Los inmuebles subutilizados como contenedores de vivienda de interés social. Análisis en el Centro Histórico de Cuenca-Ecuador

Abstract

Abstract: In Cuenca-Ecuador, there are several properties in the most iconic area of the city such as the Historic Center, declared as Cultural Heritage of Humanity; a dynamic commercial zone. All the basic infrastructure networks supply the buildings in this area; however, a lot of them are underutilized, converted into parking lots, warehouses for businesses, or are simply abandoned. Currently, the social housing programs are located on the peripheries of the city or even in rural parishes, generating socially and spatially decontextualized neighborhoods, while their users demand the provision of basic infrastructure networks from the administrations on duty. Through an analysis of international, national and local references of social and collective housing projects contained in buildings of historical centralities, plus the analysis of a sector of the Historic Center of Cuenca. It is proposed the architectural rehabilitation of a property to contain social housing, which includes every aspect that involves intervening in a Historic Center declared as a Cultural Heritage of Humanity, and at the same time aims to make visible how successful it is to return to live in the Historic Center of Cuenca.