Starting in 2006, residents of Moravia, a community living atop a mountain of garbage in Medell'n, were relocated to new public housing in Pajarito, a hillside neighborhood on the city's fringes, accessible by the new Metrocable line. Medell'n-based Planb arquitectos and Ctrl G partnered in a public competition to create this daycare center for 300 of Pajarito's children. Deformed hexagon modules allowed for easy rotation and organizational flexibility of classrooms. The team linked the board-formed concrete volumes in a ring and connected them with an exterior corridor, rendering terraces and cloistered areas for play. The roofs fold to mimic the surrounding mountains and visually divide interior spaces. While the brief called for something more monumental, says Planb's Federico Mesa, "We wanted a building that was for the barrio, and for the children'at the right scale for both."

ARCHITECT: Planb Arquitectos (Federico Mesa); Ctrl G (Catalina Pati'o, Viviana Pe'a, Eliana Beltr'n).

BUDGET: $1.84 million.

CONTEXT: A hillside neighborhood on the city's southwestern fringes with a large new public housing complex.