This is an interview with one of the Peruvian faculty members, Architect Alberto Tejada.
What does this exchange with the School of Architecture entail?
The students have been invited by Universidad ORT Uruguay join the “Integration of Areas” seminar. It is an academic activity in which ORT students receive guidance from the Facilities and Structures professors, and the students from Huancayo develop a component that complements the multifamily housing projects, which is the topic covered in the Project 6 course. There had already been prior coordination with the Department, which had prepared a program for the students from Peru to carry out during these four days of exchange, allowing students from Universidad Continental to integrate and receive guidance from ORT’s Structures and Installations specialists. The process began with a visit to the site where the ORT students are working, and they are now focusing on their proposals. The part being developed by the students from Universidad Continental is the facilities for this collective housing, consisting of a gym with its respective locker rooms, a pool with a solarium, and a meeting and multipurpose room that must include a terrace. This program must be able to integrate harmoniously with the projects being developed by the ORT students.
Do you see any common ground between the architectural vision here and the one in Peru?
While it is true that there are commonalities, primarily in terms of the approach to architecture, the reality is that each place has its own peculiarities. We see that what they do here responds strongly to a rationalist tradition, which can be seen in the city’s streets. It is very clean, very sincere, very rational architecture, quite devoid of ornamentation and all that paraphernalia that is generally very characteristic of people in Peru, especially in the Andes region. In Peru, we have a very strong Baroque tradition. In general, there is a fear of emptiness. And that, obviously, is reflected in the students’ work. Rather than something that needs to be changed, the aim is to take advantage of that very Baroque tradition and channel it in such a way that it meets the expectations of contemporary architecture.
What are the major structural differences you find between the approach to architecture at ORT and at the Universidad Continental de Huancayo?
We had already seen the work done at ORT; we’d seen it in the Yearbooks. It seems to us that the students are on the right track. And rather than differences, I think what we see are similarities. In our case, we also place a lot of emphasis on the issue of place and context. Obviously, there are differences in how we work. We don’t have this seminar, for example, which I find very useful for students because it helps ground the proposals and make them more realistic. I think the professors have a very clear vision. Even though there are several instructors in the course, it seems to me that they share a common vision of architecture. I don’t know if it’s because of their training, but there’s a fair amount of consensus on what needs to be done.