WHERE SKY MEETS THE SEA

The Multicultural Pavilion on the ARA campus embodies a meaningful gesture, symbolizing the celebration of Chilean culture within New Zealand.

 

This design is rooted in the ancestral practice of gazing at the sky, a way of honoring Chile’s original identity before the Spanish colonization.

The historical longitude and latitude of the country serve as a key to comprehending the original positioning of the earliest sedentary tribes. These coordinates unveil insights into their survival techniques, subsequent settlement along the coast rather than the mountains, and the resulting facilitation of trade and communication routes.

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This connection with nature, specifically Mother Earth or “Pachamama,” was a significant aspect of the culture before the influence of Catholicism, showcasing the people’s relationship with the sky and the sea.

During this period, South American inhabitants integrated the forces of nature into their understanding of the world, which helped him to understand and organize his whole reality. He mastered the techniques as agriculture, construction, mathematics, and astronomy. This harmonious relationship with the natural world continues to this day.

Architecturally, the effect of this skin in motion is the connection to the contemplative state. It allows a connection with the pavilion. 

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The effect of this skin in motion is the connection to the contemplative state. It allows a connection with the pavilion. 

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Finally, the aim of recreating this ancestral connection with the land is to reflect the current crisis in Chile, where police and military forces caused irreversible eye damage to 163 Chileans during the social outbreak that began in 2019.