Projets

International building and Library of the Universidad de Lima - Perù - Lima (Perù)

University buildings remodelled in Lima

In an urban context dating from the sixties, the buildings of the Universidad de Lima stand out for their contemporary stylistic features
Auteur
Livio Salvadori
Photos
Diego Panta Gonzaga
Distributeur
Arq Studio
Année de réalisation
2010

The library plays a crucial role on any university campus, both for educational and cultural purposes and in view of its social function for the entire community of students and teaching staff. The library is the vital hub of study, research and working activities, but it is also the key venue for aggregation, meeting and socialisation. Consequently, it is also one of the most representative buildings in terms of architecture of the entire university complex.
Architect Eduardo de Piérola, leader of the project to refurbish several buildings at the Universidad de Lima, including the new Library and the International Building, based his work on these general principles.
Set in an urban context dating from the sixties and surrounded by typical architecture from the period, the refurbished buildings stand out for their contemporary stylistic features, the advanced construction solutions adopted, and the use of innovative technologies and materials with high technical performance. These elements clearly identify the two buildings, giving them a homogeneous, imposing and modern image that emphasises their importance with respect to the surroundings.
The buildings – the library consisting of four above-ground floors and the international building with its five floors plus a usable terrace – adopt compositional solutions that seek to enhance their perception.
The facades consist of glazed walls and large glass and steel windows facing onto the greenery of the internal courtyards. The arcade level of the international building physically connects the library plaza with that of the industrial engineering school.
Consisting of grey large-format porcelain tiles from the TT120 series by Verde 1999, the external paving constitutes an element of continuity between the open spaces and the interior, where the same ceramic material is used on the floors and the stairs, differing solely in the colours (Peltro and Bronzo from the Progetto 1 series) and the lapped surface finish with glossy metal flakes. The building used for the university’s various international activities consists of several floors with meeting rooms, classrooms, multimedia laboratories and partitioned study areas.
The library also has a rational layout. Each floor is devoted to specific themes, starting out with the most important on the lower floors and eventually reaching the terrace roof, which like the adjacent international building features relaxing outdoor study areas.
The interior functional spaces are organised around the central hall, a full-height atrium flooded with natural light originating from the large glazed skylight set into the roof. Delimited by an elegant aluminium railing, each floor faces onto the atrium like a gallery, offering an overall view of the various levels. The overall impression is that of a single space distributed over a number of levels; a large, luminous, lively and dynamic open space in which the different areas devoted to archiving, research, consultation and study integrate seamlessly.
The library has an innovative computerised consultation and research system that can be accessed from practical workstations located on each floor.
At the design stage the utmost attention was devoted both to the selection of finishing materials capable of guaranteeing the necessary technical and aesthetic requirements and to the choice of suitable utility solutions (wiring, lighting, air conditioning, etc.).

Surfaces céramiques
cm 120 x 120 (48"x48")

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