After arriving home and talking to people about my experience I realize that in the past week so many interesting things happened that it’s hard to condense into a simple answer for “how was your break?”. I am really glad I decided to go on this trip because it was such a unique opportunity. It was really interesting being exposed to a new culture and architectural styles.
I’ve never been to a spanish speaking country and being forced to quickly relearn all the spanish I forgot in order to make it by was a challenge. I was surprised by how quickly I was able to remember things and start trying to think of how to say different things. I was surprised that I was able to become a very makeshift translator at some points. This trip made me want to improve my Spanish so that if I get the opportunity to travel to another Spanish speaking country I will be able to communicate better with the locals. That being said I’m incredibly grateful for all the people I interacted with who put up with my broken Spanish and confused expression and worked to help me understand and make it possible to communicate despite the language barrier.
Something that surprised me about Santiago was the amount of greenery everywhere, even within urban areas. There were giant trees everywhere that provided shade and broke up the endless facades of buildings. Even in residential areas there were balconies with plants overflowing them. I have never seen a city that had so many trees and it made me realize how much they can add to one’s experience of a urban area. This trip gave me a new appreciation for landscapes and green spaces in cities. The presence of the Andes mountains surrounding Santiago, and the Cerros tucked within the city was another natural feature that I found myself forgetting then noticing and being in awe of all over again. There was one day were a group of us climbed to the top of Cerro Santa Lucia and it was a surreal experience being able to climb to the top of a hill and look out over a city.
Outside of the projects we focused on there were so many interesting buildings in Santiago. I remember standing at the top of the Costanera tower with a group of people pointing out different buildings we liked and discussing them. There were ones that were interesting colors or shapes. One that stood out appeared to have a front that was covered in greenery. Even just walking down the street there were different buildings that stepped out of the box and brought interesting moments to the city.
This trip is one that I will fondly remember for the rest of my life. It taught me how to become a more independent traveler and reassured me of my ability to adapt to new environments. I also feel like I gained a new appreciation for architecture and landscape by experiencing the amazing spaces Chile had to offer. Going into this experience all I really knew about Chile was that it was the long, thin country in South America. I didn’t really know what to expect that I’ve had the opportunity to explore the country I can say it surprised me in so many ways. I loved my experience in Chile and would return in a heartbeat if given the opportunity.
Something I noticed today was the efforts to make the areas accessible to people who are visually impaired. The first thing that caught my eye was a handrail at Gabriela Mistral that had braille lettering along it to coincide with lettering in the glass behind it. Something that interested me about this was the fact that the lettering had faded and chipped off but the braille remained intact so that in order to read the lettering one would need to know braille. They also had a map that indicated the spaces buy indenting them into the metal surface along with a braille description.
The 3D map at Gabriela Mistral Cultural Center.
The handrail with braille to match the text on the glass at Gabriela Mistral.
I also feel like the museum of memory did a good job of integrating things that allowed people with impaired vision to access and understand the exhibits. For example there was a drawing that a child did for their parent who was imprisoned and underneath there was a 3D version with braille and important elements raised up. There was also a map of the locations of key places involving the imprisonment that was raised and indented with braille captions. The map was able to be followed by one’s finger with the key spaces being raised and numbered in braille. The floor also had strips of a different material that one could follow around the museum to experience it that way. Then on the second floor there was a ledge with captions in braille leading to the voting ballot which was completely reconfigured in braille underneath the actual ballot.
My interpretation of how the Museum of Memory made some elements of their exhibits more accessible to the visually impaired.
Last semester I attended a Buamer series lecture about art restoration and how to make history more accessible and seeing these elements in the museum reminded me of that. I think that accessibility in historically or culturally significant spaces is something that is incredibly important. Learning about art and history can help enrich an individual’s experience and making spaces more accessible allows a wider range of people to indulge in these things. I also found that the tactile elements helped enrich my own experience as someone who is fortunate enough to have vision. Being able to actually touch the outlines of a drawing and experience it in a more tangible, hands-on, way helped make the experience more real to me. I also think that this was an especially important element at the Museum of Memory and Human Rights because it is a space that is rembering people who have been through a traumatic experience while also placing emphasis on the fight for justice. Not excluding individuals who have disabilities from this experience helps support the idea that it is a space for all people to pay tribute to the atrocities that occurred. Overall, I appreciated the efforts both of these spaces made to create an inclusive experience.
My sketch and analysis of the Innovation Center.
Traveling here I knew one of the places I wanted to sketch was the Innovation Center. I had previously written a paper about it for 2300 and was excited to experience and analyze it in person. I was a bit concerned about it because we were warned that it was a challenge but I decided to stick with it and push my minimal sketching skills. I decided to focus on a section of the innovation center that had a large cantilevered area because I thought it was interesting and showed a lot of the elements of the project like the texture of the concrete, the scale, the parts that stick out, and the voided spaces. I definitely found that figuring out the proportions and angles was a challenge but I am pretty content with what it ended up looking like. I also tried to do a quick sketch of the entire project on my analysis page and after 2 attempts the end product is definitely not perfect. I was surprised that such a simple looking building was pretty difficult to portray correctly.
Something I was really interested in was the texture of the concerted and so I tried to portray that in the shading and then provided a more up close view on my analysis page. I was interested in how many details of the planks showed up in the concrete down to the heads of the individual screws used to hold them together. I think the texture helped break up the massive facade into more accessible proportions and was a wise design choice. I also analyzed the spheres on the path and the interior voided space.
I also analyzed the sphere areas along the main path. I felt like these areas were a very effective way to break up the path and create a space that allows people to interact with it how they choose. I sat on one of the larger spheres and used a smaller one as a foot rest while sketching and found that to be a pleasant experience. was sitting there a child walked by and briefly played on one of the smaller spheres which made me think back to the spheres at the infant park which Elemental also designed.
When visiting the Pre-Colombian art museum the exhibit about the Andes mountain was where I spent a lot of my time. The exhibits as a whole featured a variety of displays that allowed it to appeal to a variety of visitors. There was a children’s area that was extremely interactive with sensory exhibits and a just dance version of traditional dances. Then there were more traditional display cases with information about artifacts. Then a hallway closed off with transparent fabric with two mirrors that faced each other so the reflection seemed infinite. Then it ended with a space that had footage from a festival projected on layers of thin fabric so that visitors can virtually put themselves in the middle of the action. There was also a reflection booth following where visitors could share their experiences in the form of a 30 second video.
Traditional gallery space with tapestries and artifacts. First in sequence of official (non children’s) gallery spaces.
The installation in the open courtyard was specifically interesting to me. The vibrant colors catch your eye as you walk into the main entrance to the museum. Then when you enter the courtyard they appear to be floating in the space which is completely open to the sky. The colors contrast the relatively simple courtyard which is all very neutral colors. The only other bright color is the bright blue from the sky. The fabric is also the last thing you see as you exit the exhibit. The way you interpret the fabric also changes a lot as you change your perspective because the spacing between them becomes more or less apparent. Sketching this area was an incredibly calming experience because the open ceiling allowed in a gentle breeze and sunlight. There was also a busker playing a violin right outside the museum in the hallway open to the outdoors so the music could be heard from within the courtyard. Sitting in the quiet courtyard on the uneven rock floor with a view of the sky has definitely been one of my favorite moments of the trip so far.
Fabric from the perspective of exiting the exhibit
More frontal view of fabric, similar to when entering space.
Infographic of my personal interpretations of the space.
It’s hard to believe that tomorrow I’ll be on a totally different continent. My week has been so jam packed with reviews, packing, and club activities that I feel like I’ve barely had time to let everything sink in. I woke up at 8 this morning to cross off the last things I needed to do to get ready and still have that feeling that I’m forgetting something. But I know I have my passport, electronics, money, and some clothes so I’ve got all the important stuff. The day of traveling ahead is a little daunting but I actually kinda enjoy flying so I’m looking forward to it. Hopefully I’ll be able to catch up on some of the sleep I missed this week on the plane tonight and be able to wake up ready to hit the town in Chile.
All the last minute stress aside, I’m incredibly excited to arrive in Santiago. I’ve never been to a Spanish speaking country so this will be a totally new experience for me culturally and I’m looking forward to broadening my horizons in that way. I’m also looking forward to getting to actually walk through the projects we have talked about. Especially the Innovation Center, Parque de la Infancia, and the Benedictine Monastery. The day trip to Valparaíso is another thing that I’m excited about because of how colorful everything is there. I can’t wait to be somewhere warm with so many fascinating things to do.
