The iconic Pereira Palace , in Chile, is a mansion of neoclassical architecture that had been abandoned since the 19th century. To take advantage of the site and give it a new use, architects Cecilia Puga, Paula Velasco and Alberto Moletto stepped in to oversee a renovation of the site that transformed it into a set of offices whose function will be to serve as the headquarters of the Ministry of Culture. from Chile . The building was designed in the mid-1800s and is designed by French architect Lucien Hénault . The trio of architects in charge of the renovation decided to keep much of the architecture preserved, but chose to add contemporary touches to areas of the Palace that were destroyed. "Not prioritizing the new intervention nor the character of the elegant remains of Palácio Pereira", justify the experts.

“Given the collapse of the original mezzanines in many areas of the building, such as those for the public cafeteria and the bookstore, we left the structure of the building exposed and at full height without reconstructing ceilings or covering surfaces”, say the architects. The Palace became considered a National Historical Monument in 1981 , and had already undergone several degradations, with damage caused by earthquakes and after the 1973 coup d'état . In 2011, Palácio Pereira was purchased by the government, which opened a tender to convert the old mansion into the Ministry of Culture office. The venue will be one of the spaces dedicated to Chile's Constitutional Convention, in which a new constitution will be written for the country following the protests and riots that began in October 2019 . Source: Dezeen [April-see-also]W3siaWQiOjEwODQ0NywidGl0bGUiOiJIb3RlbCBuYSBzYXZhbmEgYWZyaWNhbmEgY29tYmluYSBsdXhvIGUgZWNvLWRlc2lnbiJ9LHsiaWQiOjEwODQ4NCwidGl0bGUiOiJDYXNhIG ZlaXRhIGNvbSByZWNpY2wmI3hFMTt2ZWlzIHRlbSBzaXN0ZW1hIGFxdWFwJiN4RjQ7bmljbyBlIGph cmRpbSBuYSBjb2JlcnR1cmEifSx7ImlkIjoxMDgzOTQsInRpdGxlIjoiSmFyZGltIGJvdCYjeEUyO25 pY28gY29tIG1haW9yIGVzdHJ1dHVyYSBkbyBtdW5kbyAmI3hFOTsgZmluYWxpemFkbyBuYSBDaGluYSJ9XQ==[/abril-see-also]