Interior Edificio de la Merced. / Interior La Merced building.
Teamwork His long career at the School of Architecture of the Catholic University, first as an associate of Sergio Larraín G-M, and later as a teacher, director and dean for a short period, was an ongoing exercise in teamwork. He was acknowledged for his ability to reconcile positions and create an atmosphere of efficient collaboration among team members. During his professional life he created multiple partnerships with different architects for short periods of time or for specific projects. Early in his professional life he occasionally worked associated with Sergio Larraín G-M and Emilio Duhart (Pension Fund Building, Sol de Chile Building). His first stable partner was Jaime Besa Zañartu, who left the country to take a position at the World Bank in Washington. Hugo Errázuriz Echenique came next. There was also collaboration with Germán Brandes, Hugo Gaggero and Arturo Urzúa, Jorge Eguiguren and Enrique Concha Gana, and with Renato Parada in projects related to the Catholic University. After 1968, he consolidated a partnership with the writer of these lines and with Teo Fernández for a period. Public Spirit A spirit of seeking the public good usually animated the actions of Pérez de Arce Lavín, sometimes in opposition to his own clients. Such is the case of the La Merced Building, a project commissioned by the Order of Mercy. He proposed a building with only eight stories, the traditional height of the city center, even setting back the last two in order not to interfere volumetrically with the silhouette of the old basilica. Many did not understand why he had not designed a tall tower as allowed by the local regulations of the time. But he argued that the preservation of the ancient cloister, the harmony with the traditional city center height and
the continuation of the network of interior alleys of the city blocks were more important than pursuing the maximum commercial yield per square meter built. Moved by his affection for the landscape, the love for Santiago and his own optimism and public spirit, in the last stage of his life he embraced some initiatives and transformed them into concrete proposals for the city. From early on he visualized the Mapocho River urban riverbed as an opportunity for a linear riverside park. In the late 2000, this dream was threatened by the controversial project for a riverside highway to the north of the river, which proposed to use the land reclaimed from the riverbed once again for road works as had been done for years. In reaction to the controversial project, which was hotly debated in classrooms and in the press, he undertook the study of an alternative with a different route, preserving the riverbank for a future urban park. The proposed route, moved to the north of the river, also planned a renewal of the Recoleta neighborhood, recognizing the value of its proximity to the city center and its built heritage. He managed to structure an alternative project that obtained support from the School of Architecture of the Catholic University and the Association of Architects and that was presented to the authorities. Although it was not accepted, it contributed to the creation of important mitigations in the official project, which was finally executed. However he chose to insist and invest his last years in structuring the idea of a continuous park along the full urban course of the Mapocho River. Not coincidentally he chose to end his life dedicated to a project transformative of the landscape of his beloved Santiago. The Mapocho Park will eventually have an integrating role in a tremendously stratified and divided city.
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