On
the coast of the Pacific Ocean, between the water and the mountains, the sand
dunes and the adjacent forest, lies the Open City – an experimental
living, working, and learning space - a dynamic collage of the different people
that pass by or live there: students and teachers of the faculty of
architecture of the Catholic University of Valparaiso, the second largest city
in Chile.
The
Open City is an academic project located on the sand dunes along the Pacific
coast. Its positioning outside of Valparaiso,
the second largest city in Chile,
enables students, teachers and others to partake in a special experience that
tests the boundaries of architecture. This unique idea was founded in 1952 by a
number of architects, painters, and poets who came together in order to
establish an educational program rooted in and inspired by poetry, art and
architecture. Their goal was to test the relation between an idea and its
realization. The group was led by poet Godfreddo Llomi, and the architect Alberto Cruz, head of the faculty
of architecture at the Catholic University of Valparaiso.
The
Open City has no particular geographic order – its borders are forever
open. The buildings bear witness to the many journeys into Chiles vast
interior undertaken by its faculty and students, as well as other artists and
intellectuals.
The
city is envisioned as an arena for activities. As such it consists of the basic
elements of the ancient Greek city – the agora, the dwellings, and the
cemetery.
The Agora
The
first step in the construction of the Open City is the building of the agora
– a public space that symbolizes and functions as the city’s
meeting place for poets, architects, and visitors.
The Guest Houses (hospederias)
The
hospederias are structures through which the
teachers, students, and guests play a part in the development of the Open City.
House of the Entrance
(hospederia de la entrada)
This
construction defines the entrance to the Open City as the center for
activities, guiding the senses towards the ocean through hollow beams that also
sound the western wind. The structure is an orientation of two separate
entrances in which one closes on the other to form both a public and an
intimate space.
House of the Cells
(hospederia las seldas)
The redefinition of the student dormitories as ‘cells’
marks the total mergence between the function and the space and grants the
house a new identity. One of the rooms is called "The House of the
Table". The table which determines the constructive and functional order
of the interior extends outward, expanding the boundaries of the house and
organizing the surrounding space. It simultaneously becomes a place to eat,
work, host, and connect the interior with the exterior.
The Music Hall (sala de musica)
The
music hall also functions as a meeting place in which the members gather once a
week. The hall is built around a central shaft through which natural light and
the sand-free breeze penetrates. The walls are made from alternating
double-sided panels – one side is acoustic and made of straw, the second
is a chalkboard. Reversing the sides switches the functions.
The Studio (confin)
The
studio is a unit suspended between the guest room structures – one of
which houses the Dean of the school of architecture and grants him direct
access to the studio. The studio is used by students and young architects
involved in the various projects of the Open City.
The Cemetery (cementario)
One
of the most personal places in the Open City is the cemetery. It was built
following the tragic deaths of two children – one by drowning and the
other by fire. The cemetery’s location along the city’s axis as it
descends through the valley, from the mountain into the ocean, strengthens the
symbolic expression of the relation between fire and water. This axis passes
through a range of spaces – amongst them the well and the shaded chapel.
One is for individual contemplation, the other a gathering place.
The Palace of the Dawn and the
Twilight
This
structure leading to the entrance of the cemetery is known as the ‘palace
of the dawn and the twilight’. Its space is constructed by brick walls creating rooms
that are influenced by the natural light of the dawn and the twilight.
The
Open City is an expression of the discrepancy between the journey and the
place. The passage of time obliterates and then rebuilds in an ongoing
process: the creation of a special
connection between idea and implementation. It is living proof that architecture is more than a
technological or aesthetic solution for living within any given context.
The
article was written following the writers working visit with architects of the
Open City.
