RE-DESIGN of the UPB Architecture School

Exterior view

Objective: Develop an ubran design proposal to integrate the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana campus with the surrounding neighborhood - Laureles.

Summary: A principal urban design goal is to remove impediments between buildings and their neighborhood. Indeed, a university campus is host to green spaces and social spaces. Against this background, we were charged with addressing a fundamental problem: the UPB campus is an urban enclave - a collection of buildings located in an active city center but with campus borders abruptly defined by a fenced perimeter. To address this problem, this project developed a plan to reform the design of campus buildings and spaces to improve its integration with the extrernal urban system. In addition to internal and external building renovations, we also developed the idea to redesign the border between the enclaved campus and the surrounding city through a series of garden spaces. These garden spaces are designed to blur the barriers between the campus and the urban domains, and thus to promote and reinforce the interconnectivity between the campus and the city. Exterior building transformations are a principal design component. By transforming the building facade, we aim to minimize the distance between students in the internal space and people enjoying the external green space, thereby generalizing the concept of university participation and promoting cross-demographic social life in this new mixed green space.

Interior view

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Date completed: 2° semester / 2012.