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10 Square Meters of Something SomewhereThe Program of the School of Architecture the University of Talca

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10 Square Meters of Somthing Somewhere

1. The University of Talca, School of Architectures occupationis determined by the place in which it is settled, which is Talca,a city with a population of 200,000, located in the middle of theCentral Valley of Chile, 250 kilometeres south of Santiago, thecapital of the country.A marginal condition that carried, at the moment of its creationin 1999, to designing a study plan based on the following threedomains:To officiate: includes the competences related to concieving,projecting and supervising building construction, that is to say,attending to the requierements of Chilean laws established togovern the profession of architecture.To operate: includes the competences related to the pro-

activity needed for the development of professionals related in acompetitive environment.To innovate: includes the competences related to thetransformation of knowledge into wealth.At the end of their studies, some students will be stronger in onedomain than others, but what matters is the mixture of thosedomains. This is where the particular approach of the schoolresides.

2. With respect to the definition of built projects as a degreerequirement, three observations: The enormous effort of the traditional final degree project,the product of which is a set of plans and models, is born anddies within the academy. This is strange because through thisacademic work the university grants a professional degree, thatis to say, enables that student to develop projects for society,something that does not seem to be correct. These plans and models entail a minimal expense of US$2,000to the students, but end promptly in the trash bin. It is not agood thing to throw away that amount of money, even worsein Chile, an economically underdeveloped country were thoseUS$2,000 are enough to build, lets say, 10 m2 of somethingsomewhere. Those 10 m2 are enough to verify if the student isor is not qualified to obtain a professional degree in architecture. The final degree work, whichever form it takes, aims to verifythat the student has in fact acquired the competences requiredby the study plan of the school that grants the degree. In thissense the built project has been very precise, perhaps becausereality gives control, obligation and need that, in that order,seem to determine the ability to officiate, operate, and innovate.

3. Between 2004 and 2008 somewhat more than 100 works havebeen built and rarely has the evaluation criteria of one workcoincided with another one. Thats why general reflexions aremore appropriate when comenting on the process: The built work can be understood as a contribution to therelation between university and society. Nevertheless, in

this case what is relevant is the inverse process, that of therelationship between society and university. The university students, as many other inhabitants of theCentral Valley of Chile, posses a cultural and economic bondwith the ground that is expressed in the built work. The schoolcontribution in this sense seems to be one of giving space tosuch personal features within the university. The universities of developed countries invest in realitysimulation tecnology within the academy. As the Universityof Talca doesnt have the money, the duties insert themselvesdirectly into the local reality, which is outside of the campusboundaries, reaching in that way a complex and highly desirable

environment. There is an added value in this: when the student finishestheir project, they have created a small network of contactsformed by workers, neighbors, administrators and businessmen,that allow them to come close to his or her first professional job.This is no small thing. To equip young people that dont havethe necessary social capital to develop themselves professionallyis no small thing. For years the occupation of the school formed into an ideathat took the terrain to the detail and the detail to the terrain.However, since the first title project in 2004, the project appearsto be written in an idea that goes from the detail to the terrain,which makes one realize that there is a lot of attention paid tothe environment and a capacity to realize the whole startingfrom just a small part of it. For those which the part is in the

whole and the whole is in the part, is something that is verifiedwith every one of the constructed title projects.Concerning this, I like to relate that this architecture isconceived from the detail of the terrain, with models thatcreate the development from bottom to top. I believe that is theanalogy that permits us to operate above the locality and globaldimension of this terrain that we live in. Juan Roman Perez

Juan Roman Perez is an Architect, Master in Technical Universityin Spain. He is a director of the School of Architecture University ofChile from 1999. From this epoch till now he has given innovative

practices around the Central Valley of Chile.

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pp. 116117: Works by t he students of

the School of Architecture Universityof Talca. 1) Pallets Square by Jose Luis

Uribe Ortiz, 2) Peripheral Closing by

Dafne Ariztia, 3) Rural Amphitheater

by Juan Gajardo, photo courtesy of

Jaime Latorre, 4) Box in Quepo by

Paula Atala, 5) Keepers House by

Gabriel Vergara, 6) Warehouse in

Corinto by Sebastian Araya, 7) Place

for Rest by Macarena Avila Burdiles,

8) Refuge of Cowboys by Andres

Lillo Coria, 9) Kiosk in Rapilermo by

Manuel Gaete Figueroa, 10) Church in

Pelarco by Carolina Letelier, 11) Reed

Cover by Osvaldo Rodriguez and Oscar

Vergara, photo courtesy of Jose Luis

Uribe Ortiz, 12) Landmark for Tourists

by Ronald Hernandez, Marcelo Valdes

and Osvaldo Veliz, photo courtesy

of Blanca Zuiga, 13) Pinohuacho

Observation Deck by Rodrigo Sheward,

14) Urban Umbrella by Jaime Latorre

and Pablo Retamal, photo courtesy

of Martin del Solar, 15) Workshop in

Curtiduria by School of Architecture

University of Talca, photo courtesy of

Hector Labarca Rocco, 16) Laborers

Pavilion by Blanca Azocar Andrade,

photo courtesy of Andres Maragao.

p. 120: Views of construction by the

students. Photo 1), 5) and 8) courtesy

of Karina Gonzalez. Photo 2), 6) and 7)

coutesy of David Guerrero Valenzuela.

Photo 3) and 4) coutesy of Antonio

Gebrie. Photos on pp. 116123 except

as noted courtesy of the architects.

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Church SchoenstattJuan Pablo Alarcon Carreo

Credits and Data

Location: San Juan, Linares, Chile

Design process: November 2007 December 2007

Construction process: January 2007 - January 2008Material: Brick, wood, stone

Budget: $ US13,000Type: Church

Above: View of center of the church.

Middle: General view of the church.

Above the church a vinyl fabric is

placed. Bottom: Close-up view of

the hollow bricks. Photo courtesy of

Hector Labarca Rocco.

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Chilean Races PavilionClaudio Castillo Moscoso

Credits and Data

Location: Gualleco, Chile

Design process: Mach 2006 September 2006

Construction process: March 2007 December 2007Collaborators: Miguel Veliz Verdugo

Material: Stone, wood, poling board, caneFinancing: ChiledeportesConstructed Area: 560 m2

Cross section (scale: 1/150)1/150

Box in CanelilloIngrid Vega

Credits and Data

Location: Canelillo, Curaipe, Province of Cauquenes

Design process: Mach 2006 September 2006

Construction process: September 2006 - May 2007Collaborators: Miguel Saez

Materials: Pine woodBudget: $ US 6,000Financing: CONAF

Constructed Area: 56 m2

Cross section (scale: 1/100)1/100

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Above: Exterior view of the Box

became the plaza for surrounding

farmhouses. Middle: View of the

entrance. Bottom: Close-up view of the

wooden exterior wall.

Above: View of the pavilion. Photo

courtesy of Hector Labarca Rocco.

Middle: View of the Chilean race, a

rural event competing only two horses.

Bottom: Close-up view of the wall.

The shelf is set for the observers to put

their beer and food.