PANDEMIC PROPOSAL FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND GROWTH OF THE CITY-CENTER OF QUITO, ECUADOR BY THE YEARS OF 2025, 2050 AND 2075.
Propuesta de pandemia para el desarrollo y crecimiento del centro de la ciudad de Quito, Ecuador, para el 2025,2050 y 2075.
Group Leader: Alejandro Arias
Collab: Daniel Merchan, Dagui Benalcazar, Santiago Ruiz, Josueth Kasli
Work for / Trabajo para: London Design Biennale 2020
ABSTRACT FOR THE LONDON DESIGN BIENNALE AND RETRIEVED FROM: https://sites.google.com/view/reimaginingquito/about
Reimagining Quito, a Latin American city: a post pandemic environmental proposal
Architecture and urbanism play a significant role in urban production, development and growth. However, its actual lack of innovation and implementation contributes to the current planetary crisis defined by climate change, epidemics, inequality, hunger, etc. Revealing and exploring the relationship between crisis and architecture/urbanism is the first step in discovering the ethical role, responsibility and responsiveness of architecture and urbanism as part of a future solution for the city in crisis. Therefore, this project aims to examine and explore what changes are necessary in both the education and practice of architecture and urban planning to generate possible solutions while ensuring quality of life and safety for its inhabitants.
2020 is the year marked by Covid-19. What will happen if the virus does not remain endemic and evolves aggressively? A new health and economic meltdown will be ahead of us. Individuals may resist another lockdown driven by fear and uncertainty; nonetheless, we need to consider that almost 50% of the world’s population dwells in unsuitable spaces that provide neither long term life quality nor security.
Architecture has countered towards previous pandemics throughout history. After the spread of cholera and tuberculosis in the 19th century and the Spanish flu in 1918, modern architecture refined the living area, creating simple pristine spaces that assured light and natural air. After Covid-19, architects will most likely design smaller spaces, bearing in mind social distancing and antibacterial materials. However, these designs will prospectively be developed in first world countries.
Taking Ecuador as case scenario in Latin America, one of the most affected areas by the pandemic and economic crisis, its future recovery will require a substantial amount of resources and time. Hence, the forthcoming of the Latin-American city entails reimagining living spaces that guaranty safety and stimulate productivity. Therefore, practicality is the main feature for designing a living space. The building and city as a whole, act as an autonomous living organism based on collective work. Local scale systems of recollection and processing of water, electricity and food production are fundamental aspects to provide high quality life.
Architecture is a suitable tool for progress that envisions the future. A thoughtful contextual study in Quito -a prototype Andean city- will be developed to recognize its post pandemic state. This project explores possible architectural, typological and urban scenarios that assure resilient living spaces in a post Covid-19 Latin American city, based on analytical drawings and videos that focus on the living space and the city.
