This project is located in Cartagena, Chile, a seaside city that was of great importance during the 20th century. Its proximity to Santiago and affordable prices make it a popular destination for mass tourism today. The population during the summer swells disproportionately, multiplying the winter population by 30. This situation has triggered rapid urban growth, posing a serious threat to natural spaces and historical heritage.
This tourism model entails a continuous demand for land and resources. The more environmental degradation and impact occur, the more exploitation is necessary to sustain tourist demand. .
This leads to a contradictory situation where a significant amount of heritage architecture is abandoned, while the ongoing need for space encroaches upon and deteriorates the few remaining natural areas. However, this contradiction also presents an opportunity for intervention. It is possible to reverse the invasion of natural spaces through the proper management of architectural heritage.
The intervention area for the proposal is a boundary point between various situations, where different conditions overlap. It becomes an intermediary point among the three existing open spaces, aiming to create a fourth node that facilitates the flow of activities between the tourist area and the underutilized residential neighborhood.
The intervention consists of two buildings that blend into the existing landscape and aim to function as a center for developing a new model of land use:
The production center is intended to become a building capable of creating architectures, encouraging user initiative to explore new avenues of open design, ultimately becoming a driving force for community production.
The HUB Hotel proposes a new form of non-seasonal tourism where visitors combine leisure and work, integrating with the community through the hotel's public spaces. The hotel program can be combined with residential use, enabling direct interaction between visitors and local residents.
