Diseño arquitectónico de un centro cultural de recreación y ocio educativo en la parroquia de San Andrés del cantón Santiago de Píllaro

Abstract

This degree project develops the architectural design of a cultural center for recreation and educational leisure in the parish of San Andrés, located in the Santiago de Píllaro canton. Its purpose is to create a space that fosters the integral development of rural children and youth through activities that strengthen cultural identity, community participation, and experiential learning. The project addresses the need for inclusive infrastructures that interweave educational, recreational, and cultural dimensions from an intergenerational perspective. The research adopts a qualitative interpretative approach and is guided by grounded theory as its methodological framework. Techniques such as semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders, focus groups with youth of different age groups, architectural precedent analysis, and literature review were applied to identify relevant design tools for the rural context of San Andrés. The multi-source diagnosis made it possible to define spatial criteria such as functional flexibility, progressive appropriation, landscape integration, and passive environmental comfort strategies. The resulting architectural proposal organizes areas for leisure, learning, memory, and production, distributed through an adaptable modular system that responds to the site's topography and local cultural dynamics. The project is based on principles of architectural symbiosis and contextual mimesis, incorporating local materials, universal accessibility strategies, and open spatiality. It concludes that architecture, when integrated with the territory and community ways of life, can provide favorable environments for strengthening cultural bonds and exercising the right to educational leisure in rural contexts.