Modern Skeletons. A study of the material expression of modernity from structure and concrete

Abstract

This text addresses the research project “Modern Skeletons” with special attention to the participation of undergraduate architecture students. The research arose in the context of a study on the implementation of the modern movement in Chilean mid-rise residential architecture from a seismic-constructive perspective. For the project, 24 cases of buildings constructed between 1940 and 1970 were collected and studied, and three of them —the most representative according to criteria provided by the research team— were selected for structural modeling in 1:25 scale models. These representations, made using handcrafted molds and materially expressive techniques, allowed for the study and dissemination of how concrete reveals both structural constraints and plastic qualities. The models, as an exercise in representation, allow the materialization of design issues of interest, while integrating undergraduate university students into the process of studying and researching material variables in architecture and enabling them to acquire tools for asking questions and searching for diverse techniques to answer them. The results reflect a local reinterpretation of modern ideas, where design intentions are subordinated to seismic, material, and social requirements. This research thus proposes that modern Chilean architecture not only translates international models but also transforms them in response to a unique geological reality and the consequent regulations, in a complex and decisive negotiation.