Architecture Classics: ECLAC Building / Emilio Duhart
Architecture Classics: ECLAC Building / Emilio Duhart
Recognised as a landmark in modern Latin American architecture and one of its main references worldwide, the ECLAC (Economic Commission for Latin America, part of the United Nations) headquarters were designed by the Chilean architect Emilio Duhart and inaugurated on the 29th August 1966 in Santiago, Chile.
Located on an originally rural plot of land bordering the Mapocho River, the site was given by the Chilean state to the United Nations in the 1960s as a gratuitous loan for the construction of the building. The design was the winner of an international public competition in the 1960s, in which Christian de Groote, Roberto Goycoolea and Óscar Santelices participated in addition to Duhart himself.
In his early years as an architect, Duhart worked in Le Corbusier’s atelier on the design of the master plan for Chandigarh, India, and his inspiration is clear in this building: an interesting play of volumes in a vast reinforced concrete structure supported by 28 pillars.
The horizontality of this work stands out, which is clearly reflected in the sliding window and the proportions of its volume; and the use of local materials, such as sand and gravel from the Mapocho River, which highlights the relationship between the construction and the place where it is located. In addition, the plinth floor on the western side-parallel to the river-was chosen as an area to establish a dialogue from the interior, in addition to the relationship between river, hill and sky through the different heights, allowing a sort of “diaphragms that relate the interior and exterior with maximum effectiveness”, as Duhart himself once explained.
On the ground plan, the project replicates the central courtyard scheme as a characteristic element of the Chilean country house. Likewise, the entrance to ECLAC is preceded by an asymmetrical oval pond and a huge concrete roof tile at the entrance, another homage to the country house. Duhart and company designed a ring of offices-100 by 100 metres-, framing the large central courtyard that groups thematic subpatios emulating four climatic vegetative zones of the South American country.
In the courtyard are located the most important and common places for all the organisations in the building; the circular conference rooms and the central service core. These elements are linked to the ring through pedestrian bridges and overlap in the auditorium, an ascending snail-shaped structure. Inside the auditorium an inverted white fibreglass saucer optimises.
In its exterior circulation, the walls have symbolic inscriptions on their surface that narrate the history and culture of Latin America. The walk ends at the top of the auditorium, giving a panoramic view of the San Cristóbal Hill, the Bicentenario Park, the Andes Mountains and the skyscrapers of the financial district.
Originally, the design of the ground floor of the ring envisaged an open plan. However, the subsequent increase in staff and change in ECLAC’s programme altered part of the original concept, including partition walls to enclose the different compartments, thus breaking with the original transparency and open floor plan.
In 2008, a series of remodelling works were completed, including the recovery of large open spaces on the north and south sides of the ring, where the Carmelo Soria civic square is located. Two years later, after the earthquake of March 2010, the partitions were removed and modular spaces were incorporated.
