Center for Innovation and Creative Economy
Architecture: WIERMAN.studio, Mario Aldegheri do Val and Rafael Alves de Andrade
Team: Ana Carolina Ferrigatti Mamede, Eleftheria Anna Grammatopoulou, Gustavo Wierman, Mario Aldegheri do Val, Nina Korolija, Rafael Alves de Andrade, Sonja Draskovic
Location: Santa Maria, RS – Brazil
Year: 2022
Built Area: 2,500m2
Status: Awarded – Honorable Mention
Images: Marko Antic
Phases: Contest
Architecture: WIERMAN.studio, Mario Aldegheri do Val and Rafael Alves de Andrade
Team: Ana Carolina Ferrigatti Mamede, Eleftheria Anna Grammatopoulou, Gustavo Wierman, Mario Aldegheri do Val, Nina Korolija, Rafael Alves de Andrade, Sonja Draskovic
Location: Santa Maria, RS – Brazil
Year: 2022
Built Area: 2,500m2
Status: Awarded – Honorable Mention
Images: Marko Antic
Phases: Contest
To stimulate innovation and the creative economy in Vila Belga, it is essential, above all, to create a space for encounters and exchanges. To this end, the decision was made to enhance the Art Deco architectural complex of the former headquarters of the Railway Workers' Club by removing unlisted buildings, making room for a generous semi-public plaza—the heart of the project. This plaza fosters social (including intergenerational) and entrepreneurial engagement, connecting the Center to the city and directly responding to the regional demand for social and leisure spaces.



The proposed volume, which will house the Municipal School of Arts, is positioned so that its atrium opens onto the new plaza, in dialogue with the lobby of the listed building. This solution connects the voids and organizes circulation flows. The lobby, plaza, atrium, and grandstand are articulated at different scales and with varying levels of privacy, combining open and covered spaces, flexible enough to accommodate diverse social, economic, and cultural uses.
The mansion, in turn, now houses the Creative Economy Space program and the permanent Memory Space exhibition. By reclaiming the site's history, the collaborative spirit—a hallmark of the railway imagination—is reinforced as inspiration for building a sustainable future.




