ECOLOGICAL LEARNIG CENTER

ECOLOGICAL LEARNIG CENTER. CORDILLERA EL MELÓN, VALPARAÍSO.

Valuation, conservation and restoration project of a threatened ecosystem.

The project proposes a large crack along the foot of the mountain, through which large cross beams cross, which support five pieces of glass, where the research program is developed, without interfering with nature and valuing its landscape. Located in Chile, Valparaíso region, within the Aconcagua valley, Cordillera el Melón. A place where high-value ecosystem processes occur, with limited documentation and protection.

The project's objective is to maintain, improve and conserve the unique quality of the natural ecological diversity, landscapes and geological formations, in order to enable education, investigation and assure the continuity of evolutionary processes, animal migrations, and the regulation of the environment. Especially the natural hydrological systems through the capture of humidity, product of the regeneration of endemic plant species, to attract rainfall. Located inside of an irregular crack, deviating part of the Garreton river inside, taking advantage of the unevenness of the slope, and woven by a series of transversal beams that rest along the natural slope. Hiding a new longitudinal landscape inside the crack, creating a new microclimate suitable for the regeneration of the sclerophyll forest. Due to this configuration structured by the slope, the growth margin of potential new species is not interrupted, since the programmatic building is also integrated hanging from the beams without touching the edges of the crack.