2024
MCHAP
Edificio FADEU - Campus Lo Contador, Universidad Católica de Chile
Alberto Moletto, Sebastián Paredes
Santiago, Región Metropolitana, Chile
June 2023
PRIMARY AUTHOR
Alberto Moletto (Architect), Sebastián Paredes (Architect)
CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR
Daniel Stagno (Structural engineer), Alzérreca y Díaz (Construction company), Douglas Leonard (Lighting designer), Rodrigo Echague (MEP), Edmundo Jara (Electrical consultant
CLIENT
Universidad Católica de Chile - Department of Infrastructure
PHOTOGRAPHER
Cristobal Palma
OBJECTIVE
The building organizes the required uses considering adjacent constructions, enhancing existing programs, considering proximity, strata, and materiality factors. The project becomes an articulator of the campus based on new connections at different levels with adjacent buildings and the neighbourhood.
The project is constructed based on 13 reinforced concrete rigid frames space out 5.5 meters apart, defining a 70x10 meter open-plan structure where the expression of columns and beams is evident on all floors. Secondary elements, such as partition walls, façade, window frames, services, are located under the guidance of the building's primary structure.
Operable devices such as windows, curtains, and louvers in the building's enclosures create a dynamic and blurred image, allowing air and light to change according to usage requirements, where only the weight of the structure remains constant.
CONTEXT
FADEU Building, for the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Urban Studies of the Universidad Católica de Chile is located at Lo Contador campus, between the slopes of San Cristóbal Hill and the Mapocho River, in Santiago, Chile.
Lo Contador Campus begins as an agricultural land, far from Santiago’s historical center and characterized by a large colonial house from the 18th century, which today it is recognized as the National Monument Casona Lo Contador. In 1959, this building and its surrounding sites became the Faculty of Architecture of the Universidad Católica de Chile, beginning the process of consolidating an urban university campus in a low-density neighbourhood.
Each construction adds new layers to the campus over time, where the FADEU Building is one of the latest additions.
PERFORMANCE
Programmatically, the building allocates parking on level -2; workshops, services, and the campus cafeteria on level -1; the ground floor is program-free; workshops on level +2; Institute of Urban Studies premises on levels +3 and +4
Toward the street, the front garden extends into the public space, creating a plaza along side the building. Since the program occupies the upper and underground floors, the first floor's structure allows views of campus life and the colonial house, National Monument Casona Lo Contador, creating a seamless transition between the university and the street.
