Students Agustina Victorica, Francisco Fernández, and Micaela Benchoam received an honorable mention in the London Call international design competition, organized by the website Archicontest, ideas for cities.
The competition involved designing a conference center to be located in Bloomsbury, London, near iconic examples of contemporary architecture such as the British Museum and the Saint Giles Complex, designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano.
Students in Project 7 at the School of Architecture at Universidad ORT Uruguay, under the guidance of professors Javier Olascoaga, Pablo Frontini, Bruno Pedreira, and Federico Astigarraga, were tasked with designing a building that would blend into the diverse landscapes of the English capital.
The proposals submitted for the competition for the city of London served as the final project for Project 7 in the architecture program. According to Javier Olascoaga, the course instructor, “The project is based on building upon what already exists in the immediate urban context; from there, the students developed their proposals.”
The project by Victorica, Fernández, and Benchoam was accompanied by the following text, in which they explain how the project’s strategy is based on the existing urban fabric and respect for the previous architectural layout.
The project revolves around the creation of three distinct zones. Given the presence of existing Georgian houses on the same block (…) the building is organized into five program levels connected by a series of elevated walkways accessible from the main staircase. The interior spaces converge on a central plaza in the basement, allowing visitors to experience this new space while feeling like they are part of it.