Costa Azul
Costa Azul Building
The Costa Azul building is located on Murphy street in the emblematic Castillo hill of theViña del Mar region. Built in 1959 it was intended for exclusively residential use. The structure reaches nine floors and is distributed in 63 housing units. In its structure, a concave orientation stands out, this allows it to face in a double direction, both towards the sea and towards the center of the city. Its great proximity to the sea is part of its qualities. It was constructed shortly after the inauguration of Caleta Abarca, interweaving with the idea of a resort city.
The Costa Azul building stands out for its large size, which breaks out disproportionately with the average scale of the area where it is located; it places itself as the leading spectator of the sea and the garden city. Its proximity to the beach shore connects it with that desire to transform Viña del Mar into a seaside resort and gives its residents a direct tunnel which leads them to Caleta Abarca. In addition to its large size, the building has an outdoor garden that stands out for its convex positioning and makes it a disruptive building for its time, manifesting itself as a curved amphitheater, justifying its shape in a contemplative dialogue with the setting of the surroundings.
Specifications
- TYPE
Residential
- ARCHITECTS
Carlos Bolton
Sergio Larraín
Luis Prieto
Armando Lorca
- ENGINEER
Enrique Brieba
- BUILDER
Luis Prieto Vial
- DATE
1959
Regarding its volumetry, the building presents a structure marked by two types of facades, both of the same structure due to its concave disposition. One part of the building looks directly east towards the city and the other looks west towards the sea. In both cases, the building gains strength in its horizontal position with hollow and full spaces. Along its facade, the aluminum windows that, over time, replaced the old continuous balconies that offered a feeling of emptiness, are a special feature of its exterior presentation, which is mostly windows. On its west facade it presents horizontal strips covered in bluish mosaic that, to a certain extent, plays with the maritime reflection, becoming an organic part of the city’s ornamentation. Finally, it is important to recognize that it is a building that has a large interior garden, under these gardens there is a tunnel that connects with the access to the Caleta Abarca resort beach and parking for its residents. The building fulfills a privileged position within the city.
The interior aesthetics together with its finishing touches is marked by a wide hall that converges in the elevators, and two lateral spaces that lead towards the stairs which run vertically through the building. However, due to its design and spatial distribution, light and contrasts are an essential part of the interior of this wonderful building. The light that penetrates from the east illuminates the main hall and its circulation spaces. About its finishing touches, the mosaics in different shades of blue mark the striking of its exterior decoration. Like many modernist buildings,we can see washed stone for walls and tiles with a geometric sense, combined with the use of bronze materials in its internal decorations and also the use of steel. All of this marks the identity of the Costa Azul building. Throughout its ornamentation and sense of internal identity, it tends to present naval-style architecture with a strong predominance of blue and lattices that enable the light to come into the corridors.
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