Articles by Cristobal Rojas

Daigo Town, in Ibaraki Prefecture is built on the edges of abundant woodlands on the surrounding mountains. “Edges of the Forest” is a project to connects the residents, the town and the forest. Using only scraps from local lumber mills, a cafe, bookstore, shared office and event space was created using the “edges” of the local forest.

The architectural fact as a tool for the construction of the memory and identity of a community is the fundamental principle on which the project is based, having as elements of creation the collective imagination of culture, traditions and history, shaped and shaped by the Same landscape and territory in which they are.

“Sourcéane” is a new sports, leisure and wellness swimming hall in Douai, in the North of France. Due to its location, the aquatic centre will be an essential part of the future eco-quarter of “Le Raquet”, a new city district, at whose heart will be a landscaped park. The new swimming hall lies at its northeastern end, at the interface between the artificial landscape of the park and the urban structure of the city. The project is oriented towards the future tramway station and a central urban square.

Office spaces are often associated with unfriendliness and anonymity.  Architects from the Metaforma Group have faced the challenge of designing a space that will not only foster concentration while working, but will also allow you to fully rest during breaks. Acoustics and individually adjusted solutions in surface zoning have become the guiding ideas of the concept.

The Falcon House challenges the inappropriate, contemporary approach of destroying the native landscape and topography. The upper level hovers gently as a white object, the lower level is a black shadow, in the middle is a thin zone of grey that reminds us that nothing is ever ‘black or white’.

1. # Human

Cultural context

Claro Chile Headquarters is located in Santiago, Huechuraba, composed by its general offices, technical areas, casino, parking lots and services areas. It is a complex conformed by two bodies of different characteristics, towards to the access road, an 11-level tower destined for corporate offices and to the back of the site, a horizontal 3-level Building for technical areas. Both bodies are connected at ground level by a volume that emerges from the underground parking lots, separating pedestrian traffic from car circulation, protected from solar radiation by steel shaders that allow vegetal growing, which decrease the unwanted reflections of cars towards the offices, and at the same time, allowing more flexibility of uses in this area. 

Claro Chile Headquarters is located in Santiago, Huechuraba, composed by its general offices, technical areas, casino, parking lots and services areas. It is a complex conformed by two bodies of different characteristics, towards to the access road, an 11-level tower destined for corporate offices and to the back of the site, a horizontal 3-level Building for technical areas. Both bodies are connected at ground level by a volume that emerges from the underground parking lots, separating pedestrian traffic from car circulation, protected from solar radiation by steel shaders that allow vegetal growing, which decrease the unwanted reflections of cars towards the offices, and at the same time, allowing more flexibility of uses in this area. 

The exercise consisted in the modification and extension of a house built in the 60’s. Located on a flat topography of 289[sqm], the house of one level and 74[sqm] built, had two bedrooms, a small study room, a bathroom, a closed kitchen and a living-dining room.