A new building for the State of Mexico Boys and Girls Club (Club de Niños y Niñas del Estado de México) uses a brutalist style for a gentle purpose. The approximately 37,000 square foot building designed by Mexico City–based firm CCA | Centro de Colaboración Arquitectónica will be a home for the nonprofits philanthropic programming in Ecatepec, one of the poorest and most violent parts of Mexico City.

The concrete complex is organized around a central colonnade made of 24 interlocking arches, one for every vertebra found in the human spine. A single-story educational building, two-story arts center, and sports hall extend off the main axis, along with assorted outdoor plazas seating areas. The buildings were dimensioned using a modular system derived from the scale of the plywood formwork.

The building is scheduled to be finished in January 2019 and occupied soon thereafter, but the latest photos show the project without any people in all of its bare béton brut glory.