“Countering climate change requires immediate social, political, and economic rethinking.”
“ It is vital to think and design, adjusting the definition of architecture in pursuit of sustainable living. “
THE MUNICIPAL BUILDING AS A DETONATING PIECE IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Of hyper densification and deterioration in the public infrastructure of Estación Central
In the last decade, a series of political, regulatory, and economic conditions have led to an increase in the development of high-rise and high-density real estate projects in the commune of Estación Central, the “vertical ghettos”. Poor public management together with the uncontrolled hyper-densification of the land brought negative consequences: an obsolete and disjointed public space and infrastructure, the absence of green spaces, and an absence of recreational and social programs, thus generating a low quality of life for its inhabitants. Within the cases of the public infrastructure of the commune, the Estación Central Municipality Building, designed and built during the second half of the last century, has a technological and programmatic obsolescence that reflects the daily problems of the inhabitants.
Fully fenced around its perimeter by a fence, surrounded on one side by parking lots overcrowded with cars and with labyrinthine and fragmented interior spaces that hinder communication and workflow between the different departments, the maximum capacity that the building has is not used, making it in a place with little permanence and not perceived as a space at the service of the neighbors. Programmatic deterioration and obsolescence can also be seen in the inefficient use of energy and inconsistency with the need for and use of environmentally friendly sources. In winter, the solid and impenetrable north façade makes spaces cold and with little natural light, increasing heating problems. In summer, the same façade and metal roof prevent air renewal, generating a concentration effect of high temperatures, making the use of fans necessary.
Likewise, the only green area in the place is the front garden covered with grass, being a little conscious of the use of water and not projecting any shade for the hottest days. We understand the physical and technological renovation of the infrastructure of the Municipality of Estación Central as an opportunity to transform it into public support within the commune, programmatically promoting its closest interior and exterior, opening its doors to both its officials and neighbors. promoting and strengthening the identity and service to the community.
An efficient, articulating, comfortable, and green public building
The site to place a municipal building should be understood as a possibility to actively participate in the commune, due to the current characteristics of the location where the Municipality of Estación Central is located, it is proposed to provide this public space with a new municipal program that managed to define the programmatic role of the founded space. Focused on the recovery of the surroundings of the Municipality, as an urban strategy it is proposed to generate sustainable public axes that incorporate renewable energies, green areas, and recycling points, both at a pedestrian and vehicular level, opening the way to articulate a fragmented network today.
The axis of Avenida Libertador Bernardo O’Higgins is reorganized with a restructuring of the public transport routes, and in turn, the existing bike path on the axis of General Velásquez Avenue is rehabilitated and expanded. To strengthen the area as an articulating landmark within the commune, a sports area for social integration is projected on the existing site in front of the building that seeks to promote recreational programs. Accompanying these actions with a green landscape designed with species with low water consumption, provide shade and color to today’s delimited and disjointed spaces in the city. As well as the use of photovoltaic panels on the roofs of high-rise buildings, to supply renewable energy to the commune. On the other hand, the municipal building presents a quality physical infrastructure, but is obsolete, which needs to be energetically reconditioned according to new standards of thermal, lighting, and ventilation comfort that facilitate municipal processes. We imagine the intervention project as a programmatic, environmental, technological, and energy renewal, which is fully transformed and understood as a new open urban piece that seeks to activate throughout the year as a civic, communal, neighborhood, and multi-use platform.
For the reconversion, adaptation, and programmatic enrichment of the Municipality of Estación Central, its circulations and office areas are reorganized, allowing the projection of new spaces such as a large central public void, urban gardens, and multifunctional and cultural spaces.
