Avenida Italia Shop
AVENIDA ITALIA SHOP
Amunátegui Valdés Architects
ARCHITECTS
Amunátegui Valdés Architects
CONSTRUCTION
Secco Constructora Ltda
STRUCTURE
Amunátegui Valdés Architects
LIGHTING DESIGN
Estudio Par
AUTHOR ARCHITECTS
Alejandro Valdés, Cristobal Amunátegui
DESIGN TEAM
Sebastián Zarhi
AREA
105 M²
YEAR
2015
LOCATION
Ñuñoa, Chile
CATEGORY
Store
Text description provided by architect.
Avenida Italia Shop was organized around a series of architectural references.
Whereas the façade draws from some of Loos’ densely composed commercial building elevations, the shop itself celebrates the still lively galleries and passages located in the neighboring downtown of Santiago.
Here, the narrowness of the plot is emphasized through a set of three freestanding columns supporting a 21m long double-vaulted ceiling.
These elements enhance the already pronounced perspective of the site, which at the back features a small tower with facilities—a reenactment of so many self-referential architectural experiments of the 1970s—, and a patio mediating between these two interiors.
If the shop is long, narrow, and evenly-lit, the walls enclosing the backyard are tall and dark, amounting for a more dramatic "room" whose light changes with the hours of the day.
Considered as a whole, Avenida Italia Shop is the addition of four different architectural artifacts—the Loosian façade, the passage-like interior, the room-like backyard, and the self-referential tower.
