Centro de Salud Tipo A en Zámbiza

Abstract

This thesis develops the architectural design of a Type A Health Center in the parish of Zámbiza, Quito, as a comprehensive response to the urban, social, environmental, and emotional conditions of the territory. The project emerges from a multiscale analysis that identifies structural issues such as the fragmentation of the urban fabric, the scarcity of public facilities, the precariousness of primary health care, and the disconnection between infrastructure and community. At the same time, it recognizes territorial potentialities, including road connectivity, the presence of community spaces, strong neighborhood identity, and the area’s capacity to support collective healing processes.

From a theoretical framework, the project incorporates Farshid Moussavi’s perspective presented in The Function of Style, in which architectural style is understood as an operating system that shapes affects, relationships, and ways of inhabiting space. Style is not conceived as ornament or aesthetic signature, but as a function: a spatial grammar that organizes flows, modulates atmospheres, and enables space to act as a healing agent. This approach is articulated with the principles of healing architecture, proposing a spatial experience that addresses both physical and emotional well-being, while recognizing the role of the built environment in the holistic health of individuals and communities.

The design is structured across three complementary scales: (1) territorial implantation, which ensures accessibility, visibility, and integration with the urban environment through a precise reading of the site and its dynamics; (2) programmatic configuration, which distributes medical, administrative, and community areas based on user experience, prioritizing intuitive circulation, dignified waiting spaces, and areas for community interaction; and (3) material expression, which incorporates local resources, bioclimatic strategies, and sensory elements to enhance comfort, identity, and the memory of place.

The proposal is supported by technical drawings, sections, affective diagrams, and visualizations that demonstrate coherence between form, function, and affect. The developed representations integrate void as a spatial structuring element and function as the generator of architectural form, in dialogue with theoretical references. Furthermore, universal accessibility criteria, inclusive signage, and materials that enhance tactile, visual, and acoustic perception of the environment are incorporated, in accordance with the principles of healing design.