Collective housing of social mixture in downtown La Serena, Chile.

The main problem in Chile today is inequality. Regional and OCDE’s researches indicates that Chile has one of the highest urban segregation levels. Collective housing of social mixture in downtown La Serena is an integral project that proposes changes in two lines: housing and urban policy and architectural design. The idea is to revitalize the historic downtown by medium high densification, avoiding the gentrification and promoting the permanence of the actual neighbors. On the other hand, a new urban management is proposed, a mixed system (public company) that promotes social integration projects. At architectural level, the housing complex includes three scales of integration: city, neighborhood and community, materialized in a medium size communal park, two big public spaces at the first floor of the complex, and courtyards of integration at the vertex of every floor. These are connected by wide aisles that incentivize the interaction and communication of the neighbors. The project considers 150 houses in 7 different types