Reclaiming the city centre

Reclaiming the city centre is the theme of an academic research project that aims to make the city centre an attractive place to live together, as a response to the challenges of globalisation, climate change and neoliberal policies. The case study to be presented in this seminar is the Bellas Artes quarter of Santiago de Chile, located at the confluence of the Mapocho River, the San Cristobal Hill and the Alameda, Santiago's main east-west thoroughfare. The grid layout of this sector resulted in square blocks of about 110-120 m on each side, according to the traditional model of Hispanic urban planning in America. During the 20th century, the typical colonial courtyard house of these blocks was replaced by multi-storey buildings in a European style and, more recently, by high-rise buildings that broke with the previous uniformity. Under these premises, we will present an analysis of several blocks in the centre of Santiago, studied on the basis of three issues: morphology, historic development and daily life. This is a collective work carried out by Chilean architecture students who, in addition to being initiated into research, learn the techniques of representation, value the city in which they live and, finally, assess the complex variables involved in contemporary design.

Bio
Ismael Amarouch García (Casablanca, 1983). PhD (Summa Cum Laude and International Mention) in Advanced Architectural Design (2023), from the Higher Technical School of Architecture of Madrid (ETSAM). First prize ‘Renove Fuencarral’ in national architecture competition (COAM, 2015). Lecturer in Architectural Design (ETSAM), between 2015 and 2020. Collaborator in the research notebooks ‘14 Km’, and the book ‘Collective Housing and Climate in Spain’. Fellow of the Collective Housing Research Group (GIVCO, 2018), and the Master in Collective Housing (MCH, 2019). PhD stay at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm (KTH, 2022). Author of more than ten articles in peer-reviewed journals, international presentations and thematic lecture series on architecture. Co-author of the book ‘Madrid Guide, with unpublished works of architecture’ (Conarquitectura, 2023). He is currently a full-time lecturer and researcher at the Finis Terrae University in Santiago de Chile (FAD-UFT), working on forthcoming publications oriented towards a revaluation of cities based on the principle of transnational community life.