Urbanidad y Vivienda Social Productiva: una Arquitectura para Habitar, Convivir y Producir, en el Sector de El Recreo.

Abstract

The Social Productive Housing project is located in the El Recreo sector, in southern Quito, a consolidated urban area characterized by high population density, intense commercial activity, and a strong coexistence between formal and informal dynamics. Within this context, the proposal emerges as an architectural and urban response to housing and labor exclusion, understanding housing not only as a space for shelter, but also as a support for production and community life. The project’s implantation is organized through platforms adapted to the site’s topography, upon which housing blocks identified as A, B, C, and D are arranged. These volumes vary in height according to their relationship with the immediate surroundings, allowing a gradual transition between the neighborhood scale and the architectural ensemble. At a later stage, the blocks are formally unified while maintaining their functional independence, reinforcing a coherent reading of the whole.The proposal incorporates a central void as an articulating element of the project, dedicated to circulation, encounter, and the creation of public and semi-public spaces. This space seeks to strengthen social interaction among residents and to improve the project’s relationship with the city. At ground level, urban permeability is prioritized through the integration of green areas, pedestrian routes, and productive activities that activate public space. From a constructive standpoint, the project relies on a mixed structural system based on principles of active section, active surface, and shear walls, enabling structural efficiency, spatial flexibility, and the possibility of progressive growth. Overall, the proposal presents an architecture capable of housing, producing, and coexisting, aligned with the principles of the right to the city and with contemporary approaches to social housing in Latin American contexts. All of this is conceived from an integral, inclusive, and sustainable vision. The project emphasizes adaptability, dignity, and everyday resilience within complex urban realities local.