After the original dome of the building designed by German architect Karl Trambauer—located in the Old Town of Montevideo, Uruguay—partially collapsed, the void was occupied by a temporary new dome. This symbiotic architecture sought to fill the building's physical gaps while raising awareness of the systematic destruction suffered by structures in Ciudad Vieja. It served as both a provocative object and a restorative organism, experimentally intervening in the building's visible void.
This initial intervention resulted from the Adaptation workshop, organized by the Faculty of Architecture, Design, and Urbanism of the Universidad de la República and the Digital Fabrication Laboratory. Working with 1:1 scale parametric design systems, the team handled both the fabrication development and the assembly. Originally planned to last only a few months, the temporary dome ultimately remained until 2019 at the request of the original owner, when its replacement with a permanent installation was requested.
This time, the owners requested a design similar to Trambauer's original dome. Consequently, in late 2019, the temporary dome was removed, paving the way for the design and construction of a new version to crown the building. The new dome utilizes contemporary materials and techniques, employing a layered construction system that reconstructs the silhouette and tones of the original dome using metallic elements and parametric design.
Its stratified design allows passersby to see through the dome as they move along the street, operating like a vertical louver that alters its appearance in response to pedestrian movement. This process can be seen as the final chapter of a narrative that began with a loss—the forgetting of a symbol—which was then brought to light and exposed through an architectural intervention with a successful conclusion.
- Location: Buenos Aires Street, corner of Misiones (Montevideo, Uruguay)
- Author: Arch. Federico Lagomarsino
- Builder: Ignacio Silva
This article was written by Belén Maiztegui. The translation is powered by AI.
