Mario Vargas Llosa and the Colegio Militar Leoncio Prado have formed a symbiosis that went from hatred to love and has finally transcended to become universal. The writer Arequipa, today awarded the Nobel Prize and many others, was forced to enroll in this school in his childhood by a father who had just met, and who wanted to provide your child with a rigorous and disciplined education. The contrast of this new way of life with the pampering of his mother's family which was used, it must have been hard for the young Mario, who took refuge in the literature to escape the harsh, harsh world that was at school . However, later the writer would recognize that it was precisely this iron discipline which has allowed him to organize, work and succeed in the literary world, and that were those experiences of youth which nurtured his first novel, "The City and the Dogs."
Cadet Mario Vargas Llosa. school experienced a similar situation with Mario, since many of its authorities were not at all happy with how this institution was portrayed in the novel and later film. Today however, a giant of Vargas Llosa gets us to enter college, which is proud of having had the writer among many other notable alumni. After all, not every school is the setting for a work of literature.
As for Vargas Llosa, the Leoncio Prado has been recognized for excellence in many of his former students and input from teachers to education in Peru (in the 70's here are prepared and printed texts that were distributed throughout Peru), but on the other hand, has hardly been mentioned in the media the importance of its architecture, forged an Art Deco style was replicated in other buildings in the country and became synonymous of institutions at the time.
HISTORY
The College began life as a barracks, the guard called Chalaca, built in 1932. The plans for this complex included two areas: the officers, including offices, residence and casinos, and the troop itself. Despite the plans, was initially a modest facility, which was later abandoned.
Guard Barracks Historic photos of Chalaca, courtesy of Dr. Aleksandar Petrovich. 
Old school photo. was in 1943 when it was decided by the presidential order installation of a military college, which subsequently gave the name of Leoncio Prado , after the hero of the War against Spain (1866), the independence of Cuba (1876) and the Pacific War (1879 - 83).
Monument Leoncio Prado college admission 
photos of Leoncio Prado as a child, taken from the museum in the school. LOCATION
The Leoncio Prado is located in the district of La Perla in the Callao, standing on a cliff that enjoys superb ocean views. The rectangular lot on which it sits is located parallel to the coast, although there be enclosed with the same visual integration, with the exception of offices located in the upper levels.
DISTRIBUTION
approach is well known symmetric spatial organization of the whole. At the center lies the direction and administrative offices, and the pavilions that house the classrooms and the stables that house the students. In front, in the far north, common facilities are located, mainly the dining room. To the east lies the field of athletics and sports and casino is located west of officers, known as "Siberia", the Chapel and Auditorium.
noteworthy that, despite the perceived slack space inside, the use of public space is conditioned on the ranges occupied by students by level of education attending. No third-year student would dare to pass through the area traditionally corresponds to the fifth.
Buildings severe, stern symmetrical, neoclassical style contrasted with the previous decades and related to the role that welcomed them. 
school auditorium. Orthogonal prism diamond decorated with framing the main entrance. that austerity However, it is possible to find decorative friezes that evoke certain features of pre-Hispanic art and culture.
also shows a strong rhythm and repetition in the cracks and structural elements that contribute to the predominantly horizontal symmetrical composition of buildings.
The main building management, secretarial, administration offices and a small museum dedicated to the hero. The composition of a five-story central tower, from which the volume is set back from the third and second floors. In this way the building achieves an impressive size even though its built area is so vast.
Inside, long corridors are interspersed with shafts of light and the rooms have decorative elements of the season, especially in lamps, planks and ladders.
treatment of wood in floors and walls gives elegance and warmth to the rooms occupied by the officers.
The school also had classrooms, auditoriums, shops, dining, kitchen and Officers Casino area. There is also the sports center, where they made their first steps major national and South American athletes .
Vista Dining Room, also used for dances and social events. The once elegant Casino officials, presented a rhythmic façade decorated with columns and in the back had a prominent semicircular volume housing the stairs. However, when found in the southwest corner of the land and receive directly the impact of sea winds devenía a pretty cool building, particularly in severe winters Lima (the temperature never drops below 10 ° C, but humidity and wind do especially cold). For this reason the building was called "Siberia."
addition to its architectural features, the building seized me by the state of deterioration, as if it had been a fire or bombing. Of course, my host tells me that there has been here and even military training film film, which has contributed to its deterioration. Today only placid pigeons live here, which certainly will miss him when the "Siberia" is demolished.
THE NEW SCHOOL
Unfortunately, this emblematic Peruvian school in recent years came in a remarkable process of deterioration to the point that almost 80% of infrastructure is damaged or uninhabitable. This was due to lack of resources, the corrosive action of sea breeze, inadequate maintenance and the pacification of Peru, a country where for Some years compulsory military service is not as old.
For this reason and as part of a statewide program of rehabilitation of flagship Peruvian schools, the Leoncio Prado this January will be demolished to make way for a modern and functional infrastructure.
The new proposal developed by the group and nglish-Peru Peru SanJosé seek to modernize the school equipping of classrooms, infrastructure and services, but also incorporate features of the old character building, present in the collective memory their authorities and students. I hope to review the new school when completed. 
LRMC having rendered again. 3D Animation
proposal
proposal
Ad BBs replacement, this post is a tribute to a historic and symbolic building, which was an important example of Art Deco architecture and marked Peruvian a time in the lobby of the introduction to the country of the modern movement.
am particularly grateful to Dr. Aleksandar Petrovich, a friend of my Moleskine Architectural establish contacts at a distance, to Col.. EP Marimón Oscar for his gentle company and address during the visit, and the headmaster, Col.. EP José Manuel Qwistgaard and his secretary Ms. Pilar Gomez, for giving bibliographic and documentary information.
Next to Col.. Oscar EP Marimon, the monument of the hero. 
Otarola Along the Mayor, Ms Pilar Gomez and Col.. Oscar EP Marimon 
