Year: 2017

Location: Anelo. Neuquen. Argentina

Program: Cultural Center

Area: 1250.00 m2

Client: Buenos Aires Architecture Biennial / Ternium

Status: Internacional Competition. Honorable Mention

Architects: Jaime Sarmiento Pastor, Carolina Linares Borgo, Maria Antonella Casalis, Rodrigo Rengifo

Collaborators: Julio Cesar Castro, Eduardo Aguilar, Diego Frias

FRAMING AÑELO

The collective existence of space

The boom of Vaca Muerta’s unconventional deposits has made Añelo live a significant increase in its population without it being accompanied by the improvement and generation of new equipment and services. The existence of the Añelo Sostenible Project (a program developed by the IDB and YPF) and the Innovation and Development plan registered, makes essential the improvement and enhancement of its main public spaces, including, mainly, the activities of the city’s cultural center.

Located in front of the main park of the city, the Añelo Cultural Center currently functions as a volume mono – flexible and adaptable – inscribed in a private green area. The importance of its location and the value it has within the collective imagination of the city makes it essential to protect its essence as a public space but complemented by new activities that respond to the changing desires of a developing society.

Design Strategies

The dark box and the consolidation of the free plant 

Flexibility in space means the ability to assimilate different uses without affecting its internal organization over time. Its ability to adapt increases its resilia to be able to host different events throughout the year. To achieve this condition, the existing volume is adapted to work as a cow box without specific content where multiple activities such as meeting room, event room, auditorium, exhibition center or fairgrounds can be deployed without generating conflicts and rivalry. applications.

The original coverage is replaced (doubling its height to increase its functional possibilities) and it is accompanied by the new educational and service program proposed in the bases. The creation of a staircase / amphitheater that works at the same time as circulation and public space introduces urban conditions to the interior giving it greater diversity.

Free Space Indeterminate

The organization of the program on the first floor makes it possible to free the corner by spatially connecting the center with the Street and the Park. Thanks to this, the boundaries between the building and the city are blurred and the public activities that take place between them reinforce the life of the city.

Likewise, the staircase / amphitheater allows a less critical transition between the Hall and the second floor, where mainly modular spaces are proposed thanks to the structural and spatial characteristics of the roof. Outside the area intended for administration, the rest of the space functions as a free floor or free space. This can be used as a projection area (according to the bases) in case a greater demand for meeting and / or teaching spaces is necessary.

The Crown and the building as a generator of context

The need to make the building become a reference in a dispersed and horizontal urban landscape, composed mainly of one or two-story single-family homes, requires a structure that not only amalgamates the internal activities but also has an adequate scale to its use and type.

That is how a coverage is visualized as a container of cultural activities. A family structure where the materials that build it are honestly represented. Where the characteristics of a built environment of emerging and temporary structures are reflected. A covered public space that diversifies the recreational uses of the main park of the city.

Structure / STEEL FRAME

The Building is a simple but particular structure conceived from the construction system STEEL FRAME or DRYWALL ESTRUCTURAL. It has a main structural frame of 6 x 6 meters that serves as a framework for the spatial definition of each of the environments required in the program.

As main enclosure, we propose a braced containment structure worked on beams and iron columns with an 8 x 8 profile. The union of them generates a spatial system that allows the installation and removal of permanent and temporary spaces.

Following the established modulation, the rest of divisions and enclosures are defined from C-shaped uprights installed vertically every 60 cm away. These are screwed to their ends on U-shaped profiles or soleras. The union of them establishes a framework that is then covered with plates of painted coatings or aluminum panels, SUPERBOARD and / or glass according to the activities and functional purposes of each designed space.

This crown is modulated in 20 skylights that, according to their orientation and inclination, capture the winter light and introduce it to the interior. Additionally, it works as a natural fan, allowing the escape of hot air through the vertical hatches proposed in the project.