Linked Caracas:

Hospital city

Abstract

The Linked Caracas project, winner of the 1st prize of the Competition for Participatory
Projects in Public Space organized by CCS City 450, is a critical exercise based on the concept
of inoperativity about “other” ways to “activate” the public space from of temporary interventions
that promote the formation of relationships and ties between citizens, the city and the
nature of the popular neighborhood Santa Rosa in Caracas, Venezuela. The so-called “Hospital
City” includes the encounter of Andrés Bello Avenue with San Julián Street, where the Children’s
Orthopedic Hospital is located. Although traditionally many people gather in this sector,
it does not have adequate spaces for pedestrian traffic or for universal accessibility, nor places of recreation for the inhabitants of the community. In this sense, the proposal brought together
a multidisciplinary group of people: architects, plastic artists, social activists and even institutions,
groups and community organizations, which with the support of the inhabitants of the
sector themselves managed to “activate” it through participatory work. in different instances.
These types of ephemeral interventions, rather than concretely solving the problems of infrastructure,
equipment or services of the most vulnerable urban sectors, open instances for
dialogue, reflection and criticism about “other” ways and ways of making use of spaces like
this in our cities.