City Host Part 1 Project 2010 Carlos AdriáN Pace University of Palermo Buenos Aires | Argentina FIRST, THE QUESTION…What does the word Hotel mean?HOTEL as a “building with rooms” and services comes from the Latin word Hospitale Cubiculum, a guest room. , This term has its origin in the prefix Hospes (guest, visitor, foreigner) Hospes became Hospitalia, a department for foreign visitors and turned into Hospita, a place providing care to the elderly and the ill. Hospes is a paronym of the term Hostis (Hostile) since they share the same Indo- European root Ghosti which refers to a foreign person.THE LOCATION neighborhoodIt’s a metropolitan area where you can find magnificent edifications as the Italian Hospital, dated in 1901, which is the greatest presence located in front of the project; the Neoclassical Editorial of 1916 and the catholic temple Iglesia Santa Teresa (Barefoot Carmelite’s Church). This church, where the nuns currently live, is conformed by a cloister inside. A huge edging containment wall border the block shape another cloister, bigger than the other one, with a private garden of abundant vegetation, construction materials deposits and sheds.The sensation HOSTILITY The preexistence of the hospital, with common neighbors, elders and people with dissabilities, along with the border wall that surrounds the block, gives the sidewalk an insignificant measure and dimension for all the itinerant activities of street traders that crowd the place everyday. Besides, the noisy street heavily traveled by cars and buses, intensify the sensation of hostility and awakes a desire of abandoning the place. The neighborhood becomes a stopover. The proposal URBAN PARONYM From Hostile to Hospitality...Subvert the limits and meanings of the block to give a great new character to the neighborhood as a host for the very first time. In an architectural level, it leads the permanent abode of just a few nuns to rebuild it as a transitory home for everybody, locals and tourists. In an urban level, turns the cloister to an agora. Convert a private garden in a public green area, and the containment border wall to a useful surface, and a stopover neighborhood to a residence friendly place. THE COIL IN THE CLOISTERTHE HOSPITAL ITALIANO´S PLAZA/PARK WILL NOT BE SIMPLY TO ORGANIZE FLOWS,BUT ALSO TO CONSTRUCT A FIELD OF URBAN INTENSITY THROUGH THE OVERLAPPING OF MULTIPLE PATHS AND DIRECTIONS WHILE THE ¨BUILT¨PROGRAM IS WORKING AS AN SPATIAL RIBBON ,ON TOP OF AN EXISTING ¨CLOISTER¨.THE BUILDING OBTAINS ITS FORM AN IRREGULAR COIL FROM ITS ALIGNMENT WITH THE NEIGHBORING STREETS AND VIEWS.THIS PROPOSAL TRIES TO DISAPPEAR,TRIES TO BE A BLUR,TO CLOUD, TO MAKE VAGUE THIS LINE THAT CONNECTS WHAT IS NEW AND WHAT WAS THERE BEFORE.THE WHOLE MASS IS CLAD IN CONCRETE FORM THAT FOLDS TO ENCLOSE THE MAIN FACILITIES.THE METAL SURFACES ARE A CONTINUITY OF THE EXISTING WAREHOUSES,THAT ARE TRANSFORMED IN CINEMAS,HALLES AND CAFETERIA.INSPIRED BY THE TRADITIONAL ¨PORTEÑO¨ BUILDINGS ,THE EXTERIOR MEMBRANE IS SPLIT IN TWO GLAZED SURFACES. A LOWER CONNECTED TO THE PLAZA/PARK THAT PERMITS A VIEW OF THE OUTSIDE, AND AN UPPER ONE THAT MAXIMIZED THE ENTRANCES OF DAYLIGHT IN BEDROOM AREAS.THROUGH THE LOCATION OF PATIOS AND SKYLIGHTS THE RELATIONSHIP TO THE OUTSIDE WILL BE INTENSIFIED.……IT´S A LABYRINTH IN AN URBAN GRID,AN OASIS IN THE CITY… Tutor(s) Gustavo Dieguez Pablo Rozenwasser