Hall Cafeteria of the Architecture School of the University of Biobío by República Portátil

Description of project by República portátil

Hall Coffee Shop

The School of Architecture of the University of Biobío, in the city of Concepción, was founded in 1969. This school is a community of approximately 500 people and its infrastructure it has workshops, which have a central meeting space in double height. known as the Hall of the Pillar. This space is witness to assemblies, parties, exhibitions and has always been the heart of this school. Then in 2006, the building was remodeled and the product of its relocation was the lost of the character of the lounge café, becoming an ambiguous space that ended up disappearing in 2015, leaving an unoccupied place that eventually emptied the heart of the city. school of its activities…

At the beginning of 2016, the need to reformulate the space left by the cafeteria became urgent. For this, a working alliance is made between the School of Architecture, the officials of the University of Biobío (Afunab) and the students. This joint effort came to revitalize a space without a program, added to the architects' proposal to return to the school as a place of meeting and vital discussion within a context of creative production.

The proposal seeks to generate an element of containment for the space of the cafeteria, a configurator, which at the same time contains the activities that take place in the Hall of the Pillar. This new element separates without isolating, respecting the relationship between both enclosures. With two bays, distribute the accesses and this way orders the routes that remain before the Hall as a transit space, returning to it the neutrality of a place that brings together the teachers and students of the UBB School of Architecture.

A scaffolding for memories

A scaffold is first of all a structure, a modular and self-supporting skeleton that has the purpose of serving the construction of another structure. The new cafeteria contemplates a wooden scaffolding whose function is to take distance from the Hall of the Pillar. This scaffold, consisting of a series of 50x50x50 cm lockers, is a separator as well as an empty body ready to be filled with objects and productions. This place was thought from the need to generate a porous and transparent limit, a large vertical showcase that allows to expose the memories and what to do. And in this way fill the hall of architecture with significant small objects that are added to the daily life.

Three places to be

Inside, the cafeteria has three modes of relating. The first is the social table, composed of two camping tents for 20 people, with a small cover to share with who sits on one side or in front. The size of the surface of the table is 56 cm wide and allows to strengthen ties in close dialogues, but at the same time it gives enough freedom to not feel invaded by the neighbor.

The bar is a piece of furniture that generates a space for entry from the outside of the cafeteria. Allows its use standing or sitting on 4 high stools of 70 cm. The narrow deck allows its users to meet for a coffee break or sitting, framed by the shelves of the bar enjoy a general view overlooking the Hall of Architecture.

The 4 m long built-in bench covers the entire back wall, framed by two shelves, offering a small inclination in its backrest capable of welcoming users as if it were a home armchair. The furniture keeps under the seat stools and tables that allow flexible use and according to the needs of the meeting. At some moments meeting circles are created around the bench and in others the stools are stacked to form work surfaces, installing laptops on them. This piece of furniture generates one of the most dynamic spaces within the cafeteria, allowing both students, teachers and the general public to accommodate the furniture delivered by the intervention.