Armando Caroca - Portfolio

OFFICE WORK

2013 to 2014 – FG ARCHITECTS - Architect

Private practice focused on high-end housing projects, office buildings, real estate developments and single family houses.

Main activities: Development of architectural design, from drafting stage to construction details stage /Municipal administrative procedures / Review and coordination with other projects and specialists.

RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS:

a. Hacienda Chicureo Twelve residential buildings within a private park - Construction stage

b. Cumbres del CóndorFive residential buildings - Construction stage

c. Padros Residential building in El Colorado Skiing Complex - Draft stage

Left: Hacienda Chicureo - view from the golf court (below) and from private park (above)

OFFICE WORK / FG ARCHITECTS / 2013 to 2014

Above: Hacienda Chicureo - construction site; below, left and right: construction details - planter; below, center: construction detail - skylight and staircases


SINGLE-FAMILY HOUSES:

Bohmer – Ham Single-family house - Draft stage

Eyzaguirre House Single-family house - Definitive design stage

Bustos – Shumtzer House Single-family housing - Construction stage

Garib – Andrighetti House Single-family house - Definitive design stage

Mackenna HousesFive shelters and one common área - Construction stage

Above: Bohmer-Ham House - 3d model; below: Bohmer-Ham House - render


Mackenna house 1 - exterior view. The house is basically a wooden horizontal box, attached to the ground by a concrete low wall.

RESEARCH

2011 to 2012 - MAPOCHO42K: INTEGRATED PARK SYSTEM WITH BIKE LANE ON THE BANKS OF THE MAPOCHO RIVER — Architect

Partner: Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (MINVU) Funding: Maipo Canal AssociationLead researchers: Juan Ignacio Baixas F., Sandra Iturriaga Del CampoCoordinator: Francisco j. Quintana O.

The MAPOCHO42K project proposes to build a public and continuous corridor along the south bank of the Mapocho River, connecting every existing and potential park in an extension of 42 km (27 miles) long.The south bank of the Mapocho river has the potential to be an unprecedented urban space for the city: a public boulevard with the capacity to link all social classes, from the richest to the poorest, and passing through different topographies across 8 districts in Santiago.

Furthermore, it will help to clean the air with its 605 acres., where 235 acres will be new green areas for the city. On its 27 miles, the project will receive pedestrians and cyclists through a continuous public space that will reveal them the geographical beauty of the Santiago valley.

MAPOCHO 42 k

Above: Mapocho42K project crosses the entire city of Santiago from east to the west, going along the Mapocho river. Below: xisting green and brown areas through the Mapocho corridor.

RESEARCH / MAPOCHO42K / 2011 to 2012

Above: West side of the river, proposed situation; Below: current situation. Next to collective social housing, on Santiago’s periphery. Although the south riverside is not an established park, people remain it continuously active, using it as its own patios, making barbecues, playing soccer or riding horses, among many other activities.


Above: East side of the river, proposed situation; Below: current situation. This section of the river has a more rural character, but it remains too close to highways.


Built sections of the project: Above: West section, Quinta Normal commune; center: “Renato Poblete” Park connection; below: Providencia commune

OFFICE WORK

2011 – NGO “TECHO-CHILE” City of Copiapó, northern Chile - Technical Project Manager

“Vista al Valle” Project – informal settlement definitive urban establishment

OFFICE WORK / NGO TECHO COPIAPÓ / 2011


The chilean Ministry of Housing and Urban Devel-opment (MINVU, for its acronym in Spanish) through its programme “Aldeas y Campamentos”, develops a radication (urbanisation) project for “Vista al Valle”, one of the most emblematic informal settlements in the city of Copiapó.

The NGO TECHO cooperates with this project by developing and coordinating other professional projects (water, sewering, electricity, paving and ground works).

The abovementioned implies coordinating private and public stakeholders (MINVU, Ministry of Social Development, Ministry of National Heritage, Municipality, Undersecretariat of Regional Develop-ment, etc.), as well as defining the project timetable.


informal settlement definitive urban establishment

The chilean Ministry of Housing and Urban Devel-opment (MINVU, for its acronym in Spanish) through its programme “Aldeas y Campamentos”, develops a radication (urbanisation) project for “Vista al Valle”, one of the most emblematic informal settlements in the city of Copiapó.

The NGO TECHO cooperates with this project by developing and coordinating other professional projects (water, sewering, electricity, paving and ground works).

The abovementioned implies coordinating private and public stakeholders (MINVU, Ministry of Social Development, Ministry of National Heritage, Municipality, Undersecretariat of Regional Develop-ment, etc.), as well as defining the project timetable.

Above: Proposed organization of the slum’s original dwellers into new lots. The project considers new streets and a network of passageways and public stairs. Below, left: original streets and public spaces; below, right: original houses and lots.



One of the proposals for “Vista al Valle” was to transform a high voltage security strip into a public park. This park would fulfill three functions:

To improve the environmental conditions of the informal settlement.To improve the connectivity between different zones of the settlement, as well as with the consolidated city.To avoid unsafe occupation within the security zone.Landscape design should be developed according to the local weather and typical flora.


“Las Vizcachas” – informal settlement rural housing project

OTHER WORKS

Above: 2008 – TRANSWORLD-MACROTEL OFFICE BUILDING - Intern at ZFYB ArchitectsCenter: 2007 – 4 HOUSES IN PICHILEMU - Project development of four holiday cabins - Architect Below: 2005 – HOUSING COMPLEX AND FACILITIES FOR “PARQUE SUR” IN LA PINTANA, SANTIAGO – Fourth year’ studio project

RESEARCH

2010 - “WEATHERING AND ARCHITEC-TURE. THE EFFECTS OF TIME ON THE FACADES AS AN INPUT FOR DESIGN. THE CASE OF THE “PLAZA DE ARMAS” BUILDING” – MA Thesis

Faculty of Architecture, Design, and Urban Studies - Pontificia Universidad Católica de ChileSupervisor: Juan I. Baixas, Director of the School of Architecture PUC. Thesis approved with honors.

Published in: Yearbook 2010, School of Architecture Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

Buildings, as all things, age. In a country like Chile, where constructing always represents a major investment, architects should take into account the way buildings are going to grow old and, further-more, we should design in a way that such aging actually adds value to said buildings.

Architect Enrique Browne says: “Parks are substan-tially better fifty years after their opening. In archi-tecture, in general, the exact opposite occurs”. Finding a way of resembling this quality, inherent to parks, is the main objective of this research.

The study case is “Plaza de Armas” building (1954 Santiago, Chile) which is paradigmatic in two ways: as an example of Chilean Modern Architecture, and as an often cited example of ‘bad aging’.

RESEARCH

The study focuses on the facades and horizontal surfaces of the building, and particularly, in the observation of its changes and alterations 60 years after being built. In order to achieve the abovemen-tioned, at least two concepts become relevant:

a. “Weathering”: On one hand, it is understood as all those effects or traces produced by the weather on the building. On the other hand, weathering designates both architecture and construction elements that trigger those effects.

b. “Entropy”: measure of the degree of a system’s disorder. The system-building is shaped by both external (weather and pollution, among others) and internal factors (changes made by users)..

Left: apartment’s terrace - axonometric view; right: Roof terrace design proposal. Wild local plants and bushes will grow with no special need of water or care.

RESEARCH

Left: the new facade allows for multiple combinations and variations according to the inhabitant’s needs and tastes, while exposing vegetation that grows in response to local climate and rainfalls; Right: detailed facade section from street level.

TEACHING

2015 – “TAPIA-FIGUEROA” UNDERGRADUATE STUDIO - Teacher

Heritage social housing: refurbishment of the neighbourhood "Centenario”, built in early nineteenth century.

Academic team: Rodrigo Tapia, Cristhian Figueroa, Fernanda Gómez

Above: proposed image for the “centenario” neighbourhood, showing crossroads with exclusive pedestrian use and greater buildings’ hights and densities. Below: current situation of the neighbourhood, narrow alleys and one-storey row houses.

TEACHING

Final project images by the student Joana Rahola

Documents

Armando Caroca - Portfolio