns, thus allowing activities for large numbers of persons. The structure for the lower unit consists of circular concrete columns in the exterior combined with bearing concrete walls in the interior.