n this 51st edition of AOA Magazine, our Heritage section is in charge of highlighting the churches of the Altiplano in the north of Chile. As part of the permanent management of our association, at the beginning of this year, a group of associated architects made a his- torical-cultural trip to visit heritage churches in Arica and Parinacota and their emotional experiences were expressed in several articles that are included in this magazine. These testimonies complement the theoretical texts provided by the Undersecretariat of Cultural Heritage and the Altiplano Foundation. In keeping with modernity and what was discussed in the Heri- tage section, we include a complete article on the origin of Arica's urban landscape written by architect Esteban Balcarce. In this text, the work of several professionals carried out during 1953-1976 is presented, and illustrated with photographs and unpublished historical plans. The holistic vision of the Junta de Adelanto de Arica regarding the relationship between landscape, territory, and critical architectural infrastructure is manifested in that city like in few other cities in the country. EDITORIAL I Cities must be sustainable in terms of their urban habitat integration with nature, which will make them healthier and focused on being able to live in them with quality and resilience. Human beings, as the center of urban projects and the management of our cities, are a priority that must be addressed with conviction and appropriate public policies. In the 1960s, the World Health Organization used the motto “On the road to health you conquer happiness”. Although today we would say that this motto is still valid, we have forgotten that the objective of living in cities is precisely to find happiness, by growing, studying, working, forming a family, or simply socializing with others. For this purpose, the planning of cities in coherence with urban equity in which public, green, accessible, and democratically distributed spaces in each neighborhood and community, must be our challenge as creators of the urban habitat, seeking and offering a better life with durable quality to achieve better and healthier times. The relationship between architecture and landscape is imperative to recognize our natural environment and manage it with the respect and care required for urban planning and human settlements. Natural forests, desert, and salt flats, as well as coastal and lake edges and watercourses, including wetlands, glaciers, and rock formations, are fundamental for the maintenance and development of ecosystems with which we must coexist in harmony and mutual respect. In terms of urban ecology, geographic information systems should be considered to manage the biodiversity in which we live and to allow the development of cities in conjunction with plants, insects, and animals. Our urban projects must consider, in their planning and management, how nature advances and grows and not act against it to achieve harmonious and sustainable development.
HERITAGE
The Missions Route in Arica & Parinacota. A Promising Asset Management Model By: Pablo Jordán
The exact spiciness of the rocoto. The bitterness of the olive. The precise balance of salt and acidity in goat cheese. The bread kneaded without butter from Belén, the sweetness of pintatani wine, the intense aroma of oregano from Socoroma, without forgetting the sensual smell and taste of guava. The flavors of a territory accompany and nourish the experience of the journey. They express and summarize traditions and culture. They bring people together and caress the soul. On a historical heritage trip to the Missions Route in the region of Arica and Parinacota we stopped many times to see and, I would say more, to enjoy the visit to our heritage of churches, towns, and communities in the interior. Codpa, Guañacagua, Belén, Timar, Tignamar, and Parinacota were the temples and complexes we visited. The churches are interwoven with the towns that host them and to which they have given urban structure and populated the high plateau area since the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. They have given an order to the settlement pattern for more than four centuries that associates landscapes, ravines, watercourses, and towns. The temples form a subset of 33 national monuments in a territory that has one of the largest concentrations of heritage in our country. The resulting harmony is manifested in the tour guided by the ex- cellence and work of the Altiplano Foundation that rhythmically, shows how the centuries-old human occupation knew, with intuition and deep cultural tradition, how to occupy a territory characterized as hostile and yet has been able to sustain life for centuries in a fragile balance, but at the same time powerfully. Churches are the guiding elements. Not only do they constitute the relevant landmarks of the anthropized landscape, but they are also the identity beacon of each town: they shape them, hierarchize them, and give foundation to their shapes. They provide a meeting place. The value of existence. Furthermore, they gather the deep spirituality and
Yves Besançon Prats / Director Revista AOA
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