The Vertical Gym Story

A few years back, in a Caracas barrio known as Barrio La Cruz, Urban Think Tank took on the task of proposing
an idea to the Caracas Chacao City Mayor and the Planning Head of the Mayors Office Arq. Maria Fernanda
Gomez of creating a somewhat safe haven for the children who were constantly caught in the cross-fire of
gang wars and other forms of violence. Having only a desolate soccer field on which to play, these kids didnt
have much of an area in which to be just kids, without having to worry about being harmed or harassed. As
with most of our projects we were faced with a pretty dense area with little possibility to expand, for doing so
would mean we would have to disrupt the living situations of a lot of residents. So we came up with a
schematic plan to, instead of outward mobilization, we would move upward. We were well aware of building
sports centers vertically from our experience with many Manhattan Schools while we were studying in
Columbia University. This is how the Vertical Gym was born. What was once an abandoned basketball court
was transformed into a fitness complex with basketball courts, a dance studio, a running track and an open
air soccer field! We took a cue from barrio residents themselves who find innovative ways to expand, and
mobilized upwards. In this way we were able to, not only expand on the basketball courts but we were able to
add so much more to the area all without any disruption to neighbors living in close proximity. Given the
success of the Gym here in Caracas with 15,000 users each month and a reduction of crime of nearly 30% in
the area we went on to propose the idea to other areas of the world. Presently, we are working on a new
version for Holland,Jordan, India and Brazil where sports has become an hot-topic issue. Cities in the so-called
third world present today the greatest opportunities for change through design. Financial investment alone
cannot eliminate problems. Design can often make the largest impact, but most significantly this initiative
wants to change the consciousness of people.
The basic idea behind this registered prototype is to create a building system or kit of parts that can fit on a
basketball court and maximize the potential of city space especially in a dense urban fabric. The prototypes
U-TT has built are not winterized given that you can practice sports in a semi-conditioned space and not have
to spend all the money on heating systems. We are extremely committed to using passive climate
engineering. Given the need for immediate response to developing world issues of children, we thought this
building type would be particularly interesting to export given the recent call of cities around the world for
retrofitting playing courts. We have identified a number of developing world city agencies where a gym like
this could benefit a community or a public school.
The whole system of the gym has been developed to include a series of other programs in each of our new
iterations of the prototype. Given that it design is based on modularity so you can build as many floors as you
need in the phases or programs you so desire. The challenge for U-TT Vertical Gymnasium is to introduce
together with environmental engineers a best practices example that will use the identity of the Gimnasio
Vertical as a sport complex and promote sustainable technologies along with the use of recyclable materials,
wind towers solar panels, and rain water collection as part of the design to make the prototype a responsive
design object that complies with the Kyoto protocol.