FACULTAD DEARQUITECTURAY URBANISMO

Peru is one of the countries that assigns less resour-ces to innovation. Its actual economic growth, mainly product of extractive industries, may suffer an abrupt stop if there’s no innovation on the transformation pro-cess of prime matters. Peru’s competitivity in the world will hardly improve without adding any complexity to its products, without capacitating its producers and without an articulated and efficient educative system.

The Pontifical Catholic University of Peru or PUCP (for its initials in Spanish) School of Architecture and Ur-banism has taken on the challenge of promoting in-novation by making it the subject of its graduation projects (PFC for its Spanish initials) under the spe-cific subject: “Centers of Technological Innovation” (CITE for its Spanish initials), a program created on the year 2000 by the Production Ministry of Peru in or-der to assist small and medium businesses become more competitive through technological innovation.

The main objective was to demonstrate that innova-tive pedagogic proposals can be developed within Peruvian educative institutions, forging close bonds between the academic, the professional and the pro-ductive spheres, oriented to promote the undertake-ment of investments that will allow a socially sustai-nable economic growth for delayed communities.

The projects presented within this book are part of the work carried out during the first two years of the PFC workshop. The PUCP’s School of Architecture and Urba-nism expects that this book may become a contagious and optimistic testimony in order for similar actions to be undertaken and contribute to overcome Peru’s poverty.

Although Peru is a developing country, in the last de-cade it has shown an impressive rate of economic growth based mainly on the strength of its mining sector. Unfortunately, this unprecedented growth has not contributed significantly to the creation of an in-clusive society that can offer equal opportunities to all its members. One of the main reasons for this si-tuation is that public organizations generally mana-ge their resources very poorly. For example, it is of-ten common to see local authorities in different parts of the country promote and finance the design and building of monuments that have no other purpose than to promote the incumbent’s political agenda.

It is precisely in this context that the role of the ar-chitect takes a new meaning. He has to be an agent of positive change, a professional who can help his community achieve a better standard of living. One good way to accomplish this goal is by designing and implementing architectural works that are not only beautiful, comfortable, and efficient but that also contribute directly to enhance the life of the in-habitants of the area where this work will be located.

The architect should be able to find or recognize the optimal conditions (political, economic, cultural and social) in order to conceive the basic idea of a deve-lopment project. Keeping these ideas in mind, I de-veloped the proposed thesis which is basically a stra-tegy to discover prospective development projects.

Therefore, the Center for Technological Innovation for Dairy Industry in Cajamarca is the direct result of the re-search for optimal conditions through which the project was discovered and not chosen. With the know-how that this center will provide, the region will be able to impro-ve the quality and productivity of its dairy industry, a vi-tal effort in our fight against underdevelopment in Peru.

GRADUATION PROJECT: CENTER OF TECH-

NOLOGICAL INNOVATION FOR THE DAIRY

SECTOR IN CAJAMARCA

ARCHITECTURE, PEDAGOGY AND

INNOVATION: GRADUATION PROJECTS.

CENTERS OF TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION

(2010) (2009)

The creation, management, and conservation of urban public areas have always been topics of interest and concern within the architectural discipline. Despite the architectural concern for these issues, it is primarily the responsibility of local governments to ensure that their public areas are appropriately maintained and efficiently managed. In many Latin American cities, as well as in the cities of the so-called developed countries, there is great inequality in the development and maintenance of public areas. Policies regarding the management of public spaces fall last on municipal agendas, complete plans for public spaces have been left aside, and pu-blic construction investments are often only considered in times and places when they are of political interest.

Considering the inefficiency of the local governments, it becomes increasingly vital for the social health of a city to develop new ways in which to participate. Ar-chitects may act as involved members in a commu-nity, using their unique points of view to interpret the dynamics of a city, based on its material components. An architect acting as a SOCIAL LEADER not only constructs tangible objects, but also uses them as ins-truments that CONSTRUCTS SOCIAL PROCESSES.

Jamie Lerner, architect and ex-mayor of the city of Cu-ritiba, develops an interesting concept in his book Ur-ban Acupuncture (2003, published by IAAC). Lerner explains that “urban acupuncture” uses a simple “prick” to revitalize and stimulate ailing and exhausted areas of a city and its surroundings, just as traditional acu-puncture works on human tissue. However, what ha-ppens when the goal is not to heal the “damaged tissue” of a city, but rather to stimulate the growth of the new and fragile developing tissue of a newly settled area? In

these situations, what is needed is a catalyst, a “subs-tance” to accelerate and supplement the developmen-tal process. From this point of view, the “prick” which generates the RE-GENERATING and RE-VITALIZING RE-ACTION is an ineffective prescription, when what is actually needed is a “substance” to accelerate and stimulate the GENERATING and VITALIZING ACTION.

Urban Catalyst is the term that we have coined to define the small interventions that operate on the ACTION field of developing urban tissues. An urban catalyst stimula-tes and transforms an area by constructing an object in response to the analysis and understanding of an area and the existing dynamics within it. For success in this type of intervention, it is important to not only carry out the construction of the OBJECT, but also to do so in a way that includes the SUBJECT. In this sense, PARTI-CIPATION becomes and indispensable component in these initiatives. Only in this way can a material interven-tion, regardless of its esthetic value, have MEANINGFUL VALUE for the subjects who participate in its cons-truction, thus encouraging them to feel ownership and responsibility over the management of the public space.

We decided to take on the challenge of developing a new way in which to participate in the develop-ment of a territory by means of an urban catalyst. Ac-knowledging our ability as architects to act as social leaders, interpreting and creating a city from its ma-terial components, and capable of constructing ma-terial objects with meaningful value from participatory social construction processes, we set out to an ex-perience which led us to the construction of the UR-BAN TRIPTYCH in Pachacutec Citadel (Lima – Perú).

DIRECT ARCHITECTURE:

URBAN TRIPTYCH (Work done in the course URBANISM 6

with the Prof. Manuel de Rivero)

(2007-2008)

Architecture and urbanism are disciplines that involve a high degree of commitment to the society. Architec-tural projects and ideas strongly influence the city in all its facets. In the Peruvian situation, the proposal of an intervention is extremely difficult due to the complexity of our society. According to Elio Martuccelli, Peru is a country built over ruins, where past and present “live together”, generating a historical contrast that along with strong social extremes make our country and Lima, an ancient place, with overlapping processes and violent changes in its structure (Martuccelli 2000:13)

This complexity is paradoxical to the little useful infor-mation available pertaining to our society. The socio-logist Julio Mejía Navarrete states that the hegemony of the studies that develop data classification and des-criptive studies of specific social issues does not help us to understand the sociology as capable of unders-tanding and explaining the modes of organization and changes in the Peruvian society (Navarrete 2002: 11).

The urban imaginaries topic has not been studied in depth in Peru, therefore it is important to conduct re-search about it. The use of mixed methodological approaches and the increasing importance that the qualitative variables are achieving give us an overview of how important it is to pay attention to the subjectivi-ties inherent in culture and society. Thus, the study of the urban imaginaries of Limas habitants becomes an important tool for proposing and designing Limas areas.

Furthermore, given the importance that architects and planners have in transforming the city, it is important to have a self-assessment with quantitative and qualitati-ve variables. Keeping this in mind, the urban imagina-ries of groups of students that are ending their studies in architecture are studied. This is very important as it will obtain not only quantitative and rational information that will aid in the understanding of the city, but also information about the way in which architecture stu-dents imagine the city, think about it, use it and dream it. Therefore, some important factors that will have a big influence in the way that the city will be designed.

This research uses as theoretical framework done by Armando Silva in his reflections and analysis of what he calls urban imaginaries.

For this purpose, a questionnaire with open questions about urban imaginaries was created, based on the consulted literature. The questionnaire was taken by two groups on the same day and was then processed using methods of qualitative analysis. The trends were discussed with students from two faculties, who were selected for the purpose of measuring their levels of approximation. Thus, the results make evident and illus-trate the contrasts of the differences between the views of two groups of students regarding the city of Lima. The students were ending their degrees with the faculties of architecture from the National University of Enginee-ring and from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru.

URBAN IMAGINARIES IN LIMA:

¿HOW DO ARCHITECTURE STUDENTS

PERCEIVE AND IMAGINE THE CITY?

(2007)

more than seven hundred and ninety thousand soles a year, while providing valuable jobs for local population.

And what is the role of architecture in this context? When thinking about architecture, it is believed to be essentially the aesthetics of buildings, the art of buil-ding beach houses, shopping malls, restaurant, etc. However, it is much more than that; architecture is meant to contribute effectively in the development of a city, a community or a town. It not only takes care of tectonic, aesthetic, formal and functional factors, but also of social, economic, environmental, and cultural and even historical and psychological matters. In the concrete case of mining royalties, the funds are used almost exclusively for works of infrastructure, such as building roads, bridges, electrification and drainage (which are necessary, of course). However, our country also needs to improve its infrastructure in the sectors of education, health, housing, industry, and improve its ur-ban development, which are fields that concern directly to architecture and in which the architects or architec-ture students can make many significant contributions.

Therefore, I consider that this situation is a direct call not only to the College of Architects, the faculties of Architecture, architects and architecture students, but also to faculties and professional colleges of other spe-cialties, to get involved in the elaboration of proposal projects of interdisciplinary development for regional or local governments that benefit from the mining fee.

noticias pucp

Año 2 N0 42 / Perú

Del 1 al 7 de mayo del 2006

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PUCP / www.pucp.edu.pe

INFORMEConoce las actividades del Grupo Demos, conformado por alumnas de Educación de la PUCP.

TEATROEl TUC presenta la obra Palmadas y Palmazos.

Ejemplos. Notables figuras inspiran el concepto de cultura de paz, introducido en la PUCP por el Padre Mac Gregor. [ILUSTRACIÓN: GABRIEL ALAYZA ]

eduLa Católica en 16.156 palabras

suplemento

BUENA GENTE: Historiador español Manuel de Lara Ródenas explica las diferencias entre la concepción de la muerte en la actualidad y en el Barroco.

“Hoy se hurta al individuo el conocimiento sobre su propia muerte”

NOTICIAS: Hasta el 10 de mayo tienen plazo los investigadores en ciencia y tecnología de nuestra Universidad para presentar sus propuestas en la Dirección Académica de Investigación.

La DAI recibe proyectos para concursos de CONCYTEC

Cultura de paz

Who has not heard so many times that in Peru there is no money to work on projects? Or that, while there are many good projects for development, there are not enough funds for their implementation? It only takes ob-serving the figures of mining royalties (the constitutio-nal right that allows local governments to participate in a percentage of revenue and income received by the State for the exploitation of their resources under their jurisdiction) to notice that reality can be seen in a diffe-rent way: annual revenue generated by the fee has risen from S/.462 million in 2000 to S/.1.732 million in 2005, in other words it has almost quadrupled in five years. This strong economic growth has outstripped the capacity of action of many local and regional governments, which have not known what to do with this money. For exam-ple, we have high five-story city halls with tinted windows in locations where more than 85% of the population has no electricity or drainage, or investment of four hundred thousand soles in a modern bullring, sports concrete fields, plazas and pools, and only three thousand soles investments in the expansion of health centers. Viewed this way, the fundamental problem is not the lack of mo-ney, but the lack of good public investment projects.

Fortunately there are also good examples: an example of efficient resource management of the mining fee is the one given by the district of Independencia, within the Ancash region. The city council developed an Integral Project of Environmental Management of Solid Waste, with which it has not only managed to reduce pollution, but also commercialize 6.6 tons of compost (inorganic fertilizer) and 3.6 tons of humus (organic fertilizer) per day, as well as to segregate and market overseas 1.5 tons per day of inorganic recyclable waste, meaning it exports waste to China. This will generate revenues of

ARE WE SHORT OF MONEY TO CARRY OUT

PROJECTS? WHAT WE ARE SHORT OF ARE

PROJECTS!

(2006)

On June 2004, the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru or PUCP (for its initials in Spanish engaged the challenge of developing the project for a Community Center on a 1000 sq. meter lot, ceded by the local government to the Catholic Charismatic Renewal or RCC (for its initials in Spanish) and located at the Maria Milagros Urbanization in Pisco. The Social and University Extension Projection Academic Direction (DAP-SEU for its initials in Spanish) was given the assignment of coordinating the process.

Since Pisco does not currently posses a community center providing social services, the project will influen-ce a greater population, therefore introducing a new flow of people from outside the neighborhood. It must therefore generate new urban dynamics around commerce, recreation and complimentary servi-ces, not only because of the programmatic condi-tions buy because of its privileged location in front of a 3,000 sq. meter lot destined to become a park. In-tegrating the community’s interests with those of the Community Center was then crucial for avoiding futu-re interest conflicts and thus facilitating neighborho-od organization. As a consequence, it became clear

that the project should be handled as a public space rather than as a public building and so it was desig-ned through a community work participation process.

Participative work with the RCC and the community carried on from August 2004 to March 2005. A series of dynamics were elaborated (which included ques-tionnaires, drawings, SWOT method and the crea-tion of model-toys) in order to identify their needs and desires, develop a program and design conjointly the building and the park’s spatial structure. It was important to develop a community vision of the public space that made it possible to create a space of social significance, identity, tolerance and citizenship.

As a result of the collaboration in between the PUCP and the RCC, an agreement that gives the pro-ject a legal frame and formalizes the compromi-ses assumed by both parties was reached. The project is currently on the fundraising process.

COMMUNITY CENTER

MARIA MILAGROS

URBANIZATION, PISCO(With M. Ballen, M. Leguía, E. Añaños and R. Aguirre)

(2005)