In summer 2016, I collaborated with a group of students from the College of Architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology on the construction of a pavilion. Our efforts were led by Professor Frank Flury. We built a modest community center in the remote town of Antihuala, Chile. Commemorating a significant event in the community’s history, the pavilion is a first step in mediating what has been a strained relationship between the corporation which owns and logs the property and the community that the recreational property serves. This project received an AIA Chicago Small Project Honor Award in May 2018.

Study Abroad - Antihuala, Chile | Summer 2016
Instructor: Frank Flury

The center was constructed on piers, which reduced the impact absorbed by the foundation, holes of which were dug by hand. The batter boards, ladders and scaffold were constructed from the repurposed branches of the pine tree removed from the site. Every piece of material was transported to the site by local oxen (twice a day); the oxen also aided in the raising of the first truss. Lumber was sourced and cut locally and was obtained within a perimeter of five miles. Exterior cladding was treated and sealed with an ancient Japanese preservation technique called shou sugi ban, which naturally prevents insect infestation and protects the wood for hundreds of years. The interior was painted with a water based paint providing a color palette of the local aesthetic that is referential of thermal hot baths popular to the region.