Hanging Performances
year:
2020institution:
School of Architecture (UC Chile)[Specialized Architecture Studio]
prof. Enrique Walker
team:
Felipe Beroiza, Daniela Maldonado, Javiera Moya, Aina Pacheco, Francisca Riffo, Anais Rodas, Cristina Feitoprogram:
cultural centersite:
Gabriela Mistral Center (GAM), Santiago de ChileThe current building consists of three independent volumes, detached from one another and indifferent to their context. After half a century of modifications, the GAM now represents a barrier to the street. The project proposes an inverse operation in front of the wall-like building, aiming to create a space that fosters the transition from a closed to an open culture.
The operation involves doubling the surface area by extending the roof inward, reclaiming part of the city block. The project unfolds across two planes: a highly specific thickness and a programmatically flexible floor that is activated from the roof, increasing the range of possible uses.
A new access is created from Villavicencio Street, crossing the project and reaching the Alameda, establishing a permeable relationship with the surrounding neighborhood. Additionally, an entrance plaza is designed at the corner of Namur and Alameda, orienting the project towards Plaza Italia.
This shift moves the building's center of gravity, with the proposed relationship to the street akin to the interaction between a beach and the tide: when the tide rises, the building is flooded. Finally, the series of transformations the roof has undergone is exposed, revealing the underlying history and opening the possibility for its infinite extension.
