← Selected projects

A place to
learn and create.

FAAD · Universidad Diego Portales
República neighbourhood, Santiago
Education / Completed building
FAAD UDP extension facing Salvador Sanfuentes Street
Design
2012
Construction
2013–2015
Built area
3,500 m²
Architects
Francisco Cepeda
Álvaro Ramírez
Miguel Casassus
Photography
Cristóbal Palma
Competition
First prize

The school opens
to the city.

The extension to the Faculty of Architecture, Art and Design brings new classrooms and spaces for experimentation beneath the structures of a former garage in Santiago’s República neighbourhood.

The existing roofs are retained and transformed into covered courtyards for making and exhibiting. A new street frontage gives the school a visible presence in the neighbourhood: architecture as a setting for learning and a connection between the arts and the city.

Filter the sun.
Keep the view.

The west-facing façade has a second skin of factory-made, folded pre-painted steel sheet elements. Their folds provide solar control while preserving views of the surroundings, bringing together shade, daylight and a connection to the city.