The challenge of this project was to create an office that was conditioned by a central space as a meeting room and by a symbolic work of art that was to be located inside, a large Italian tapestry. Its imposing roof and large walls of reinforced concrete resolve the structure.
Description of project by MAPAA
The work is located south of the city of Santiago within the Maipo River Valley, characteristic for its wine production. Specifically on the northern slope of one foot of the hill, on a vineyard and an olive grove.
The commission consisted of developing the offices for a father and his son, which must be independent but linked through a central space, which will function as a meeting room. In the central space, there was to be an Italian tapestry 3.6 meters high by 6 meters long. On the other hand, the project had to account for the family tradition linked to winemaking.
Program and views. The building is located perpendicular to the hillside, organizing the program through three naves, in which the offices and the meeting room are located to the north; Main access, reception, bathrooms, cellars, and kitchen to the south.
Below these, there is secondary access and the parking area. To the north, there are views towards the valley and the vineyards, which are presented as long, clean, and open views. To the south, there are views linked to the state of the foot of the hill, with short, immediate, and close views.
The tapestry and the vaults. The presence of a large work of art in the central space of the building, conditions the configuration of support for it, a wall, which in turn must have a distance, height, and envelope relationship that allows its correct display.
As an envelope capable of configuring the aforementioned conditions, the image of the underground cellars used to store the wine emerges, characteristics of the winemaking tradition of the central area, which through their brick masonry vaults resolve their shape, which is they are used as references for the project, literally transferring them to the surface through new materiality, concrete, thus giving rise to the idea of a vault capable of covering a large span without intermediate supports, which unload the efforts on lateral supports.
