Author: Kevin Hong

Building new friendships & Experiencing a new culture

It’s a little more than 24 hours since we have returned to Columbus, Ohio. The flight home was very relaxing and the meals on the plane were so much better than what we had on the way to Santiago. The flight felt shorter and I was able to fall asleep for a majority of the flight home. Looking back to our entire trip and the itinerary, I have noticed we did so much within a short period and it was such an amazing experience. 

First of all, going to Chile is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Without going on this study abroad, I would not have known where to start my research. After this trip, I can definitely say that I can definitely plan my trip when I decide to go back in the future, and let’s hope that I know some Spanish before I decide to visit again! 

Secondly, I learn so much about Chilean contemporary architecture and landscape architecture by visiting important buildings in and out of Santiago. I enjoy seeing the colorful facades of various buildings throughout the duration of the trip. It definitely adds beauty and a unique style to the architecture. It is also very cool to see how city planing and landscape architecture can come together and create so many unique and amazing public spaces and pedestrian walkways around the city. The pedestrian walkways are often shaded and allow people to take a journey through it and end up in a much larger public space. It definitely felt much cooler in the pedestrian walkway compared to being in a place like plaza de Armas. I wish that we can have more public spaces for people to use in Columbus, and I think we are moving toward that direction in recent years. 

Lastly, I am so grateful to have the opportunity to get to know everyone on this trip. I have notice I did not know anyone and was afraid to talk to a lot of people before the trip, but now it is a completely different story. A week of intensive learning, walking, sketching, complaining and chilling has definitely brought us all close together and I would not have it in any other way. I have learned so much from everyone and learned a lot more about Chilean culture since we have returned. 

Materiality & Structures in Chilean Infrastructures

Chilean architecture often shows or mimic the materiality. Throughout the duration of the trip, I have learned that many buildings in Chile embraces  materiality and expose structures and mechanical works. Many buildings around here are made of strengthen concrete in order for it to withstand earthquakes. The concrete is then left exposed to show the infrastructure of the building. This occurs in many types of infrastructure ranging from metro stations, museum, monasteries and museum and school. They were all build in different eras but still represent the same idea.

First are metro stations. Some were built more than 20 years ago and some were built this past year.a majority of them are located underground, but there are exceptions. Underground infrastructures are made of concrete. The concrete are often smashed like brutalist concrete with a large structural beam supporting the weight above and mechanical wiring exposed. The stations above ground are often made of copper or metal. The different pieces are then bolted together to create the infrastructure. All the bolts and metal are left exposed like the stations underground. 

Underground Station Structures

Underground Station Material Patterns

 

Above Ground Station Materiality

 

Underground Station Structural Joint

Second are local monasteries and museums in Santiago. The Precolombino Museum and the monastery are both made of concrete and glass. The glass shows the lightness of the structure and the concrete shows the roughness of it. The way concrete is pour in Chile often leaves a unique pattern that looks like wood on the surface of the concrete. Sometime Chilean architecture uses one material to mimic another. In this case it is wood, because there are more than 100 difference species of trees. This technique allows the concrete to keep up its materiality and let it mimic wood. 

Monastery Material Pattern

 

Third are educational institution. Many schools  we visited uses the same materials. University Adolfo Ibanez is made entirely of concrete. However, it breaks away form the traditional style of Chilean concrete pouring. Instead of a rough pattern, it embraced a smooth concrete surface and still embrace the idea of exposing the material. The school also brings back the importance of wood to Chilean culture by utilizing it in the architecture. 

 

Educational Insitution Materiality Differentiation

Mid Century Monastery

The Benedictine Monastery caught my attention in many ways. The first thought that came to mind was how small it looked from the outside. The exterior of the building is white to embrace the style of modern architecture of the time it was being constructed. It is of similarity to the style of The New York Five (architects, Peter Eisenman, Michael Graves, Charles Gwathmey, John Hejduk and Richard Meier). From the west facade, the entrance presented itself as a structure with no change in elevation, but it was completely opposite when  I walked up closer and was able to see over the edge of the hill. Looking up from a lower elevation, the monastery  consist of some unique and similar to La Tourette by Le Corbusier. They both serve the same purpose and belong of two different culture that uses different types of system to build it both structurally and aesthetically.

 The interior space of the monastery further breaks away from traditional cathedrals and monastery design by creating a ramp. The ramp also hides the centralized space of worship from plain sight to make people take a journey through the space. The whole interior is bright and white to reinforce the idea of holiness and allow people to feel connected to god. Many traditional ideas has been broken, but the alter is still facing east to allow the light to shine in as sunrise ego create a unique light effect that illuminated the cross to show god’s presence. 

My interpretation is that people feel like they are being lied to when they arrived from the west facade when they thought the elevator is simple and what you see is all there is to the building. This represents sinning. Then people enter the building, see the wooden sculpture of Mother Mary holding baby Jesus and progress down the ramp. This represents confession and journey to asking for forgiveness. Then people will progress down into the service space and see a natural light illuminating the holy cross from the east facade. This stage represents forgiveness because light represents purity. 

Day 2: Museo de Chileno de Arte Precolombino

Today is Day 2 in Santiago. We took the metro from our hotel to explore the city.  Our first stop was Moneda Cultural Center and Museo de Chileno de Arte Precombino. Then we had some time to grab lunch then reconvene to continue our day. I left to grab lunch at Mall Espacio and then returned to Plaza Mont-Varas.  Then we explored Plaza de Armas, Consitucion, Cuidadania and some downtown streets. I was. Very interested in the museum, renovated by Smiljan Radic. I found the organization of the museum was interesting. I read the courts as a nine grid square and everything surrounding it is a bar. It further carries on the datum by the signage in the corridor surrounding the courtyard as a nine grid square and everything in the bars as three boxes creating a bar. The building is reversed in the lower level. The entire basement becomes a big bar that connects the entire building together. However, the quality of light breaks weakens the relationship of the building by having bright spaces above ground and dark space underground. The transition from light to dark was very subtle and was not dramatic. Overall it was a great experience that alows a smooth transition from one space to another and from light to dark. 

Diagram analysis

Bar Signage

Nine GridAY 2: 

Kevin’s Pre-Departure

It is 1:35PM and we’re all sitting at the airport waiting to check in for our flight to Santiago. It was a long line to check in, but I’m excited to go through security and see airplanes along the gates. My group made it through security and checked in at the gate with Christine and our plane had not arrive yet. Then Edith, Mallory and I went to grab some food in the airport and had endless chats. The food was tasted pretty good and was very healthy. It is now 3:16PM and we have return to the gate area. It is a cloudy day out and the airport is not super busy at this hour. It is a little more than an hour until we depart from Columbus, Ohio. I had an obsession with airplanes and how loved it when it was time to take off or land and it is still something that I am looking forward to experience again! I’m excited to see a new city and experience summer in the middle of what is usually winter for me. Most importantly, I am so excited to learn and experience a new culture, language and try out some street food while in Chile.  Continue reading Kevin’s Pre-Departure →

Kevin’s Bio

Hi everyone! My name Kevin and I am a senior majoring in architecture. I’m from Westerville, Ohio, a suburb northeast of Columbus. I swim for Club Swimming at Ohio State and am the Graphics Coordinator for The American Institute of Architects for Students (AIAS). Some of my favorite events to swim are: 100 Breaststroke, 100 and 200 Individual Medley and 50 Breaststroke and Butterfly. My work for AIAS consist of a very contemporary style of graphics. I also like to work with a lot of gifs or video format to diversify the work load.

Growing up, had many opportunities to travel because of my parents’ line of work. It exposed to different types of architecture, culture and help developed vast interest in so many things. I remember seeing a sea of skyscrapers when in Hong Kong, Colonial French architecture in Vietnam, and a blend of historical and contemporary architecture in Japan and Korea. Besides the architecture, I was also fortunate enough to learn many Asian languages and eat a diverse variety of food. Most importantly, I got the opportunity to walk on the same soil my ancestor inhabited many generations ago.

I am looking forward to traveling to Santiago because I have very little exposure to that region, the Spanish language and culture. This trip will push me out of my comfort zone for being someone than does not speak any Spanish. I look forward to another trip with the Knowlton School and to learn more about the Contemporary Architecture in the region, the culture and a little Spanish!