Rediscovering the Andes territory. Reconversion of San Pedro Thermal Baths by Pía Montero Rodríguez

Description of project by Pía Montero Rodríguez
 

rediscover
Rediscover something that had already been discovered or that was known but that had been forgotten or relegated to a second term.

The need to re-discover the territory of the Andes, takes on meaning under geohistorical readings and interpretations, which have defined it as a constantly minimized territory as a result of its geographical condition, in contrast to its sociocultural value. As a consequence of this, and within a process of territorial significance, the Andes Mountains, assumed as a symbolic geographic space for the country, loses its identity and cultural presence to overlap as a political border. Thus, excluding any vestige of identity, cultural manifesto and form of previous occupation that undoubtedly distinguish and give value to the territory of the Andes.

Based on the previous identity reading, and at the end of this tour through the territory of the Andes, the San Pedro Thermal Baths are found. Located approximately at Km 85 of the Paso Vergara International Route, parallel to the Teno river.

The thermal baths are natural pools of mud and hot water with various minerals and therapeutic properties which were transformed into a landmark of the Andean public space. Not only for foreigners, but also for inhabitants of the area, who for many years were part of the collective memory of inhabiting the mountain range, in stories of muleteers, poetry and songs or as an inherent destiny of the daily Maule life.

The work aims, based on 3 minimal interventions, to once again consolidate the San Pedro Thermal Baths, as a symbolic place of territorial occupation for the Andean territory of Romeral, rediscovering a forgotten natural heritage and recovering the sense of inhabiting the high mountains.
 

1. Constitute the journey of people
The pre-existing footprint is demarcated, by means of a route from the riverbed to the access to the pools of the upper level, consisting of reinforced concrete steps and soil works.

2. Establish a formal observation point inside the high mountain
It is projected onto a post-tensioned wooden platform, suspended over the pre-existing walls that forms a pause in the extension of the route and constitutes that horizontal plane capable of containing different daily activities.

3. Formalize the spill of thermal water and access to the river bed
The spilled water is collected through a system based on a receptacle and 2 reinforced concrete beams, which formalize its passage from the highest point to the river edge. Thus, constituting the path of the water, the shaping axis of the project.

The material condition of the work was a consequence of traveling the mountain and distinguishing its stony consistency, always linked to a body of water. The fact of contemplating the current of the river and the flow of the thermal water, allowed to distinguish the different minerals that emanate from the earth, which were staining the concrete of an intense shade of orange, generating a salt crust that waterproofed the soil and allowed the firm step between the pools.