Mauricio Macri, President of Argentina, recently gave high praise on his twitter account to the Rafael Viñoly Architects-designed, Universidad de Buenos Aires – Facultad de Ciencas Exactas y Naturales, citing its sustainable features and innovative classrooms. The soon to be opened trapezoid-shaped building will house the classrooms, research laboratories and administrative offices of the university’s departments of Mathematics, Computer Sciences, and Environmental Sciences.
The building’s design responds to the site with an interior ellipse and infinity-shaped courtyards that were purposely carved out of the central atrium to protect the native trees that predate the development of the site. The building features an enclosed space that is flooded with daylight and natural ventilation via two interior courtyards located in the central atrium.
Designed to be highly sustainable, the building’s heat gain is prevented by a high-performance glass facade that is covered with a system of metal fins, which deflect sun-rays away from the building. A rooftop garden reduces heat gain, and a radiant cooling/heating system takes full advantage of an underground river that flows directly beneath the site.
Read the full story on La Nacíon.
