TO Arquitectura’s vaulted music kiosk in Mexico offers equitable access to the guitar

On an 80 sqm donated piece of community land, a barrel-vaulted structure serves as the classroom where guitar lessons are taught for free. The structure, designed by TO Arquitectura, is located in Mexico's Yuguelito neighbourhood, within one of the country’s most populous and marginalised boroughs called Iztapalapa. The music kiosk is an initiative of Kithara Project, a non-profit organisation promoting equitable access to the guitar in a sustainable way to communities in the US and Mexico. Guitarist duo Adam Levin and Matthew Rohde have been offering free music classes to the locals since 2015. Their efforts were widely revered by the community which decided to give back to the endeavour a space where music could "improve the lives and opportunities of children and youth." The 60 sqm space—a result of a collaboration between the Mexican studio, guitar students of the Kithara Project and the community—is utilised for theatre presentation, choir concerts, and social meetings in addition to hosting guitar teaching and practising classes.

Located around cramped living quarters comprising single to double-storey houses topped with asbestos sheets, the Kithara music kiosk stands distinctly from its neighbours. It sits within a little garden that the community has planted with endemic vegetation while potted plants peep from the upper floor. Entrance to the two levels has been kept separate. The lower level is entered via a large metal door with timber battens integrated within its framework. The open-plan area inside is multi-functional and used to host classes and small events. A masonry wall divides the space, creating a curated pocket of activity within the small space design. The open space flanking the wall flows into the other side of the kiosk, which has an external concrete staircase to reach the mezzanine floor. Complementing the earthen tones of the masonry construction, wood is employed in ceiling, doors, and flooring, which renders a seemingly homogeneous aesthetic in the building. Stepped seating on the mezzanine offers a more informal setting for diverse activities, while it also captures sweeping views of the Xaltepec and Yuchalixqui volcanoes in the distance.

The architectural vision of the Kithara Music Kiosk was conceived through a workshop hosted between the community and guitar students of the Kithara Project, the efforts resulted in a proposal illustrated by drawings and models. A barrel vault was given form for rain collection while a mezzanine level was integrated to introduce multi-functionality in the program. The materials are all local: vaulted form and walls have recycled donated masonry whereas the wood inside is repurposed. As per TO Arquitectura team, it took five years to obtain the funding for the project.

The region Yuguelito is a sprawling, working-class borough of Iztapalapa—an area that has historically been facing water scarcity, in addition to poor soil quality and violence. An earthquake in 1985 turned the region, located along the base of the Xaltocan volcano, into rubble. The existing habitation is built atop the remnants of the destruction which the local community has been developing for the last 45 years. Kithara Project, having served for seven years without a dedicated facility in the region, got its music school in 2022, and is currently serving a year-round, immersive music program. The initiative also has facilities in Boston and Albuquerque in New Mexico that have been developed in response to the chronic shortage of music education in Mexico, and the distressing breakdown in the US-Mexico relations.