Community building from the resignification of places of worship. A proposal for the urban fringes in Latin America

Abstract

The urban fringes of Latin American cities are the result of the accelerated growth that entails the formation of new settlements, that do not meet the basic needs of their inhabitants, and where the facilities have lost their meaning as a space to build the social and urban fabric. Starting from this problem, this text addresses the development of a place of worship that incorporates the concept of device as a piece of social articulation. The proposal starts from the analysis and diagnosis of the area and proposes two intervention scales under the “option generator model” (Carvajalino-Bayona, 1985) framework. The first consists of the improvement of the neighborhood in its main urban structures, while the second consists of the development of the architectural project that integrates worship activities with the dynamics of the neighborhood, from a multifunctional perspective. In this sense, urban relationships are strengthened, but at the same time, give continuity to the reflection raised from the design, where the participatory process is an opportunity to build dialogue and social fabric between the players involved, which in this case are part of communities in conditions of vulnerability.