The Chilean architectural practice UMWELT, together with the landscape architecture office LANDMRX and the renowned Mexican firm PRODUCTORA, have won first place in the competition for the transformation of the former Correos de Chile (Chilean Postal Service) building located in Estación Central, Santiago. In 2021, EFE (Chile's State Railway Company) acquired the property to convert it into their new corporate headquarters, where the company's employees will work in interaction with the nearby railway operations.
A total of 22 proposals were submitted for the competition to transform the iconic seven-story triangular concrete structure located at 221 Exposición Street. The building was originally designed by architect Boris Guiñeman and constructed between 1970 and 1974 to house the Central Sorting Office of Correos de Chile.
The jury of the competition valued the winning proposal for its urban integration, valorization of architectural heritage, spatial innovation, and functionality. The key aspects that were appreciated included the entrance plaza, preservation of the original structure, sun protection, open terraces, and the creation of a panoramic public space. The evaluation team consisted of national architecture award winners Miguel Lawner, Antonia Lehmann, and Fernando Pérez, along with Tomás Villalón, Francisca Pulido, Horacio Torrent, José Solorza, Loreto Wahr, Rosario Olivares, Gabriela Elgueta, Camila Castro, Felipe Gallegos, and Juan Jiménez. The executive director of the competition was Luis Eduardo Bresciani, the director of the School of Architecture at Universidad Católica.
UMWELT is an architectural and territorial design practice and research office founded by Ignacio García Partarrieu and Arturo Scheidegger. Based in Chile, they have expanded their interests across multiple scales and formats without making a distinction between projects and research. The result is a diversity of works, explorations, books, classes, and exhibitions that are different parts of the same project called UMWELT. ArchDaily recently recognized them as one of the best new architectural practices of 2020.
PRODUCTORA is composed of Abel Perles, Carlos Bedoya, Víctor Jaime, and Wonne Ickx. Based in Mexico, their work aims to generate projects that are legible with clear gestures and the pursuit of timeless buildings in their material and programmatic resolutions. Among their most well-known works are the Teopanzolco Cultural Center, the Houston Endowment Heasdquarters, and the Pilares Priani Social Infrastructure.
LANDMRX is a landscape architecture office formed by Pablo Alfaro, Diego Labbé, Valentina Rozas Krause, and Kushal Lachhwani. Their work focuses on the design of ecological infrastructure projects at the intersection of art, ecology, and technology.
1° Place: UMWELT (Ignacio García Partarrieu, Arturo Scheidegger), PRODUCTORA (Carlos Bedoya, Victor Jaime, Wonne Ickx, Abel Perles), LANDMRX (Pablo Alfaro, Diego Labbé)
Collaborators: Sofía Valdovinos, Daniel Domínguez, Lucas Ormazábal, Matías Qualitz, Fidel Fernández, Pablo Manjarrez, Jacqueline Lobato, Valentina Sánchez, Lorelei Arenas, Antonio Espinoza (VIA – Visualización de Arquitecturas)
2° Place: BEALS-LYON
3° Place: LIRA arquitectos (Raimundo Lira, Hernán Kirsten, Stephanie Wünkhaus, Sebastián Cruz, Pedro Stekel, Ignacio Rodríguez, Eduardo Diaz)
Honorable Mentions: SABBAGH Arquitectos, POOL Arquitectura (Cecilia Puga-Paula Velasco)
