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Speakers

Authors:
Professor Cristian Muñoz – Principal Investigator – Department of Architecture, FAU.
Professor Beatriz Coeffe – Co-Investigator – Department of Architecture, FAU.
Professor Rodrigo Vera – Alternate Researcher – Institute of History and Heritage, FAU.
Architect Victoria Opazo – Research Assistant.
Architect Gabriel Cañete – Research Assistant.

Architecture Students at FAU:
Camila Llanto, Catalina Rodríguez, Pamela Salas, Mónica Echeverría, Karyn Salazar, Paulina Oyaneder, and Elizabeth Lara.

Description

EXHIBITION

  1. The project analyzes the relationship between the aesthetic and formal aspects of architecture, such as façade composition, relationship with public space, volumetry, and spatiality, and the structural system and its components. It examines examples of mid-rise residential buildings in Chile from the 1950s and 1960s to investigate how the structural and material system defines the buildings in a context of modernity and its theoretical precepts.
  2. The hypothesis explored in this study is that the architectural expression of mid-rise concrete residential buildings is shaped by technical-structural conditions, implying a local adaptation of the precepts of the international modern movement to the local context.
  3. The study includes a systematic record of works, the fabrication of expressive models, and an exhibition setup designed to foster discussion on the technical aspects of the discipline. The project addresses various scales and domains, promoting a broader and more complex technological discussion, emphasizing the importance of structure and materials in the aesthetic quality of the city.
  4. A key aspect of this project is to highlight that concrete, like any other material, has its own expression determined by its chemical composition, microstructure, construction technique, and mechanical properties. These factors define its geometry, positioning, and relationship, conditioning the architectural proposal.
  5. The study concludes that the architectural expression of mid-rise reinforced concrete residential buildings in Chile built during the study period is defined by material-structural conditions. These conditions involved an adaptation of the precepts of the international modern movement to the local context, defining the main structural elements, their dimensions, and their organization, which took precedence over modern conceptual idealizations.