The University Residences building marks an epoch in the life of several generations of UIS students, both from the aspect of professional training and from the architectural point of view. First, because of its social objective, to provide a housing service to students from other regions with limited resources and without family members who arrive in Bucaramanga and can access a residence while they complete their studies at the university.
From an architectural point of view, the Residencias Universitarias building, designed by architect Mario Pilonieta, is framed within the guidelines of modern architecture, strongly influenced by the concept of the university city; that is, the idea that university life, academic life and the urban environment could be united in a single space.
This building “represents very well all the architectural elements that introduce it into what we call rationalism and functionalism, two architectural trends that came displaced from Europe. Among these elements are the openings for cross ventilation on the façade. There are also those horizontal elements that stand out in the building’s slabs, which together with the planters give a solidity to the horizontality of these blocks arranged in a hachet pattern, explains architect Eneyda Abreu, a specialist in environmental engineering at the UIS and lecturer in the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Santo Tomás.
On the other hand, “the tone of the building, white, is very characteristic of the Modern Architecture period, and has other elements that give the volume that plasticity, being a rectangular parallelepiped quite solid and with management of the facades. As it is an isolated building with facades on two sides, they are directed towards Bucaramanga’s ventilation zone, that is, from north to south, so that the place is permanently cool. It is a very nice work of the architect Mario Pilonieta González to make the correct implantation of the building”, said Eneyda Abreu.
In the Special Management and Protection Plan (PEMP) of the Universidad Industrial de Santander, the University Residences were classified as a Building with Intervention Level 1, that is to say, of Integral Conservation, due to its aesthetic, historical and symbolic values that contribute to the local and institutional identity of the campus.
The restoration
In 2018, the building underwent a process of structural reinforcement and modernization, carried out by architect Fabián Camargo. This work was a finalist in the Heritage Intervention Category of the Colombian Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism 2020.
The intervention of this building of municipal cultural interest “rescues heritage values in the building, characteristic of its typology”. The interventions carried out in the southern block, made up of 3 levels, allowed the architectural essence of the building to be recovered. In the double bedroom modules, the bathrooms are privatized, thus dignifying the internal spaces without altering the original spatiality, improving the experiences transmitted to the users. The functional adaptation actions preserve the characteristics of the original design, highlighting the restoration of the façades in terms of materials, composition, design, proportions, spatiality and distinctive elements”, highlights a publication by the Colombian Society of Architects.
Eneyda Abreu emphasized that “in order not to use air conditioning or fans, architect Pilonieta controls the sunlight, and this is very important for us, which is currently called bioclimatics, but which has been used for a long time in the layout of a building when it is in a specific geographical position”.
He emphasized that, “in the first semester of 2024 we did a case study with the students as a class project, which were the university residences of the UIS. They were in charge of coming, making contact, visiting, collecting information in situ and analyzing all those elements that give identity to the object according to the period in which they are built or the functionality according to the requirements that in this case the UIS demands”, said the architect.
The UIS Residence Halls are divided into three main modules: the north module, used for services: shared kitchen and laundry area; the central module, which serves as a connector and recreation area, with the central courtyard, TV room and lobby; and the third, the private module, where the 15 rooms are located, each with its own bathroom, giving each student the privacy they deserve, said Sergio Andrés Díaz Bautista, an architecture student, currently in his fifth semester of Workshop 5 ‘The urban’.
The residence building on the central campus is the living quarters for 30 students who are currently enjoying this benefit.
