CASE STUDY 2

The project Gardens of the Huaca, is a long-term intervention that becomes part the urban tissue. This results on a radical landscape transformation: where the huaca once merged in the arid landscape, now stands alone in the middle of a grass and concrete park.

Because it is a privet real estate development, the practicality and profitability of the project outweigh the enhancement of heritage. The housing blocks stand tall in contrast with the huaca, but even if the contemporary architecture does not communicate with the pre-existence, the merit of keeping the huaca in a local park cannot be unacknowledged.

The park balances the protection and the exposure of the legacy of Huantinamaca. The project evidences the advantage of urban development around archaeological heritage, because it provides the opportunity to create public green areas instead of building more blocks. The city and the heritage serve each other mutually. The park and the huaca improve the quality of life of the neighbourhood, while the housing complex enhances the heritage.

One feature weakens the project. The huaca stays surrounded by a wooden fence, and it dangerously becomes the park’s decoration. Slowly the community stops engaging with it, and without their interest and organization, it ends up not being taken care of.