ventilation. In the kitchen area, the laundry rooms that protrude from the facade are clad in blue ceramic tile that contrasts with the white wall panels. A simple interplay of full and empty volumes, together with the use of continuous vertical features in the common areas, completes the configuration of a serene and rational architectural expression. Remodelación República The Remodelación República housing complex, built between 1964 and 1968, is one of the most ambitious and successful projects of CORVI's production and was commissioned by two provident funds. It is locat- ed in a pericentral area, on three island properties located between Claudio Gay, República, Almirante Blanco Encalada, Echaurren, and Domeyko streets. Surrounded by continuous low-rise buildings and blocks occupied only perimetrically. The challenge was to carry out a high-density intervention: a new form of association was established in historic neighborhoods without affecting their identity. The context of the project is framed in scarce urban land, not very dense, and with strong variables of problems framed concerning a pre-existing social fabric. The morphology of this part of the city was very different from that of the periphery. This affects it in a historical sense, with a much greater pedestrian use and intensity, and where the relationship between the public and private becomes an even more complex issue to solve. It looks to respond to a "Pre-existing City", which implies a more complex logical way of living and inhabiting in the sense of urban life. How should we define interventions on sites with these characteris- tics? Under what parameters should we establish criteria that will allow us to regenerate an existing fabric for housing, but at the same time with services that ensure a proper "living environment"? Based on these questions, the way to proceed had to be adjusted. Undoubtedly, the experiences of Neighborhood Units allowed them to enter under already proven action modes, but where the intensity of use in the first levels and the pedestrian logic in the areas close to the center are different. The project's high standard led CORVI to call for an internal compe- tition among three architectural teams from the Projects Workshop. The winner was the proposal from the team formed by Vicente Bruna, Jaime Perelman, Orlando Sepúlveda, Gastón Godoy, and Germán Wijnant, the latter being replaced by Víctor Calvo. The other teams were formed by architects Sergio Echiburú, Sergio Seguel, and Francisco Schlotfeldt. The latter won second place, and architects Ángel Hernández, Erik Kromer, Gastón Godoy, and Víctor Calvo came in third. First Place The complex's layout is configured by adopting the disaffection of Echaurren and Domeyko streets, and therefore understanding the lots as a unitary plot of land that increases in density as a base request for the proposal. This same determination is adopted by second place, but not by third place, which works with separate plots. The first place proposal establishes two linear blocks 85 meters long, 15 stories high,
two blocks with apartments that form an "L" shape: one of ten stories to the east and the other of eight stories to the south. The second area is located towards the north front with a two-story commercial plate that acts as a protective front for all the commercial and service activity on Providencia Avenue. The location of the volumes maintains the building line continuity of the neighboring buildings, freeing up the lot's interior to form a community courtyard. The vehicle and pedestrian accesses to the residential area are located at the southern end of Luis Thayer Ojeda Street. A main hall leads to the vertical circulation core, composed of elevators and stairs, which are distributed to both blocks. The floor plan design favors the location of the duplex apartments, oriented to the east, west, and north to maximize sunlight and protect them from the noise of the surrounding streets. The volume of the com- mercial plate, on the other hand, is oriented towards Providencia Avenue, to form an active base with stores and services open to the neighborhood. An innovative aspect is the distribution of the apartments on half levels, intending to reduce the number of elevator stops and optimize the units' natural lighting and ventilation. The duplex typology also makes it possible to separate the living areas from the bedrooms, thus improving the living conditions. The order and function of the building's residential program are based on a vertical arrangement logic between the circulation core and the apartment distribution floor. The grouping of the apartments is established in two superimposed distribution floors. The overlapping horizontal circu- lation corridors converge towards the vertical circulation core, located at an intermediate level between the two floors. Thus, the vertical circulation core reaches an intermediate floor hall up or down half a level, and this way it establishes only three distribution points for both housing blocks and three elevator stops, and thus optimizes its maintenance. The layout of the apartment grouping is established with a standard floor plan that leads to the common areas of the apartment. From there, the floors go up or down to the bedroom areas. The search arises from being able to give individuality to the housing areas and provide more homogeneous and equivalent sunlight and ventilation to all of them. This means that the duplex apartments in the east block have a facade facing only one side (east or west), but the south block, with a single bay and open circulation, allows a double orientation, thus favoring transversal illumination and ventilation inside the unit. The complex's facades reflect its functional and spatial organization and are treated with elements that add plastic interest to the composi- tion. The openings in the common areas of the apartments are defined from floor to ceiling, opening towards the landscape, while the bedroom areas are expressed through a horizontal band of tall windows, seeking to protect the privacy of these rooms while adjusting their sunlight and
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