2022
MCHAP
Oficinas Niceto
Ana Smud and Daniel Zelcer + Camila Jalife
Ciudad Autonoma de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
February 2022
AUTOR PRINCIPAL
Ana Sol Smud (Architect, designer and construction manager), Daniel Matias Zelcer (Architect, designer and construction manager)
AUTOR CONTRIBUYENTE
CLIENTE
Carmela Achaval
FOTÓGRAFO
Javier Agustin Rojas
OBJETIVO
The central design axes that structured the project were deployed on the need for all rooms to receive natural light and coexist with the exterior space in some way, the valuation of the pre-existing typology and the search for the largest possible space for each program.
These axes were aligned with the objective of making as few new interventions as possible on the shed, not only due to aspects of space performance by the urban code of the City of Buenos Aires, but also because of the symbolic relevance of this type of historic building.
In the development of the link between the building and the street, the design of the general floor plan and its spaces was oriented in a gradient that would allow the areas with greater connection to the exterior to be close to it, while the areas with greater requirements for calm, concentration and deep conversations (from design to sales) could be more recessed without dispensing with their connection to the light and references to the outside.
As for the intersubjective dynamics sought, the objective was to achieve solid and unique experiences in each area (very dissimilar from each other) and at the same time work on a subtle and light link between them without affecting each other forcefully.
CONTEXTO
The project is located in the neighborhood of Palermo, in an area that in the past was dominated by sheds and mechanical workshops, and is currently inhabited by clothing stores, bars and restaurants. In this context, the project proposed to articulate aspects of architecture typical of the neighborhood's past (both materially and symbolically) with new ways of working with matter, spatiality, light and exterior space.
Two very dissimilar types of construction coexisted on the site: to the front, an abandoned and very deteriorated chorizo-type house, and to the back, a shed that functioned as a mechanical workshop. Between both buildings there was a courtyard that provided natural light and ventilation to both spaces.
Preserving the existing courtyard as the articulating core of both constructions, the design decision was based on the enhancement of the existing shed, where the creative area is developed. The building where the brand's production areas and warehouses are located was designed on the front.
A new courtyard was created towards the back of the site, leaving the shed configured between two courtyards that ventilate and illuminate the programs that delimit it. The shed was stripped of its interior elements to leave the bare structure in view. Light colors were chosen for all the spaces to achieve, together with the mirrored cladding on the dividing wall, the sensation of spatial amplitude and maximize natural light.
ACTUACIÓN
The decision to design the brand's production areas and warehouses at the front of the building may at first imply a certain contradiction with certain typological tradition, but it allowed the creative area of the company to have a climate of absolute intimacy, generating a world of its own and sustaining the heterogeneity of the company's activities.
In addition, the production areas and warehouses were able to have a better flow in the loading, unloading and link with suppliers by being oriented towards the front of the building. At the same time, the rest of the areas, including social and sales meetings, were able to unfold in subtle climates and light temporalities, as their spaces were erected in the depth of the building.
Finally, the enhancement of natural light and the use of patios and mirrors allowed the spaces to be substantially enlarged while preserving the feeling of containment and suspension of time.
