Caja de Amortización and Banco del Estado The building for the Caja Autónoma de Amortización de la Deuda Pública 3 , an institution created by law in 1932 to manage the domestic debt of the state and municipalities, was built after a competition in 1934. The project by Mardones, then only 27 years old, occupies about a quarter of the block where it is located, opposite Bandera Street. Contemporary to the Brunner urban plan, the building adheres strictly to the regulated continuous façade and setback level, contributing to form the traditional compact blocks that characterize the center of Santiago, which is governed by such a plan: a base, eight regular floors, and an extra level set back from the plane of the façade, with freedom to open courtyards to the center of the block. A vertical element stands out in the facade, placed asymmetrically by Mardones within the composition of the length of the building. This body, volumetrically flush with the façade, is framed by two protruding half-cylinders on each side that run from top to bottom of the building, from the mezzanine to the level of the set back story. Regular and rectangular windows arranged in horizontal bands perforate the rest of the facade. In its sobriety and order, this building highly represents the spirit of the urban plan that guided the construction of the square blocks in the center of Santiago. The inheritance of the square block disposition as a building unit, coming from the first ordinances of the 16th century, led to the development of a body with a
regular height and building line, giving birth - when it was fully configured as a uniform block – to an excellent set of buildings which today represent a building type characteristic of the historical center of the city and that has survived the liberalization of the height regulation of the current urban plan, at least in the most consolidated blocks. The Caja de Amortización was the first building of the block built following these ordinances, and soon it would be complemented by the blocks of the civic center that would replace the traditional buildings along Morandé Street to the side of the Palacio de La Moneda, and that would later become the Ministry of Public Works.
21
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online