2023-07-16 08:23:00
The elevator will connect the formal city with the informal one for purposes of integration and social inclusion, among other objectives agreed upon by members of San Martín de los Andes.
San Martín de los Andes will have a public elevator that will connect the downtown area with the Cantera neighborhoodan informal settlement where hundreds of families have lived since the 1950s. It is located on the same hillside as the semi-abandoned ex-hotel Sol.
Although there are some works of this type in Latin America, in Argentina they are rather rare. The one designed for this city bears some resemblance to those that have been in operation for decades in Valparaíso, Chile.
In this way, from urbanism and with social and cultural policies of the local State, an attempt is made to overcome communication difficulties and the social and physical barrier between the valley (downtown) and the hillsides (informal neighborhoods).raise from the commune.
For this reason -and to improve pedestrian accessibility to the Cantera neighborhood- it was thought to implement a vertical public circulation as a communication tool that serves to “connect” the formal city with the informal one.
This is how you will get to the entrance of the public elevator.
It is worth remembering that San Martín de los Andes develops in a glacial valley that has mountains as geographical “limits” on the sides and Lake Lácar towards one end. Through the gentrification process, the urban footprint formally grew longitudinally along the side of Route 40 and informally towards the mountains that flank the historic downtown area of the city.
Views to the slopes
In this context, and at the request of the Neuquén Provincial Institute of Housing and Urbanism, the “IAG Arquitectos” studio designed an elevator core with a capacity for 20 people and a staircase with views from the hillside towards the city.
The elevator’s strategic location, on “Calle 3”, a few meters from the main access artery to the city, will act as a link between two sectors, bridging a 23-meter drop. Said intervention includes the area from Koessler avenue to the neighborhood headquarters and its main objective is the linking of these levels.
The members of the architecture studio «IAG» Adrián Ibarroule, Oscar Aprea and Gustavo Gradel They explained the design and purpose of this work to “Río Negro”. Also participate in this project Martin Leporace; Santiago Alvarez Claramunt in structural engineering and Cristian Wonham in electrical engineering.
“In order for the project to promote its appropriation by habitual residents as well as visitors, it was necessary to rethink the lower access. From the city, a linear square is proposed with a treatment of flooring at the cordon level and the incorporation of a roundabout, in such a way that vehicles can return to the main avenue”, they commented.
Throughout this section, the maximum vehicular speed allowed will be 20 km, thus prioritizing the mobility of pedestrians. The limit between street and sidewalk will be blurred and contained by flower beds, benches, bollards and elements of urban equipment that contribute to the ordering and good use of the proposed public space.
The vertical core, located at the end of Calle 3, where the street meets the mountain, is accessed through a semi-covered shield at level 0.00.
The next stop is at the shield located at level +22.20 from which you enter the walkway that connects to the north side, where the public viewpoint is located with wide views of the city and Lake Lácar. Towards the south side it leads to a walkway that links the vertical core with the semi-covered public square, located meters from the Cantera neighborhood headquarters.
A plaza and a multipurpose room
These two spaces -semi-covered plaza and multipurpose room- are in turn connected by a staircase and ramp in such a way that they can complement their uses, allowing these areas to become true social connectors, where “work, sports and fun.”
From the neighborhood, more precisely from the neighborhood office, a completely “flat” space of 48 mx 11.50 m is proposed, in contrast to the existing topography of steep slopes, which is gradually configured: square with urban equipment, sectors of games for children, semi-covered space, stairs and ramp to the room for public uses and access to the walkway, circulation to the elevator and viewpoint.
The upper part will have spaces for social interaction and to continue enjoying the natural environment.
social spaces
The semi-covered structure extends like a gallery along the square, preserving and framing the perspectives towards the valley without building limits. Its objective is to provide the Cantera neighborhood with spaces for social, cultural, sports uses, weekly fairs, games and activities for children and also to articulate the population of both sectors of the city.
The contrast between the horizontality of the urban commons and the vertical landmark represented by the elevator and stairwell core is also accentuated in materiality, the horizontal walkway being a metallic and lightweight element as opposed to the vertical core of concrete and WPC slats, washed stone and covered with wood and veneer.
The choice of these materials, in addition to their availability and adaptation to the area, suggests zero maintenance and easy installation, even allowing the inhabitants of the neighborhood to participate in the construction.
“In this way, an element of social appropriation is proposed, which can generate in the population a feeling of rootedness and public care. Thus, an urban element emerges that gives the Cantera neighborhood in particular and the rest of the city in general an identity. A landmark that will function as a link and as a point of tourist interest”, concluded the members of “IAG Arquitectos”.
This work also proposes cooperative and community management in the management and administration of the elevator.
For the next month it is estimated the signing of the execution agreement between IPVU in its capacity as Executing Unit and SISU (Secretariat for Socio-Urban Integration) and is financed by FISU (int socio urb fund) constituted with the solidarity and extraordinary contributions of great fortunes.
“This work, which is part of the strategy to improve neighborhood accessibility and linkage with the city, joins other priorities for drinking water and storm protection, defined in the More Sustainable and Participatory Quarry Master Plan”, framed those responsible for IPVU.
“The cities we design then shape our lives. That is, a dialectical relationship between human beings and cities is corroborated. We design them and then we build them. And once we live in them our existence changes. This idea of the new urbanism is well confirmed in this Neuquén mountain range project.
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