Follow us on:
Celebration
Day of Engineering
ARCHITECTURE, CITIZENSHIP & LEARNING
FREE TOUR OF THE NEW CCHC BUILDING / / / / / / / / / /
LAS CONDES, SANTIAGO
14/05/2017
ACTIVITY
We celebrated the National Day of Engineering this Sunday, and to share that #EngineeringMakesADifference to an audience not only composed of experts, but members of the public, we proposed to the Technological Development Corporation, CDT of the Chilean Chamber of Construction to carry out two guided tours of the building that will soon serve as its new offices.
The building is located in the borough of Las Condes and incorporates a number of engineering and technical innovations integrated into the architecture that provides an interesting visit. One highlight is the seismic vibration control system (#TunedMassDamper) which takes form as a bright red sphere weighing 150 tonnes, suspended at roof level of the building, an engineering solution very similar to the system installed in the Taipei 101 building in Taiwan.
The tours were guided by the designers of two prominent Chilean design offices: Arturo Castillo of VMB Structural Engineering and Sebastián di Girólamo of A4 Architects, who shared their experience with the 80 visitors who attended, of how they developed the design for the project, knowledge of how it works and their passions which inspired the ideas behind the construction. We especially thank Alejandro Álvarez who was a great support as a volunteer.
OUR VIEW
A highlight was the participation of many families with children, which despite the rain limiting the experience and the views slightly, the "giant red ball", the smell of fresh cement and plenty of space to gather around, provided an exciting environment for them on the roof terrace. With the children we drew the skyline (silhouette of the city) from the roof. This pedagogical technique of a ‘transparent whiteboard’ provided an infinite surface to draw using what they saw, looking carefully at how the city is constructed, and having a creative and critical discussion about the landmarks of the city. (Materials required: sheets of acetate, clear tape and whiteboard pens).
CONTEXT
It should be noted that the Day of Engineering in Chile is celebrated on 14th May as it is the day after the date of the Great Earthquake of 13th May, 1647, the day when the process of the reconstruction of the country began. This origin of the day of engineering is a good reason why we invited the public to learn about a building which integrates the best of anti-seismic engineering with the objective of reducing the effects of socio-natural disasters.
More information: http://www.cgi.cl/Dia_de_la_Ingenieria_SC.doc
In collaboration with:
Chilean Chamber of Construction
Open House Santiago