Master Thesis - Janpuy Ayllu (Quechua, translated into English: "Back to the Roots")

Hochschule Bremen - School of Architecture Bremen

Bremen/Germany (2014),

Highest Academic Achievement - Best Master Thesis 2014

Isabel Carrera, © all rights reserved

 

Quito, the capital of Ecuador, is one of the highest located cities in the world surrounded by fourteen volcanoes and situated in a beautiful valley that is almost sixty kilometers long but only up to eight kilometers wide.

 

In February 2013 the Quito airport, that was considered one of the most dangerous airports worldwide, moved out of the city and left a gigantic open space that was tendered in 2008 to an open urban and architectural competition. The first prize competition winner was the ecuadorian architect Ernesto Bilbao and his team. They achieved to win against many worldwide competitors and developed an interesting proposal for the former airport.

 

Unfortunately due to political and economic decisions the project was put on hold and wasn´t set as expected until today. But without any expectations and without knowing what is going to happen with this gigantic area the government renamed the former airport to "Parque Bicentenario" and opened its doors in order to grant a new urban space for the citizens.

 

The idea of leaving the former airport as it is without any urban proposals in a time when Quito is growing as a city was not the best decision the government took. Quito went through an uncontrolled and non-sustainable construction boom in the past eight years and unfortunately lost even more it´s identity in terms of urbanism and architecture. The short-term perspective of the city development and it´s fast growth is bounded to countless construction companies that invested massively in buildings all around the city, missing every aspect of urban live, architecture, sustainability, neighborhood-relationships, traditions, mobility and public spaces. Only a few urban-oriented architects and investors developed interesting projects through the last years.

 

That´s why rethinking the "Parque Bicentenario" as part of the city, that is located close to the heart of one of the most important colonial city centers worldwide, was the assumed task for my master thesis. After travelling to Quito and accomplishing a detailed research I managed to understand the city in different scales. The history, the morphology, the architecture, the traditions, the traffic-development, the topography, the culture, the nature and the people - all were important points to develop a concept or an idea that could restore and revalue the city.

 

The main focus was pointed into three different areas after researching and interviewing neighbors that claimed for: living spaces, green spaces and the reduction of traffic. This was the lead to start developing the project.

The location has a high potential for an urbanistic rearrangement that should unify the design, landscape and leisure space planning. The idea is to create a place to communicate, integrating the community, a place that deals with the citizens and serves as a recreational spot, connecting districts beyond the airport area.

 

The developed district was awarely named "Janpuy Allyu" (Quechua to English: back to the roots) picking up historical elements of architecture, urbanism, topography and social traditions, improving them in order to rebuild the city. The new district is divided into five quarters with eight different urban zones. Important urban elements where reconsidered like having enough green spaces connected to residential areas and developing exterior and interior meeting points in business areas. Mixed-use buildings where planned as well, associated with people´s needs and adapted to every quarter.

 

The creation of wide pedestrian zones and enough bike paths were designed to reduce vehicle traffic. But also the expansion and connection of main streets to the street circuit had to be developed in order to avoid traffic jams. Green spaces are fundamentally needed in Quito so that many parks were created offering recreational areas, sport grounds and nature as it best.

 

The idea is going back to the roots but in a sustainable way, thinking further and adapting to society in order to develop good architecture and enough urban spaces for a modern and versatile city.