No.: 02
Location: Ecological Reserve, Ciudad Universitaria, Buenos Aires
Year: 2024
Type: Academic
Area: ≈ 750 m²

Pavilion

A concrete box broken into two U-shaped walls that face each other, raised above a stream bank.

Project

The site is a slope beside a stream in the ecological reserve of Ciudad Universitaria, where the ground is never level and any building competes with the trees. The project starts from one concrete box on a raised platform and breaks it: the box is cut into two U-shaped walls that face each other, and each one slides sideways in the opposite direction. The two gaps left by that move are the entrance and the exit. One U stays open to the sky and becomes a court; the other is closed by a single slab on thin black steel columns and becomes a glazed café. The rules are those of the Barcelona Pavilion by Mies van der Rohe (free plan, walls that slide past each other, a raised platform, one horizontal roof) in another material: exposed concrete in place of marble and travertine. To go from one room to the other the visitor crosses open air.

Data

Location: Ecological Reserve, Ciudad Universitaria, Buenos Aires
Year: 2024
Type: Academic
Programme: Café, open court, timber decks
Area: ≈ 750 m²≈ 150 m² enclosed · ≈ 600 m² platforms
Role: Design, drawings, model, visualisation
Tools: Revit, Rhino, 3ds Max, D5 Render, Photoshop

Raise
A concrete platform lifts one level above the slope, and a single box is extruded on it.
Break
The box is cut into two U-shaped walls that face each other. One slides left, the other right: the gaps become the way in and the way out.
Cover
One horizontal slab closes the second U. It makes the only roofed room; the first U stays open to the sky.
Extend
Two lower timber platforms repeat the offset of the two walls, mirrored, and carry the floor out into the reserve.

One box, cut into two U-shaped walls that face each other and slide apart.

The cut makes the way in and the way out. The slide makes two rooms: a court open to the sky and a café under one roof.

White model of the pavilion seen from above its north wall: an open court in front, the roofed café behind, a timber deck at each side — Fig. 02Aerial view from above the north wall, looking south to the café. 18 mm lens.

Site plan

The platform is the only element that meets the slope. Everything else stands on it.

020 m

Fig. 03Site plan with contour lines. The platform is set on the slope; court and café are offset on it, with a timber deck at two opposite corners.

Section

010 m

Fig. 04Longitudinal section. Open court on the left, café under the roof slab on the right. The ground falls away beneath the platform.

Model

Six parts, each with one job.

Select a part to mark it, or lift the roof to see the free plan under it.

White model of the pavilion on its sloping ground, axonometric view

The slope of the reserve, with a contour line every 0.5 m.
One concrete level above the slope, reached by flights of steps.
Two U-shaped walls that face each other and slide apart. They never close a corner between them.
A single horizontal slab, over the café only.
Black steel columns and glazing: the only enclosure under the roof.
Timber floors that extend the platform into the trees.

Atmosphere

The pavilion seen from a distance between tree trunks — Fig. 05Approach through the trees. Platform, wall and roof read as three horizontal lines.

Glazed front of the café under the concrete roof slab — Fig. 06Glazed front of the café, seen from the court.

View from under the roof edge across the concrete platform to a free-standing wall — Fig. 07Under the roof edge, looking across the platform to a free-standing wall.

Café interior with a concrete bar, black chairs and full-height glazing to the trees — Fig. 08Interior. A concrete bar along the back wall; seating faces the trees.

Café interior looking through black steel glazing to a concrete wall outside — Fig. 09Interior, looking through the glazing to the court wall.

Aerial view of the pavilion in a clearing: walled court, roofed café and two timber decks — Fig. 10From above: walled court, roofed café and two timber decks, offset on one platform.