Revitalization of urban areas in the historic down town districts Part 2 Project 2000 Roberto / Marcelo Moris / Reyes Pontifical Catholic University of Chile Santiago | Chile SUBJECT: Revitalization of urban areas in the historic down town districtsCASE: Prospective Plan for Santiago railway ex-periphery ring; and Local Plan for ex San Diego train station areaOur work is based on an integrated analysis between local urban reality and urban scale. It develops an original method capable to incorporate the particular history and identity of the place in a manageable urban project.The work was summed up in twenty slides:1. General presentation: subject and case2. Santiago and other cities on the world: structural diagnostic of potential development areas3-10. Diagnostic synthesis: - Urban structure and local characteristics- City and place: fortress and restrictions - Proposed visions11-12. International references: selected studied cities and projects13. Ex San Diego train station area detailed study14-16. Management Plan: alternative scenarios17. Analysis of one scenario: project components 18. Local Plan and three development scenarios 19. Development scenarios models pictures20. Project images. Tutor's Statement1.- In response to your call for nominations for the RIBA President’s Medals awards for 2000, I have been asked by the Chairman of our School and the Selection Committee to present the Final Project and Thesis of two of our former students, that presented their work in December 1999 and received their professional and academic qualifications in their exam with top honours.Both, Roberto Moris and Marcelo Reyes, are now accredited architects.2.- Their Final Thesis was framed within an exceedingly original and well-studied set of suppositions defining the Central district of Santiago's peripheral areas. In 1930 H. Hoyt and D. Burguess (Hoyt, Homer, Burguess, David. in Hatl, Paul and Reiss, Albert. Cities and Society. Tree Press, Ill. 1959) defined two structural models that formulated rings and districts of growth and /or decay in the central core of Chicago. These models have been applied by J. Hardoy (1978) a brilliant Argentinean architect and planner, Teacher at Harvard in the sixties and later one of the leading scholars in urban planning in Latin America, in the description of urban structuring land use, transportation and form.These young architects did an intensive and well fundamented research on some new aspects appearing in Santiago's Central District, (Comuna de Santiago) of approximately 2.500 has. (6.250 acres). Mainly, the potential of its decaying frontier, and the presence of approximately 500 has. of abandoned industrial buildings and areas, unused railroad tracks and facilities, under used warehouses and empty vacant space. All this forming a ring encircling the Comuna (County) of Santiago.This 'Central periphery' has not been studied or recognised in its full potential.Four years ago I. Abalos and J. Herreros Spanish architects have worked consistently in these peripheral vacant areas that were discussed in the Barcelona Congress of the International Union of Architects of 1996 as 'terrains vagues' in French. (Abalos, Iñaqui, Herreros, Juan. 'Natural Artificial'. Edit. L.M. Madrid, 1999 , and other works).Their thesis 'the Recuperation of Large Urban Vacant lots in Santiago's Central District' has been in many ways a landmark: Two young but experienced students worked three years led by two professors of the School in the much neglected area of Urban Design. They covered an extensive and complex set of theoretical and professional analysis and proposals on three levels. They set up a set of simple and practical assumptions defining the potential for urban rehabilitation as urban intervention in these areas (scales 1:1000, 1:5.000, 1:2.000) Eventually they defined several programs, incorporating the reuse of existing infrastructure and transportation links, new zoning and finally develop a complete proposal for 25 has. of the southern frontier of Santiago, including an existing subway station.The project includes a full set of plans and seven models in different scales.Our School selected this project as one of two best developed in the year, and both are going to be presented to the RIBA Competition.It is my privilege to present again a project to this extraordinary international gathering. We hope this brief presentation helps to delimit a first rate analytic achievement and a very rich, complex professional and academic presentation.Prof. Gustavo Munizaga, Dip. Arch. MAU also behalf of Prof. Dr. José Rosas. ETSAB.