Exploring the ideas, notions and mindsets underpinning design practice: the shaping of the public/private interface of residential streets in Arequipa (Peru)

• In Event: Circulating and Contesting Latin American Policy Knowledge: Learning & Narratives 

Abstract

The emergence of the place-making agenda in urban policy has put under the spotlight once again discussions regarding the thinking underpinning (urban and architectural) design practice at particularly the fine grain scale. In fact, it is regarded that key in realizing the aims of place making policies are the design skills and abilities of professionals involved in the transformation of the built-up environment. In Latin American countries, these discussions are quite relevant considering the low urban and spatial quality of large parts of the city, built either formally or informally. However, little has been done in analyzing such skills nor in uncovering the ideas, notions and mindsets underpinning design practice in the region. This paper, therefore, examines the thinking of design practitioners embedded in their narratives when dealing with the construction of the public/private interface of residential streets. It uses the case study city of Arequipa (Peru). A main finding reveals that, largely, design practice is modernist at the core and it is very much influenced by aesthetic ideas, expertise and design languages from the North that conceives design as a foremost (and individualistic) artistic creation. When materialized, these mindsets largely contribute to shaping a low spatial quality public/private interface that gives preference to the design of individual buildings over the construction of urban fabrics and the public realm. As a conclusion, the paper suggests the progressive adoption of urban design principles and a better understanding of collective spaces and places during the professional education of designers.

Author

• Jessica Soraya Pineda Zumaran, COES