paying careful attention to their interior proportions, orientations, and views of the immediate surroundings. The complex comprises 39 units, with floor areas ranging from 38 m² to 110 m². On the ground floor, parking spaces are relocated to three under- ground levels, freeing up the entrance for pedestrian use. The volume rises partially at its front, creating a wide entrance, a covered common circulation area, and a small interior plaza with gardens, pathways, rest areas, and integrated benches. In this way, the first level ceases to function as a simple lobby and becomes a transitional space between the street and the residents’ daily lives. The project also incorporates the basement as a livable extension of the first-level apartments. These spaces are conceived as spacious areas connected to English gardens, allowing for natural ventilation, controlled lighting, and a direct connection to private green spaces. Thus, the underground space acquires spatial and domestic value. The roof is conceived as an active fifth facade. It features a communal terrace with views of the surrounding area, complemented by private terraces equipped with outdoor barbecue areas, extending domestic life outdoors and offering new areas for socializing, relaxation, and togetherness. Through these architectural interventions, the building works within the site’s constraints to create an efficient and elegant complex, where orientation, density, light, and vegetation come together to form a more pleasant living experience for its residents. !
architectural terms, it is the negative space created by the concrete forms and pours used in the original construction, having remained hidden and sealed off for decades behind thick structural walls. The architectural intervention takes on the primary challenge of transforming a space that was originally uninhabitable into a place suitable for living and communal life, while preserving the material and atmospheric character of the original work. The architectural project focuses on revealing the beauty of what was originally intended to remain hidden, highlighting the invisible as an essential part of good work and, in turn, emphasizing the professional integrity of its creator, whose ethical approach to the profession—expressed from its very foundations—also serves as an inspiring example for future generations of lawyers. To make the space usable, the floor level was lowered by approxi- mately 70 centimeters through a process of excavation and structural consolidation that included reinforcing the existing foundations with a new reinforced concrete slab. At the same time, strategic openings were incorporated to allow for controlled entry of natural light, enhancing the orientation and livability of the spaces. The project includes an exhibition gallery, study rooms, reading ar- eas, lounge spaces, a gym, and a cafeteria, all organized according to an open and flexible design that encourages students to use the space in various ways. The project also includes the addition of a new circulation system that integrates the building into the campus as a whole through four staircases. One of them, an open staircase, connects the underground level to the faculty’s central courtyard via a set of steps facing Cerro San Cristóbal. Two spiral staircases link the project to the light-filled halls and corridors of the historic building, while a fourth connection—via a tunnel—provides continuity with the student dining hall and the Los Presidentes building, designed by the same architects behind this project and inaugurated in 2008. In this final section, the excavation exposes the geological layers present in the subsoil of the north bank of the Mapocho River, adding a new material and territorial dimension to the experience of the route. The architectural proposal treats this space as a built metaphor for the foundations of law and public education in Chile. Just as foundations physically support a building, this space seeks to represent the intellec- tual, political, and cultural foundations upon which the Republic and the Law School itself—one of the five founding disciplines of the University of Chile—were built. !
10_ Foundations of the School
The “Faculty Foundations” project involves the restoration, enhance- ment, and adaptation of the underground space located beneath the original Universidad de Chile Law School building, designed by architect Juan Martínez Gutiérrez, which opened in 1938 and was designated a National Monument in 2014. The project transforms an area historically used as storage rooms into a new gathering place for contemporary university life, designed to house flexible, informal, and multifunctional spaces for students. Traditionally known as “the catacombs,” this area is now called “Faculty Foundations”. It corresponds to the residual volume created between the foundation structure and the geometry of the sloped slabs that form the historic amphitheater-style rooms facing Avenida Santa María. In
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