Living Roots: Designing a community centre based on biomimetic principles for integration with the Sierra Nevada cultural landscape Part 2 Project 2025 Andrés Felipe Villarraga Rondón Pilot University of Colombia Bogota | Colombia This project proposes a community center embedded within the cultural and ecological landscape of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia. Inspired by the region’s rich biodiversity and the ancestral worldview of the Arhuaco people, the design draws from the micorrhizal network—a natural system of underground roots that connects and nourishes forests—as a conceptual and spatial strategy.The project responds to rural fragmentation and limited access to community infrastructure by articulating a circulation system that links three programmatic modules: cultural gathering, indigenous settlement and central or meeting point. These modules echo the spatial logic of indigenous settlements and reinterpret the traditional Arhuaco dwelling through local materials such as rammed earth, wood, and plant-based structures.Rather than a single volume, the project is divided into interconnected units that adapt to topography and enable phased, low-impact construction. Through this modularity and sensitive integration with the site, the design respects the territory’s sacred value and promotes ecological continuity.Ultimately, the project aims to foster intercultural dialogue, strengthen community identity, and demonstrate how architecture can learn from nature and indigenous knowledge to generate inclusive and regenerative futures. Tutor(s)