Visumad Contest Award Ceremony held in Chile

The Sustainable Social Housing in Wood Design Contest (Visumad in Spanish), organized by Universidad del Bío Bío, ARAUCO and Un Techo Para Chile Foundation, celebrated its award ceremony on January 6, at the Regional Government headquarters of Chile’s VIII Region.

During the ceremony headed by Regional Intendant Jaime Tohá, first place was given to Rafael Anguita and José Becerra, a team of architects from Barcelona. Additionally, two honorary mentions were given to Santiago teams and three proposals were qualified as “suggested projects”, one of which belonged to a team from San Pedro de la Paz, a community in the province of Concepción.

This initiative, which is part of the Public – Private Cooperation Agreement for the Development of the Arauco Territory, signed last June between the Regional Government, ARAUCO and the Arauco 7 Municipality Association, seeks to strengthen the region’s forestry and wood identity, create new job opportunities and support economic development and social integration of the communities in the Arauco Province.

Iván Chamorro, ARAUCO’s Corporate Responsibility and Public Affairs manager, pointed out that these are high standard social housing designs which include energy savings, neighborhood aspects and the incorporation of wood. “We’re proud to be a part of this because we are an international company that has not forgotten its roots, and these are in Arauco. In this sense, we find this is an essential initiative that puts the intelligence and talent of the company, the academic world and the people to service in an area that is very precarious”, he said.

The Projects

First place was awarded to José Becerra and Andrés Anguita, whose project has been recognized for its use of a flexible system of housing typologies, creating variety and reinforcing the resident’s identity. The houses are arranged in such a way that it creates good community areas with a social headquarter, emphasizing the notion of community life.

The home has a central basic nucleus for kitchen, bathrooms and a stairway that leads to the second floor, facilitating diverse arrangements for bedrooms, den and dining room with the possibility for future extensions. It integrates wood in its structure as well as in divisions and details. Also, the housing complex and each home individually take advantage of the solar radiation, reducing energy costs for light and heat.

As an alternative to traditional insulation, the project proposes the use of material manufactured using recycled paper that has low thermal conductivity, providing protection from summer heat and contention for heat inside the home, and providing excellent acoustic insulation as well.
One of two projects awarded with an honorary mention, belongs to Juan Pablo Ivanovic, Tomás Milnes and Pablo Valdivia. It was distinguished for creating a flexible home unit that can be enlarged, with community areas that generate identity and the combination of technical requirements and resource economy.

The project also presents three sustainability strategies: it defines the position of the houses in relation to the sun’s path in order to provide the most sunlight; the house is designed with a wood structure based on prefabricated and industrialized modules, which simplifies construction and allows for it to be taken apart and moved; and the project proposes the installation of a sunlight collector on the roof of each home.

The other project that was awarded an honorary mention belongs to Rodolfo de la Paz, Laura Villanueva, Horacio Croxatto, Paola Adrovez, Daniel Díaz and Rafael Bas. It is based on a group of homes that emphasizes the notion of a neighborhood, set along a central community area that favors pedestrian circulation, eliminating the automobile direct accesses to homes (using a common parking area) which promotes neighbor interaction. The project also proposes maximization of space, auto construction, energy costs reduction and even the use of non organic waste.

The prizes for the winning projects were 2.5 million pesos for first place, and 600 thousand pesos for each of the honorary mentions.

The contest was organized by the Architecture, Construction and Design Faculty of Universidad del Bío Bío, ARAUCO and the Un Techo para Chile (A Roof for Chile) Foundation. It as sponsored by the Chilean Chamber of Construction, the Architects School of Chile, the Concepción regional delegation, the Arauco Plan, the National Project for Energy Efficiency, the VIMAD Project – CYTED Network, Bío Bío Region SERVIU, the Latin American Union of Architecture Schools and Faculties and CORMA – CTT.