Eva Liu’s final project from Carlos Jiménez’s studio “ARCH302: Architecture and Globalism” is to design a cultural center for Ibero-American Studies located in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Students are asked to think broadly about the role architects can play as global practitioners, and explore not only the particulars of program and site but study the pressing urban questions that underpin any practice in such a charged context.
Located in a dense corner in the vicinity of the Plaza General San Martin, Eva strives to create a translucent mass that opens up to the surrounding context. The ‘L’ form is generated by offsetting the boundary of the site with respect to the existing facades. Several diagonal cuts (brought from the Kavanagh Building) are introduced at each corner of the ‘L’ as entrances, and to create a more dynamic form.
The building’s undulated metal skin begins with the concept of wrapping the entire building in a continuous fabric of translucency, while the inward crease in the center subtly separates the building’s public and private programs. The main public circulation is driven by the spiral staircase at the crease that stitches two wings of the ‘L’. It guides the visitors from the lobby to the rooftop lounge at the corner to enjoy the view of the city.
