Análisis urbano-arquitectónico basado en criterios modernos de la ciudadela La Granja, Quito-Ecuador

Abstract

Faced with the accelerated expansion of cities towards the periphery and the incessant proliferation of urbanizations that fragment the city, this research analyzes the citadel La Granja (1975) as a project that integrates the cell of inhabiting into the urban grid, and that brings together modern attributes that provide quality to the project that, after 50 years of its construction, It is a benchmark of quality with respect to the role of housing in the construction of the city. The research has an exploratory scope and a mixed methodology, where literature review, redrawing, comparative analysis and interviews were the main methodological tools. The study encompasses the theoretical approach to modernity, principles of modern urbanism and attributes of the modern form; as well as the political, social and economic background of the case study and the city of Quito. The comparative analysis at the urban level is carried out between the original project and the built one. On an architectural level, 5 types of housing that were built respecting the original planning are analyzed. At the urban level, the main findings show that, in the original project of La Granja, the same urban principles of the Regulatory Plan of Quito (1942) are found and, although it was not fully materialized due to external factors (political and economic), these principles remain in force. On the other hand, the analysis of the living cells shows that the attributes of the modern form, present in the buildings, endow the complex with identity and functional, visual and constructive consistency, obtaining as a result a project of exceptional value that has transcended time.