Piscina cubierta del Estadio Español de Las Condes, 1988. / Indoor swimming pool at the Spanish Stadium of Las Condes, 1988.
His mark in competitions Architectural competitions remained a prestigious system during much of the twentieth century. Thanks to it, talented young architects are selected with solutions that refresh the architectural landscape. With his group of colleagues he became a strong supporter of the system and a frequent participant in the major competitions. With a generous spirit, knowing that an architectural competition has only one winner and many losers, over and over again he organized teams to face each new invitation. Throughout his life he was involved in more than 50 competitions, winning several very important ones that were subsequently built (see boxes). In 1952, he participated with a team in the competition for the School of Medicine at the University of Chile, in which he encountered proposals of a more traditional nature. Much has been said of this competition, which opened a new era for Chilean architecture. He obtained the second prize whereas architect Juan Martínez won first prize with a project of classical features even if devoid of ornamentation. In 1972 he participated in a competition for the Centre Pompidou in Paris. The following year he won a contest for a new tower in the San Borja Complex, but the military coup ensued and the contract for its construction was canceled. In 1978 he won a private competition for the headquarters of the Banco Unido de Fomento. Upon the disappearance of the institution, the building was finished by the state and assigned to the judiciary, a function it serves to this day. The building was designed as a tower connected to the surrounding constructions by means of a five-story base. In 1982 he participated once more in a competition for the La Villette Park,
also in Paris, with a proposal that included the planting of Chilean species. He received no award (over 500 projects were presented), however his proposal was published. In 1988 he won the competition for the indoor pool of the Spanish Stadium of Las Condes, in whose authorship Teodoro Fernández, at the time associated with the office, played an important role. The project - which was later built – proposed a swimming pool at ground level, open to the surrounding landscape and to the warmth of the northern sun by means of large picture windows. The resulting complex is cheerful and bright, and combined to the stadium in a friendly way with transparent façades in contrast with previous sports facilities. He worked very hard as director of competitions in a complicated tender for the expansion of the National Congress and later in the competition for the most important urban park at the time, Araucano Park. He considered that the development of the tender rules was the first architectural intervention towards a solution, and he put his best efforts into the task. Some left a bitter aftertaste, such as the design for the memorial of Father Alberto Hurtado, which he developed with a language of simple and meager resources in tune with the character. However he felt he was misunderstood (he came in second). His proposals for the Aula Magna at the Catholic University, Baquedano Square (third prize) and the Citizens Square (reward) were of great value, the last one a project that did not include the Alameda Avenue underpass as suggested by the tender rules.
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