Community service center in el carpintero slum

1st Front Phase in El Carpintero Slum, Petare Sur.

Caracas, Venezuela. 2002.

Caracas has a complex natural topography that is simultaneously an attraction and a major source of conflicts.  The uncontrolled growth of the capital is aggravated by the city’s geographical challenges, creating a difficult, complex, and highly contrasting environment.

The steeply sloped terrains, originally thought not to be developable, turned out to be coveted locations for the city’s anarchic land invasions.

Due to lack of available land for building facilities, and to take maximum advantage of vacant lots, the first work phase of U.D.U.8.2 El Carpintero, in Petare Sur, is a building for mixed uses:  medical dispensary, commercial offices, preschool and library.  Together with the second-phase work, this effort will provide an urban facilities center for outreach to the area.

Recognizing the deficiencies of this terrain with respect to roads and thus access to the properties, the building establishes a public, pedestrian connection between two streets that are at very different levels.  Thus the building not only reinforces the community’s facilities but also contributes to its collective and recreational space.

Architecture:

Arch. Ana Lasala

Arch. Isabel Lasala

Collaborators:

Arch. Jennifer Pérez

Project Management:

Eng. Luciano Basianni

Arch. Eleazar Parra

Arch. Yudmar Reyes

Structure:

Eng. Erasmo Galavís

Hydraulics:

Eng. pedro Alam

Geology and Geotechnical Engineering:

Eng. Alfredo D'Otavi

Roads:

Eng. Oscar Anzola

Electrical Installations:

Eng. Sixto Alarcón

Landscape:

Arch. Beatrice Camisuli

Mechanical Installations:

Eng. Antonio Chincote

Appraisals:

Arch. María Consuelo Pilonieta