Emilio duhart, architecture as the structure of public space: plaza foro abierto (Open Forum Square) – University of Concepción

Abstract

In 1957, Emilio Duhart Harosteguy was commissioned to plan the physical growth of the University of Concepción for the next 25 years. What would initially be the development of a Master Plan for the entire university, became an elaborate urban-architectural plan, since the commission also included the drawing up of the associated architectural projects. This entailed a double opportunity for Duhart: to provide a coherent structure to the entire urban organization of the university campus and to shape the public space of the whole by means of the precise configuration defined by the new architecture. This paper attempts to reveal the project criteria assembled by the architect for the conformation of the Plaza del Foro Abierto (Open Forum Square), a public space that can be considered as the synthesis of the arguments elaborated by Duhart for the general plan. This square, which the architect himself designated as the center of gravity or heart of the university, has become, sixty years after its genesis, one of the public places with the greatest sense of belonging and identity for the city of Concepcion - the premise upon which this article is based.