Urban modernization and heritage in the historic centre of Santiago de Chile (1818–1939)

ABSTRACT

Architecture and urban heritage have been decisive in the modernization of the historical centre of Santiago de Chile. As early as the first half of the nineteenth century they added value to this area of the capital. Public authorities, with the support of regulations, identified valuable urban heritage, incorporating it into urban transformations. For various practical or historical reasons, buildings and public spaces were preserved and eventually reused, giving birth to a renewed idea of planning, which took advantage of this existing heritage. The incorporation of new typologies into the colonial urban fabric, together with the conservation of traditional buildings and public spaces, produced memorable places, both in the republican and modern city. They enriched the urban practices and the city landscapes, offering a valuable continuity with the colonial and republican past. The integration of old and new stimulated the emergence of an urbanism of quality. This article focuses on three specific moments of that peculiar modernization process: the consolidation of the original colonial grid (1818–1846), Vicuña Mackenna’s Transformation Plan (1872–1875) and Santiago's first official Urbanization Plan (1939).

KEYWORDS:

• Santiago de Chile
• modernization processes
• heritage
• historic centre

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Eugenio Garcés Feliú is an architect from Universidad de Chile (1973), he obtained Doctor of Architecture from Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura, Barcelona (1987). He is professor at the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Urban Studies, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (UC). He is also Scientific Director for the project M2020, to celebrate the 500 years of the discovery of the Magellan Strait, in 2020. In 2014, he was the Project Director for DESE UC, of the ‘Strategic Urban Plans for Towns of Puerto Williams, Puerto Eden and Pampa Guanaco, Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica’, convened by the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP. He was Project Director for CORFO INNOVA UC: ‘Special Interest Tourism Development. Cultural Routes in Tierra del Fuego’, 2009–2011.

José Rosas Vera obtained hisarchitect and Master in Urban and Regional Planning from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (UC). He obtained his Doctor of Architecture from Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura, Barcelona (1986). He is head of the School of Architecture UC (1997–2000) and Head of the School of Architecture ‘Carlos Raúl Villanueva’, Universidad Central de Venezuela (2000–2002). He also served as Chair of the Master in Architecture of the UCV, Director in External Projects in Faculty of Architecture, UC. Partner of Makowski & Rosas architecture office. Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Urban Studies 2005–2012, Director of Heritage Center UC, 2013–2016. Recently he has been designated as the Chair of the PhD in Architecture and Urban Studies, UC.

Elvira Pérez Villalón is architect from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (UC) 2003. She studied Diploma in Arts, mention Photography, UC 2004. Obtained her Master Architettura from Storia Progetto, Universitá degli Studi Roma Tre 2009. She also has a Diploma in Documentation and Management of Chilean Heritage, Heritage Centre, UC 2009 and doctor in Architecture and Urban Studies, UC 2016. She was Assistant Director of the School of Architecture 2003–2005 and Coordinator of Academic Affairs of the Faculty of Architecture UC 2005–2009. She has worked as an academic at the School of Architecture UC since 2007. She is also Chair of the Master in Cultural Heritage UC.

Juan Camilo Pardo de Castro is Architect from Universidad Piloto de Colombia and Master in Urban Development from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (UC). He was adjunct assistant professor at the School of Architecture at the same university. He worked for 10 years as vice principal and coordinator of the Cultural Heritage Center UC and he was a representative member of the UC in the Commission of Architectural and Urban Heritage at the National Monuments Council as Expert Advisor, and Latin American coordinator of the International Red Alvar.

Notes

1 Habermas, El discurso filosófico de la modernidad, 12.

2 Almandoz, Modernización urbana en América Latina.

3 Jocelyn-Holt, La Independencia de Chile, 153.

4 See ‘primary elements’ in Rossi, The Architecture of the City.

5 Vicuña Mackenna, La transformación de Santiago.

6 Martínez, Santiago de Chile.

7 De Ovalle, Histórica Relación del Reino de Chile, 176.

8 León Echaiz, Historia de Santiago, Tomo II, La República, 71.

9 León Echaiz, Historia de Santiago, Tomo I, La Colonia, 28.

10 Rosas and Pérez, “De la ciudad cerrada de los conventos a la ciudad abierta de los espacios públicos,” 97–119.

11 Ibid.

12 Parcerisa and Rosas, El Canon Republicano y la Distancia Cinco Mil.

13 Fernando Pérez, in Parcerisa and Rosas, El Canon Republicano y la Distancia Cinco Mil.

14 Rosas and Pérez, “La Manzana de la Catedral en el Desarrollo de la Ciudad de Santiago,” 16–21.

15 De Ramón, Obra y fe. La catedral de Santiago 1541–1769.

16 Lizana, Colección de Documentos Históricos recopilados del Archivo Arzobispal de Santiago, 516.

17 Ibarra and Barrientos, “La manzana de la Catedral en Santiago de Chile,” 92.

18 A protected zone, called ‘typical zone’, is the name given by the Council of National Monuments (CMN).

19 Diario Oficial N° 9493, Ley de Transformación de Santiago N° 2203.

20 Vicuña Mackenna. La transformación de Santiago.

21 Pérez and Rosas, “Cities Within the City.”

22 Ignacia Valdés, “¿Obstáculo o factor de desarrollo?”

23 Strabucchi et al., “El plano detallado de Santiago de Alejandro Bertrand (1889–1890).”

24 Ibarra, “Hygiene and Public Health in Santiago de Chile’s Urban Agenda.”

25 Vicuña Mackenna, Álbum del Santa Lucía.

26 Rosas et al., “The Official Urbanization Plan for the City of Santiago from 1939.”

27 Brunner, Santiago de Chile.

28 Brunner, Santiago de Chile, 7.

29 Brunner, Santiago de Chile, 16–17.

30 Guarda, El arquitecto de la Moneda, Joaquín Toesca, 1752–1799, 196.

31 Guarda, El arquitecto de la Moneda, Joaquín Toesca, 1752–1799, 198.

32 Rosas and Silva, Una nueva escala en el orden urbano de la ciudad de cuadras.

33 Gurovic, “La solitaria estrella.”

34 Gay, Atlas de la Historia Física y Política de Chile.

35 Ernesto Ansart, 1875. Colecciones Biblioteca Nacional de Chile. (www.archivovisual.cl).

36 Boloña, Álbum de planos de las principales ciudades y puertos de Chile.

37 FONDECYT project N° 1085253. “Santiago 1910.”

38 Schoonjans and Van Sande: “Observing the Materiality,” 17.

39 Figueroa, Mensaje presentado al H. Consejo de Estado sobre conservación de monumentos históricos.

40 De la Cerda, “Diagnóstico y proceso de modificación de la Ley 17.288 de Monumentos Nacionales de Chile.”

41 Ettinger and Iracheta, Hacia la sustentabilidad en barrios y centros históricos.

42 Giménez and Ugarte, Hacia una Nueva Política Urbana para Chile.

43 Vicuña, Construcción de Sistema de Indicadores y Estándares del Desarrollo Urbano en Chile.

Additional information

Funding

The authors acknowledge the support provided by: Centre for Sustainable Urban Development (CEDEUS), funded by CONICYT. FONDAP Project N° 15110020; Fondo de Financiamiento de Centros de Investigación en Áreas Prioritarias (FONDAP) Project N° 110481: One city, two cathedrals. Changes in the cathedral of Santiago and the process of urban modernization of the late colonial period: 1730–1800; and FONDECYT Project N° 1141084: Santiago 1939. The idea of ‘modern city’ in Karl Brunner and the Official Plan of Construction of Santiago in its 50 years of existence.