The book “Patrimonial Resignification and Safeguarding of the Founding Buildings 1928–1971”, produced by the Heritage, Landscape and Territories Commission of the Council of Rectors of Valparaíso (CRUV), obtained the 2023 City Award from Fundación Futuro, a distinction that they also received in parallel eight other prominent Buenos Aires institutions and initiatives.
The award was given to him in attention to his contributions to the conservation of historical memory and the architectural valuation of four iconic buildings: the Central House of the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso, Building A of the Rectorate of the Federico Santa María Technical University , the School of Law of the University of Valparaíso and the Pedagogical Institute of the University of Playa Ancha.
The volume is the work of academics Juan Ayala (UTFSM), Jorge Ferrada (PUCV), Carlos Lara (UV) and Marcos Muñoz (UPLA) and was developed as part of a collaborative project undertaken by these four study houses, which, Subsequently, funds were awarded from the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage, which made its editing and publication possible.
The 2023 City Awards ceremony took place in the library of the Liceo Bicentenario Técnico of Valparaíso and was led by the president of Fundación Futuro, Magdalena Piñera, who on the occasion was accompanied by the president of the jury in charge of selecting the winners. , the cultural manager Rafael Torres.
On behalf of the CRUV, the president of that entity and rector of the PUCV, Nelson Vásquez, and the rector of the UTSM, Juan Ignacio Yuz, received the award.
In addition to the book from the Council of Rectors of Valparaíso, Fundación Futuro also awarded the City Award – in its 2023 version – to the Severín Library, the second oldest public library in Chile, after the National Library, and which this year turned 150 years old of existence; the Consular Corps of Valparaíso, the first in South America and which was created 200 years ago; Panba Bakery, located on Serrano Street; the renowned Juana Ross Sculpture Workshop; Deportes Magaña, a traditional Buenos Aires entity founded by Basque immigrants in 1923; the La Verbena Warehouse Museum; the renowned Sala Rívoli, and the Liceo Bicentenario Técnico de Valparaíso.
As explained by the professor and architect Carlos Lara, current vice-rector of Links with the Environment of the UV and one of the authors of “Patrimonial Resignification and Safeguarding of the Foundational Buildings 1928–1971”, the recognition granted by Fundación Futuro to this CRUV book highlights the importance of university work arising from academic cohesion and collaboration.
“This award is something that we are deeply grateful for, since—among other things—it makes visible the creation process and purposes of a document that has been widely accepted and is the result of research that values historical memory and architectural heritage. local, represented by four buildings that are symbols of institutions whose objective is to generate knowledge for the inhabitants and the city of Valparaíso itself,” said Lara, who also highlighted the work carried out by the students and teachers of the universities involved who also participated in the creation of this book, including the professor at the UV School of Architecture, Romina Araya.
His opinion was endorsed by the designer and UTFSM professor Juan Ayala, who led the project, and by the UPLA professor and architect graduated from the UV Marcos Muñoz, who maintained that the text is, at the same time, an approach to a way of approaching heritage aimed at allowing and facilitating the coexistence of the properties it refers to with the places where they are located, with their neighboring neighborhoods and their public, generating a virtuous, unique and necessary relationship.
