UC Innovation Center – Anacleto Angelini
San Joaquín Campus, Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile · 2014
Photo · Photo by Nina Vidic
A premier precedent for passive environmental design using a heavy, monolithic concrete envelope with deep subtractive voids to control solar heat gain while creating elevated public terraces.
- What we like about this project
- The glass facade is entirely recessed inside the deep concrete voids, leaving the outer perimeter completely solid and opaque.
Materials
- exposed-concrete
- glass
- steel
Visual identifiers
- monolithic-concrete
- deep-recesses
- board-marked-concrete
- subtractive-geometry
- thermal-mass
Style tags
- contemporary
- monolithic
- brutalist
- sculptural
Visual tags
- monolithic
- brutalist-influence
- passive-design
- institutional
- subtractive-massing
- heavy-envelope
- Geometry
- A massive, monolithic cubic volume composed of interlocking, board-marked concrete blocks. The solid mass is punctuated by deep, multi-story rectangular voids carved out of the perimeter walls, creating a dramatic play of solid and void.
- Facade system
- Load-bearing exposed concrete outer wall with deeply recessed, shaded glass curtain walls within the voids.
- Structural guess
- Perimeter concrete shear wall structure acting as a structural ring, supporting internal slabs.
- Spatial scale
- A monumental mid-rise institutional building, approximately ten stories tall, with massive multi-story openings that dwarf the surrounding cars and trees.
- Lighting
- Dramatic, high-contrast natural light under a dark, stormy sky. Direct sunlight grazes the textured concrete surfaces, highlighting the board-marked formwork and casting deep shadows inside the recessed voids.
- Atmosphere
- Imposing and dramatic, where the heavy concrete mass stands out sharply against a dark, turbulent sky.
- Environmental context
- Set on an open campus edge with deciduous trees in autumn foliage, a parking area, and low-rise campus structures in the background.
- Spatial experience
- The building presents an imposing, fortress-like exterior that reverses the typical glass curtain wall office typology. The deep perimeter voids act as elevated, sheltered outdoor terraces that buffer the interior spaces from direct solar gain.
- Composition rhythm
- An asymmetrical, pinwheel-like arrangement of massive concrete blocks and deep, multi-story voids.
- Style reading
- Contemporary brutalist-influenced monumentalism
- Program
- University innovation center and research facility
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture
- Materials
- exposed-concrete, glass, steel
- Visual identifiers
- monolithic-concrete, deep-recesses, board-marked-concrete, subtractive-geometry, thermal-mass
- Style tags
- contemporary, monolithic, brutalist, sculptural
- Visual tags
- monolithic, brutalist-influence, passive-design, institutional, subtractive-massing, heavy-envelope
- Geometry
- A massive, monolithic cubic volume composed of interlocking, board-marked concrete blocks. The solid mass is punctuated by deep, multi-story rectangular voids carved out of the perimeter walls, creating a dramatic play of solid and void.
- Facade system
- Load-bearing exposed concrete outer wall with deeply recessed, shaded glass curtain walls within the voids.
- Structural guess
- Perimeter concrete shear wall structure acting as a structural ring, supporting internal slabs.
- Spatial scale
- A monumental mid-rise institutional building, approximately ten stories tall, with massive multi-story openings that dwarf the surrounding cars and trees.
- Lighting
- Dramatic, high-contrast natural light under a dark, stormy sky. Direct sunlight grazes the textured concrete surfaces, highlighting the board-marked formwork and casting deep shadows inside the recessed voids.
- Atmosphere
- Imposing and dramatic, where the heavy concrete mass stands out sharply against a dark, turbulent sky.
- Environmental context
- Set on an open campus edge with deciduous trees in autumn foliage, a parking area, and low-rise campus structures in the background.
- Spatial experience
- The building presents an imposing, fortress-like exterior that reverses the typical glass curtain wall office typology. The deep perimeter voids act as elevated, sheltered outdoor terraces that buffer the interior spaces from direct solar gain.
- Composition rhythm
- An asymmetrical, pinwheel-like arrangement of massive concrete blocks and deep, multi-story voids.
- Style reading
- Contemporary brutalist-influenced monumentalism
- Program
- University innovation center and research facility
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture