ELEMENTAL©

Project

Location:
La Pintana, Santiago, Chile

Areas:
Land: 4.166 m²
Building: 3.666 m²

Client:
I. Municipalidad de La Pintana

Architecture:
Elemental, Claudio Vásquez, Carlos Bisbal

Engineering:
José Gajardo

Traffic impact:
Elemental

Electrical installation:
RCV Ingeniería

Sanitary installation:
Patricio Moya

In november of 2006, the Municipality of Pintana commisioned ELEMENTAL with projects for the adjustments to the Jornada Escolar Completa (JEC) for two secondary schools: “Aurelia Rojas Burgos” (ARB) and “Pablo de Rokha” (PdR). Both to be completed with financing from MINEDUC and FNDR.

The challenge posed by the Municipality consisted in resolving the urgent need for the JEC to protect the socially vulnerable position of school age children.  The possibility of having the children inside the establishment for the majority of the day is a central strategy that the municipality is implementing to combat the recurring social impact of drugs and delinquency on children.

On the other hand, for this type of installation and the spaces that accommodate them, any of these establishments represent a potential core of equipment and services for the community, able to create a certain value to the surrounding environment. For this opportunity to materialize, the challenge will be to combine an opening the community with security, given the series of problem with delinquency in this area.

RESTRICTIONS

This project was born out of the built work of the architects Claudio Vásquez, of the Faculty of Architecture of the PUC, Fernando García-Huidobro and Diego Torres, both members of the ELEMENTAL team, for the third competitions of Chileduca (2002), summoned by the Ministry of Education for the suitability of educational centers for the JEC.

1.The ARB is located in the middle of a number of social housing projects with a large density of inhabitants, stretches of small streets, and a shortage of public spaces. In this context, the exterior spaces of the school take on a fundamental role, not only for private use, but also to serve various activities of the community as the school is the main public space in the neighborhood. In its patios, the children can take part in activities that are unable to have at home or in the street, like sports and outdoor games.  This important “resource” is put in crisis during days of rain, when the open patios flood and the surface covering fails to accommodate.

2. The existing infrastructure is already overtaxed. Today, the ARB has approximately 1,200 grade school students and around 500 adult students completing their basic studies. To cover this demand, there are only 14 classrooms that must function for the school day and at night for the adults. The demand is especially evident in the dining hall, where in order to serve lunch to all, it must be operated in successive turns, taking up almost a third of the school day for this one activity.  On the other hand, the need for space has obligated them to convert space, originally designated for complementary programs (labs, studios) to classrooms. To correct these problems and implement the JEC, required us to double the existing area, but maintain the standard of patio and exterior pace, that from the beginning has been invaluable.

THE PROJECT

1. Densification is the project’s main strategy; building upwards, and minimizing the occupation of the ground. To optimize land use, it has expanded almost to the limit of the street, commanding a large presence in the neighborhood, but also leaving the building more vulnerable (not only to theft, but also to vandalism).  This would be resolved with an exterior skin of prefabricated concrete boards, arranged in a way that permits the passage of light but nothing more.

2. The project (of expansion) consists of an autonomous new building (with its own bathrooms and workshops), that allow it to be spatially independent to the two existing cycles of use. This autonomy permits a concentration of use for the building at night, drawing out the closed-ness of the community without sacrificing necessary security.

3. The spaces in the new building are ordered around a covered patio more than 6 meters high, that operates like a new heart to the school.  Found in a floor halfway below the natural level of terrain, it sets up a limit with the existing patio without losing the spatial unity of both. The main public spaces (dining hall, entrance, offices) participate with this grand intermediate space which also serves as a space for expansion to the surrounding rooms.

4. Over the covering of this large space a new patio is made by the library. This elevated patio looks over and through neighboring roofs creating a large view and relieving the density of the area.

Project

Location:
La Pintana, Santiago, Chile

Areas:
Land: 4.166 m²
Building: 3.666 m²

Client:
I. Municipalidad de La Pintana

Architecture:
Elemental, Claudio Vásquez, Carlos Bisbal

Engineering:
José Gajardo

Traffic impact:
Elemental

Electrical installation:
RCV Ingeniería

Sanitary installation:
Patricio Moya

Project

Location:
La Pintana, Santiago, Chile

Areas:
Land: 4.166 m²
Building: 3.666 m²

Client:
I. Municipalidad de La Pintana

Architecture:
Elemental, Claudio Vásquez, Carlos Bisbal

Engineering:
José Gajardo

Traffic impact:
Elemental

Electrical installation:
RCV Ingeniería

Sanitary installation:
Patricio Moya