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Remodeling Republic

Santiago De Chile, Chile
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The Remodeling Republic is a modernistic architectural complex in Santiago de Chile. It consist of two apartment blocks connected with a commercial platform. It was conceived by the Government of Chile being the first residential complex built under the urban renewal grant in Santiago, giving the initial kick to the renovation of the historical center of Santiago de Chile.

Architectural Design

The building complex consists of the union of three ex-apples type checkerboard, obtaining a land in the form of "L" of 12,366 m2 on which are placed two blocks of departments of 80 meters long by 42 meters of high with North-South orientation. Each has 141 apartments. Originally the building had 9,215 m2 of green areas, however, these have been reduced to give place for parking. The internal layout of one block is defined by triplex departments (three-story high) that have east-west orientation with balconies.

The objective of the Renovation Plan of the Old Town of the city of Santiago was to solve the growing demand for housing caused by the strong and fast process of settlement in Santiago , due to factors of high birth rate and low infant mortality (Chile grew from 6,000. 000 ha to 9,000,000 ha between 1956 and 1966) in addition to the process of migration from the countryside to the city of the mid- twentieth century. To initiate the execution of this plan, a public competition by the Housing Corporation for a housing complex in Barrio Republica was open. This part represents an old aristocratic sector of Santiago that suffered from the migration in the 1920s and 1930s. It was intended to increase from 150 to 1000 inhabitants per m2 to a sector of two and a half blocks, consolidating it in the form of a super block. In response to this contest, several proposals were born by three architects' offices, winning the architects Vicente Bruna Camus, Victor Calvo Barros, Jaime Perelman Ide and Orlando Sepulveda Mellado.

Once completed, the buildings radically changed the life of the sector, characterized by houses of no more than 3 floors, and revolutionizing the building in height that, at that time, was characterized by continuous facades of no more than 7 stories high. At present, the buildings are in an acceptable state of interior conservation. However, its exterior is in regular aesthetic conditions, due to the Chile earthquake of 2010 and the reconversion of green areas to parking lots. In addition, its integration with the neighborhood does not go beyond the commercial premises.

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bostjan, October 10th, 2017
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