Las Cabinas of Universidad de Concepción (1960): Emergency Architecture Transformed into Heritage Landscape

Abstract

The first campus of the Universidad de Concepción has been extensively acknowledged as an exemplary case of modern design and a highly-valued heritage spot. While its nature as a complex is a worth highlighted both by protection declarations and by researchers, in practice a large area still lacks tutelage. Two of the omitted areas include a group of 10 student dorms and one Red Cross assistance center built after the 1960 earthquake which, as of 1977, were devoted to different purposes. In order to expand the documents available about this site –to address the conceptual evolution of heritage under the landscape category– this work draws on unpublished and secondary archive sources to provide historical, architectural, and urban development background information about the complex. The main findings are discussed in terms of the challenges of its value creation.