Getsemaní Community Center Competition

The Getsemaní Community Center is part of an urban regeneration program for the Las Ermitas de San Antonio neighborhood in the commune of Lo Barnechea, aimed at revitalizing the neighborhood and challenging the stigmatization it has faced.

The proposal is an intervention that fosters connection between the exterior and interior of the neighborhood. It calls for the creation of a multifunctional community center that integrates a range of activities, workshops, assemblies, work spaces, and celebrations.

A large public void is proposed, capable of integrating the neighborhood's activities with its surroundings. A great gathering space, activating public life and becoming the center of the project. To achieve this, the site is cleared, creating a plaza directly connected to the adjacent streets. Access is gradual, via a stairway descending toward this space.

This void is contained by a volume that houses the program required by the brief, with the capacity to open toward the plaza and become a single space.

Above this rests a horizontal volume at street level, with a distinctive civic façade, redefining the neighborhood's image toward its exterior. Contrasting with the surrounding vertical buildings, both in form and materiality, it acts as a visual landmark within its urban context, with an open floor plan inside to allow for versatility of activities.

There is an integration between the void and the buildings through an opening in the slab that facilitates vertical interaction and promotes connectivity between the three spaces. This modular and adaptable arrangement ensures the space can be reconfigured in different ways, maximizing its functionality.

In conclusion, the project offers a revitalization of the neighborhood's image, a reactivation of this now-forgotten space, delivering an inclusive and versatile community space.