Architecture Portfolio

PORTFOLIO

NOELIA SILVA MESONES

PROFILE

NOELIA SILVA MESONES

Hello! I am Architect Noelia Silva, graduated from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú.

The projects selected in this portfolio showcase my career interest and growth towards the enhancement of our material and immaterial world heritage, specially Peruvian pre-hispanic legacy.

This path has led me to believe that architecture is a tool to revitalize our archaeological sites, and find in them opportunities to enrich our communities’ identities, our cities’ public spaces, and our relationships with the natural landscape. I look forward to continue this path to explore these possibilities.

noelia.silva.mesones@gmail.com

ESCUELA TIERRA 01

Type: Thesis project

Location: Puno, Peru

Year: 2020 - 2021

Tutors:

Sofía Rodriguez Larrain

Silvia Onnis

Belen Desmaison

The Escuela Tierra (Earth School) is a proposal for higher education equipment in the rural areas of the Peruvian Altiplano, a region which suffers from a lack of educational infrastructure, but simultaneously, stands out for its vast knowledge embedded in the traditions of the indigenous people.

In response, this project seeks to enhance the local practices surrounding the sustainable use of the local resource: earth. The Escuela Tierra will serve as an alternative educational environment for the entire community by acting as a hub for local youth and artisans to work together to innovate in the fields of agriculture, adobe construction, and pottery.

The design seeks break the standards of a regular school and adapt to the uniqueness of the territory, consequently, the proposal is not one building, but a system that can spread and interconnect through its rural and urban settlements.

The Altiplano

The territorial dynamics of the Altiplano involve a constant social and economic exchange between dispersed urban and rural settlements, which is why the school is designed as multi-localized project.

To achieve this, a modular, replicable, and adaptable system is created, allowing the configuration of three satellite schools for three interconnected towns that make up one functional territory.

Pucará, José Domingo Choquehuanca and Santiago de Pupuja are the towns that share a prehispanic heritage, and are connected by a road that traverses the desert-like, grassy plains of the Altiplano, making it easier for residents to share traditions, markets, and daily activities.

Working Period

NATURAL LANDSCAPE

The Altiplano of Puno, Perú

TERRITORIAL DYNAMICS

Province of Azángaro

LOCAL COMMUNITIES

03 functional towns

The location of the school responds to the cultural value of the site due to its material and immaterial heritage, originated in the pre-hispanic and colonial periods.

First, the Temple Kalasaya, in the archaeological complex of Pucará, build in 200 BC by the homonymous culture, and described as the “first city of the Altiplano” by anthropologist Elías Mujica.

Second, the community of Checca Pupuja, a rural settlement in between the main towns, renowned for its pottery as national cultural heritage, and its famous piece, the Torito of Pucará, a colonial bull shape jug popularized as an art piece in the 1920s.

These, and other traditional features, influence the architectural proposal for the Earth School.

1. Archeological Site Kalasaya, Pucará.

2. Urban typology of the Altiplano.

3. Checca Pupuja, community of pottery Masters.

4. The connecting road and rural homes in between.

Strategy 1: Modules for a system

The project explores earth as a construction material, enhancing the local knowledge through its usage in the architecture, so that the vessel reflects the content of the school.

The “C” shape of rammed earth becomes an ideal unit to make two types of modules that contain the activities of the school. These modules can be repeated and arranged as demanded by the program.

Local References:

Earth Walls and Buttresses

Module 1: Educational Workshop / Classroom

Module 2: Communitary Residence / Gallery / Library / Multipurpose Room

Strategy 2: Patios for adaptability

The modules designed are integrated through patios that conform the school. The patio is the local element that concentrates rural daily life, as the domestic transition between natural landscape and manmade interior.

In the school, it gives a scenery to students, masters, and community to exchange and generate knowledge. Hence, in addition to its role as an educational centre, the Escuela Tierra becomes a space appropriable by the community for a range of activities and events.

The different patios respond to the needs of their use, such as planting orchards or community gatherings. Whilst, arranging them in platforms, allows the adaptability to the topography of the terrain.

Local References: Patios and Platforms

1. Fairs and Reception Plaza

2. Main Square

3. Sunken Patio

4. Experimental Orchards

5. Pottery and Kilns

6. Construction Patio

One school for a vast community

Through the strategies, three satellite schools are created to conform one Escuela Tierra.

Pucará, with its closeness to the archaeological site, has a gallery and multipurpose room for cultural events, and workshops for the three study fields. José Domingo Choquehuanca, with the largest urban development and as the point of arrival with its train station, has a student residency and workshops for

agriculture and construction. Santiago de Pupuja, as the smallest town, has an intimate library, along with workshops for pottery and agriculture.

Finally, the school is welcoming and accessible to the whole community, and well equipped to serve as a catalyst for positive change within the Altiplano, as it hopefully can be replicated and adapted in other communities throughout the region.

Pucará José Domingo Choquehuanca Santiago de Pupuja

PAST, INTERPRETED

INTERVENTIONS IN THE HUACAS OF LIMA (2010-2019)

Type: Research Project

Location: Lima, Peru

Year: 2019

Tutors: Wiley Ludeña Urquizo

Miltón Marcelo Puente

Lima has a broad archaeological legacy, popularly known as huacas, earth constructions that served as sacred temples or gathering spaces. Their origin goes from 3000 B.C, with huaca El Paraiso, expanding with cultures like Lima (200 –900 A.C.) and Ychma (800 – 1450 A.C.) who built architectural complexes such as Pachacamac; and on to the arrival of the Incas (1470 – 1535 A.C.), who reused and remodelled these early structures. These occupations permanently changed the valleys and desert landscape of Lima.

However, in the sixteenth century, the violent European colonization tried to erase the native architecture, and by in the nineteenth century, the urban development of the capital of the new Republic worsen the deprecation of the huacas. However, in recent years, the acknowledgement of their influence in the city has changed and so has the way we interact with our heritage.

This research project aims to explore the recent interventions that reveal an effort to relate once again with the past and memory of the city. And in doing so, understand what the interpretation we give to our archaeological heritage today: do we see it as an urban trend to exploit or truly as the reclaim of our identity?

Huacas: intangible heritage and city borders

There is fine line between protecting our heritage and letting it be forgotten. In Lima, the regulations for the conservation of archaeological heritage have taken an intangibility approach, which has led to the creation of borders.

As you walk the city you might not notice what was one a sanctuary or an elevated plaza. Some huacas are hidden behind concrete walls or surrounded by non-spaces, while others have stayed “exposed” and have become backyards or dangerous hideouts, and rarely, some are displayed in the middle of a local park.

Consequently, the interaction between the contemporary layer of the city and the layer of its past has been broken. Yet, this research defends that the survival of this heritage is no fortuity, but a collective decision. And through contemporary interactions with it, these are primitive public spaces can be the remedy to a city that currently suffers a luck of them.

Case Studies

There are different types of interventions, which can be architectonic, urban, artistic, social, etc. Hence, in order to investigate the different results and contemporary interpretations of the past, three case studies are analysed. First, a temporary installation made as an academic project in Pachacamac, second, a public park made as a private real state housing development in Huntinamarca, and third, an event organized by a community around their local huaca, Mangomarca.

CASE STUDY 1

PACHACAMAC PAVILION ETH ZURICH + PUCP

Intervention: “Room for Archeologists and kids in Pachacamac”

Year: 2018

Motive: Architecture Academic Project

Type: Temporary Installation

Users: Site researchers and visiting children

Accessibility: Restricted

CASE STUDY 2

Intervention: Residential Complex

Year: 2015

Motive: Real estate urban development

Type: Public Space

Users: Residents and general public

Accessibility: Public park with restricted

HUACA HUANTINAMARCA SAN JOSÉ GROUP

CASE STUDY 3

HUANTINAMARCA HUACA MANGOMARCA CODEPACMA

Complex “Gardens of the Huaca” development project

public restricted entrance to huaca

Intervention: XI Huaca Raymi

Year: 2019

Motive: Community organization

Type: Public and communitarian event

Users: Community of Mangomarca and interested external visitors

Accessibility: Free entrance

PACHACAMAC PAVILION ETH ZURICH + PUCP

Pachacamac is the archaeological site of mayor recognition in Lima

It’s located in the south peripheral part of the city, in the margins of the Lurin river. Its territorial expansion and amount of major buildings, is a result of its long occupation during the pre-hispanic period, functioning as an important sacred settlement to various cultures, like Lima, Ychma, Wari and the Inca Empire.

Source: Management Plan of the Archaeological Site of Pachacamac, 2012

Elaboration: Noelia Silva

The intervention was a collaboration between two universities in a workshop to design a contemporary and minimalistic space that served the needs of the site.

The structure is light and temporal. A rectangular roof lands with minimum contact to a empty space next to the Acllawasi building inside the complex. It uses organic materials to have the least impact on the natural landscape, such as timber, woven cane, plastic textiles and adobe bricks.

As a result, the intervention contrasts with the monumental architecture of the site, aggrandizing it, as it provides a space for archaeologists to carry their community outreach program, specially with young visitors.

Giving scenery to communal activities in a territory that was reserved for the past, and making it part of our dynamic culture, rather than a place for contemplation of a distant sanctuary.

However, as great as the concept of the project is, the afterlife of the intervention has not shown its liveness. It helps make visitors feel welcome, but it does no welcome the heritage to the city.

The collective activities proposed remained inside a restricted and hard to access area. Therefore, the community of the Pachacamac district and the neighbours of the archaeological site, do not get to freely interact through the intervention, and the limit it had with the city continues to be no man’s land.

Maranga Complex

Huaca Huantinamarca

HUACA HUANTINAMARCA SAN JOSÉ GROUP

Huantinamarca is located in a rich heritage environment. The Rimac river valley, distinguishes for been the base of many prehispanic sites, amongst which the ceremonial and administrative complex Maranga, stands out.

Huatinamarca is part of this complex, although nowadays, it appears isolated in between buildings, as the complex has being progressively consumed by the city. Now, its once cultural and natural landscape, is a commercial and residential, part of the urban district of San Miguel.

Source: San José S.A.C.

Elaboration: Noelia Silva

CASE STUDY 2

The project Gardens of the Huaca, is a long-term intervention that becomes part the urban tissue. This results on a radical landscape transformation: where the huaca once merged in the arid landscape, now stands alone in the middle of a grass and concrete park.

Because it is a privet real estate development, the practicality and profitability of the project outweigh the enhancement of heritage. The housing blocks stand tall in contrast with the huaca, but even if the contemporary architecture does not communicate with the pre-existence, the merit of keeping the huaca in a local park cannot be unacknowledged.

The park balances the protection and the exposure of the legacy of Huantinamaca. The project evidences the advantage of urban development around archaeological heritage, because it provides the opportunity to create public green areas instead of building more blocks. The city and the heritage serve each other mutually. The park and the huaca improve the quality of life of the neighbourhood, while the housing complex enhances the heritage.

Fuente:

One feature weakens the project. The huaca stays surrounded by a wooden fence, and it dangerously becomes the park’s decoration. Slowly the community stops engaging with it, and without their interest and organization, it ends up not being taken care of.

HUACA MANGOMARCA CODEPACMA

Mangomarca is a complex landscape. It is comprised of the archaeological site, and the surrounding hill slopes and suburbs. The fact that all three as recognized as a unit under the name of Mangomarca is important because it stops the huaca from been seen as an isolated entity in the territory.

At the same time, the community identifies with the native name of its landscape, and takes ownership and responsibility for its caring. This motivated the creation of CODEPACMA, an organization made up from community members that work together to enhance and revitalize their archaeological and natural heritage.

Source: Drawing of Mangomarca’s Building in “C” from the municipal topographic survey of San Juan de Lurigancho (2000)

CASE STUDY 3

The Huaca Raymi is a different type of intervention. It is a community event celebrated every year that consists of various activities: culinary fair, school presentations, talent show, community announcements, music, and games.

Temporary metallic structures are built to give shadow and everyone brings their chairs for the day, but the main stage is always present, as it is the lower platform of the huaca.

A park naturally unfolds from the base of the huaca and no fences surround it. So the archaeological site acts just another neighbour waiting to host communal activities. The community feels the ownership and responsibility of their landscape and takes this as an opportunity to bond and take care of their city.

The event does not leave a permanent mark on the heritage and does not damage its material value, but it enhances its cultural value.

Encouraging people to occupy it, also motivates them care for it, as it becomes a free valuable asset for their everyday activities and common identity.

I was lucky to be present at the Huaca Raymi of 2019 and I saw the tight relation of a community bonded by a common heritage.

Type: Built Mockup

Location: Cusco, Peru

Year: 2016

Tutors: Felipe Ferrer

Peter Seinfeld

Team members:

Andrea Castro

Ailed Tejada

Santiago Silva-Santiesteban Sam Tejada

Noelia Silva

Publications:

Archdaily

Legnoarchitettura #35

Nymbú is a temporary shelter designed for experiential birdwatching tourism in the Abra Málaga forest in Cusco.

The structure is self-supporting and has been constructed using a combination of traditional and modern techniques. Organic materials, including sections of bamboo and fibreboard, have been used to provide a sustainable and environmentally-friendly solution, while digital manufacturing techniques have been employed to create precision joints using CNC technology.

As a result, Nymbú’s design seamlessly integrates with the surrounding natural environment, allowing it to blend in and grow alongside the trees. The structure is a nest, providing a safe refuge for visitors, while also serving as a welcoming home for birds.

STRUCTURE FABRICATION

STRUCTURE FABRICATION

The structure is constructed in 5 levels which are build as rings that get smaller with hight. A dome is formed so that compressions and tractions keep the structure strong by its own shape.

The rings are made up of bamboo sections articulated with different fiberboard joints, which were digitally designed and fabricated with a CNC machine. The result is a three-dimensional mesh that acts as tree branches for the comfort of birds.

CNC fabricated joints ensemble process bamboo structure

BASE AND COVER ENSEMBLE

Weather resistant plastic textile

Treated bamboo base and floor

MODULE MOCKUP

Building ephemeral organic structures is a medium to interact with the landscape without interrupting or damaging it, but still create the scenarios and opportunities of human connection with the environment.

MUDDY DREAMS 04

Type: Experimental Workshop

Iuav WAVe

Location: Pellestrina, Venice

Year: 2019

Tutors:

Kathrin Gimmel - JAJA

Rasmus Hjortshøj - Coast

Claudia Gallo - Iuav

The premise of Wave 2019 was that “Venice – with all its problems – has inherent traits of sustainability and that a coordinated planning practice can bring them to the fore”. As a response, our team elaborated the proposal “Muddy Dreams”, in which we valued the local traditions of Pellestrina island for the development of their own sustainability.

We took a field trip to Pellestrina, where we studied the landscape, architecture, mobility, and local activities. One element stood out, the “Cassone”. Ever-changing structures scattered through the lagoon and past through generations of local fishermen, were a valuable figure to base our project on, as they evidenced the reuse of materials, integrated to the landscape, and served for the socio-economic activity of the population.

We took them as study subject and architectural inspiration for their potential to be reinterpreted into formal structures that continue to serve the island in ways other than for fishing. Cassone could become public spaces or communal equipment that expressed the local identity and enhanced their knowledge of their labour and environment.

Bizarre Joints

The exploration of the architectural elements that composed these informal structures, led me to drawings of the joints that held the wooden logs together. The were improvised, but creative and functional, which motivated us to believe that any shape, inclination or transition in this structure was possible.

The result was the conceptual design of contemporary Cassone that served as a playground for children. A structure that grew vertically to make the architectural journey dynamic, and that used all the components of the original structures to make it playful, form hanging fishing nets to rest, to wooden panels to climb and logs to elevate, and finally, floating satellite platforms to jump to.

Cassone Playground

THE CITIES WITHIN

Somedra

wings I enjoy doing of cities I have visited, loved, and re-imagined...