Movement Training and Cultural Center

Ayni Institute’s goal is to build a first class training institute at the Movement Training and Cultural Center. The center is a 4,500 square foot building in Revere, purchased jointly with Neighbors United for a Better East Boston (NUBE). Ayni worked to capitalize on the building’s capacity to house trainings and a cultural center. The space will serve as a regional movement hub, providing inclusive and strategic meeting space for movement leaders.

Ayni Institute’s initial dream for the building design was broad and inspired by Andean indigeneity. After purchasing the building, they initially planned to design a statement exterior facade. However, the Design Grants process impacted the project’s scope and feel, and they shifted focus to the interior space.

The team identified the functions of each level of the building, and invited volunteer designers on a site visit to help envision design interventions that would make the building accessible to different types of users. The team also began to embrace a phased design process, rather than one big intervention. Through the process, the team learned they had a space issue despite occupying an empty building. Also, in developing different user profiles, they began to imagine the space from the perspective of future visitors. This pushed the team to think about overlooked design interventions, like storage for coats in the winter or for luggage from out-of-town training participants.

With the support of volunteer designers, the team concluded the grant period with a more accurate building user profile and a vision for a possible deck and roof expansion that could allow Ayni to scale up their training and community building efforts.