Chile

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Videos

Where the Panamerican Route passes along Rancagua, Chile, it does so in a seemingly interminable straight line, intersecting with the H-35 toward the Pacific and the Andes. At this junction between two of Rancagua's arterial roads German practice raumspielkunst has envisioned "The Cloud," a new form of self-sufficient gas station.

Responding to the nature of its site as a meeting point between the industrial and the touristic, the environmentally efficient gas station would cater for thousands of commuters each day. 

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Imagine a future in which all the Earth's divisions are removed: countries abolished, borders dissolved, and governments overthrown. Such is the version of planet Earth for which "Civilization 0.000", the 2013 master's thesis project by Dimo Ivanov of RWTH Aachen University, is designed. Envisioning a future free of "unnatural division" and where the earth's resources are measured and meted out according to human need, the project proposes a series of interlinked skyscrapers or "0.000 Units" that harness local earth resources. Each of the units assumes one of 6 key functions: living space, education, resource management, production, energy storage, and electricity generation. Functions are determined by the environment in which the units are sited.

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Chilean architects República Portátil have revealed their proposal for temporary multi-residential housing in Concepción, Chile. Responding to sites left vacant in the wake of the 2010 Chile Earthquake, the Vertical Student Housing project would accommodate students and members of the general public alike.

Driven by a desire to "promote interaction and relationships among strangers," República Portátil frame the housing project as a counterpoint to "standardized real estate projects" which, in their view, encourage "social segregation of the city."

Learn more about the project and view selected images after the break.

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Chilean architects Archiplan and international office Architects of Invention have unveiled their concept design for a new public plaza in Santiago. Prepared as a competition entry, the proposal is a tribute to the late Chilean architect Fernando Castillo Velasco, sited in front of his iconic Tajamar Towers.

Entitled "Origami Highline," the project draws inspiration from the ancient Japanese paper folding craft of origami and takes the form of a sculptural intervention in Balmaceda Park.

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Videos

• Architects

  Hariri Pontarini Architects

• Architect in Charge

  Siamak Hariri - Hariri Pontarini Architects

• Local Architect

  BL Arquitectos

• Client

  National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Chile, National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Canada

• General Contractor

  Desarrollo y Construcción del Templo Bahá'í para Sudamérica Ltda.

• Area

  1200.0 sqm

• Project Year

  2016

• Photographs

  Courtesy of Bahá’í Temple of South America

Nearly four years after the start of its construction, South America’s first Bahá’í temple is beginning to take shape. Designed by Canadian firm Hariri Pontarini Architects, the temple is being constructed at the foothills of the Andes in Santiago, Chile. The building is comprised of “nine translucent wings, rising directly from the ground, and giving the impression of floating over a large reflecting water pool,” describes the project’s website. Each wing is designed like a leaf, with a steel “main stem” and “secondary veins of steel” supporting its cast glass exterior. During the day, the cast glass will filter sunlight into the temple, while at night the temple’s interior lighting will produce a soft glow on the outside.

The structure’s steel columns are now fully self-supported on its concrete foundation, and the steel frames and interior marble panels of each of the nine wings have been completed. In October, the project reached an important milestone as the installation of the cast glass cladding began on the outside of the wings. 

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