Villa La Reina
Villa La Reina | |
|---|---|
Neighborhood | |
 Plaza in Villa La Reina | |
| Country | Chile |
| Commune | La Reina |
| Development | 1965 |
| Area | |
| • Total | 0.7 km2 (0.3 sq mi) |
Villa La Reina is a neighborhood in the La Reina commune of Santiago, Chile. Developed in the 1960s under architect and mayor Fernando Castillo Velasco, it was conceived as a social-housing project that would allow low-income residents already living in La Reina to remain in the commune rather than being relocated to peripheral areas. Its approximately 1,600 homes were built through an assisted self-construction program in which residents worked collectively on the construction of their houses and the neighborhood's infrastructure.[1][2]
The project emerged from the housing shortage affecting low-income residents of the commune and from opposition to their displacement to distant parts of Santiago, where they would have lost established social and employment networks.[3][4]
History
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Villa La Reina was developed during a period of major changes in Chilean housing policy and urban development. Fernando Castillo Velasco, an architect, was appointed mayor of the newly established commune of La Reina in 1964. He sought to address the housing needs of low-income residents without removing them from the commune, linking housing provision with participation, community organization, employment, and access to urban services.[5]
The project was developed with technical assistance from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile's School of Architecture. The university's professional-practice workshop worked with the municipality and the residents to design the neighborhood, while the residents organized themselves into committees responsible for the construction process.[6] A contemporary archival film produced during the government of Eduardo Frei Montalva documented the self-construction process in 1967.[7]
The legal basis for acquiring the land was established by Law No. 16,368, promulgated on 9 November 1965 and published on 13 November. The law authorized the Social Security Service to sell portions of the former La Reina estate, including the remaining portion of the property to the Municipality of La Reina, while other portions were allocated to the state and the Forestry Institute.[8]
The residents were organized into 16 housing committees that formed the Federation of Residents of La Reina. Their organization was intended to combine the different committees with the construction process and to give residents a role in managing the project.[9]
Assisted self-construction
Self-construction was the central feature of the project. Residents participated in the production of construction materials and in the building of houses and infrastructure, working mainly on weekends and holidays so that regular employment would not be interrupted.[9][10]
At the beginning of 1965, the 16 committees represented approximately 1,600 families. The residents established rules under which one or two members of each family would participate in construction work on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays. Houses were not assigned to individual families until the development was sufficiently advanced; instead, families accumulated points based on their participation in construction and administration and on their savings.[9]
The residents also established enterprises for the production of construction materials. Bricks, gypsum panels, concrete components, pipes, and other materials were produced by the community, with some surplus production sold to other housing projects in Santiago. The residents' organizations also participated in infrastructure works, including sewerage and other improvements in the commune.[9][11]
The project ultimately produced approximately 1,600 housing units. Sources differ somewhat in their figures for the number of completed houses, with contemporary and later accounts referring variously to approximately 1,592, 1,600, and 1,620 units.[12][13]
The neighborhood was planned not only as a residential development but also with community facilities and commercial areas. Its streets, public spaces, and other infrastructure were intended to connect the new neighborhood with the rest of La Reina rather than isolate it from the surrounding commune.[14]
The architectural and urban concept has subsequently been described as an important example of assisted self-construction in Chile. The project combined technical assistance from architects and public institutions with residents' labor and organization, making the production of housing part of a broader effort to integrate low-income households into the existing urban fabric.[9][15]
After the 1973 coup
The self-construction process was disrupted following the 1973 coup d'état. The organizations that had coordinated the residents' collective work were dissolved, and the construction process increasingly continued at the level of individual households.[16] Contemporary and retrospective accounts also report searches of the homes of community leaders and a reduction in collective organization during the early years of the military dictatorship.[17]
Part of the land originally associated with the project was subsequently subdivided and sold, preventing the completion of plans for a major avenue and park intended to serve Villa La Reina and the wider commune. Other housing developments were later established on land associated with the broader area.[18][19]
Over time, residents modified many of the original houses and public spaces. From the late 1970s onward, front yards were enclosed and parts of the originally open pedestrian passages were occupied, reducing the width of some common spaces. Houses were also expanded as families grew and additional generations began living on the same plots.[20][21]
Later development
After the return to democracy, Fernando Castillo Velasco returned to the mayoralty of La Reina in 1992. His administration sought to revive community participation and improve the physical condition of Villa La Reina through projects including the remodeling of passages, participatory paving, and the recovery of shared spaces.[22]
A Housing Council of La Reina was established in 1992 to address the housing needs of adult children and other relatives living with established households and to reduce the pressure for lower-income residents to leave the commune. Later municipal programs also included social housing and the remodeling of passages within Villa La Reina.[23][24]
Architectural studies have documented extensive alterations to the original houses. Many have been expanded or otherwise modified to accommodate changing household needs, while the original layout of passages and common spaces has also been altered over time.[25]
In 2013, Castillo Velasco died in Santiago. Residents of Villa La Reina displayed banners and other tributes in his memory, and his funeral procession passed through the neighborhood, where residents gathered along the streets.[26]
Architecture and legacy
Villa La Reina has been studied as an example of assisted self-construction in which residents were directly involved in the production of their homes and neighborhood. The project differed from conventional housing developments by combining professional architectural and municipal assistance with resident labor, collective decision-making, and the production of some construction materials by the residents themselves.[9][27]
The original houses were generally arranged along pedestrian passages and shared spaces, with private rear patios. Subsequent alterations, including the construction of front enclosures and extensions, changed the relationship between private and communal space. In some sectors, later municipal projects sought to restore shared areas and improve pedestrian circulation.[28]
The experience has been the subject of academic research on housing policy, urban segregation, community organization, and the subsequent transformation of social housing in Chile. It is also documented in the archives of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, which preserve architectural and municipal material relating to the project.[29]
References
- ↑ "Fernando Castillo Velasco: El rey de La Reina". Revista Paula. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
- ↑ Quintana, Francisco (2014). "Urbanizando con tiza". ARQ (Santiago): 30–43. doi:10.4067/S0717-69962014000100005.
- ↑ Márquez, Francisca (1 July 2006). "Políticas sociales de vivienda en Chile: de la autoconstrucción tutelada a la privatización segregada 1967-1997". Cadernos Gestão Pública e Cidadania. 11 (49). doi:10.12660/cgpc.v11n49.44067.
- ↑ Castillo Couve, María José (2002). Proceso de producción y gestión: origen y consolidación de tres casos de estudio (PDF) (Doctoral thesis). Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
- ↑ Márquez, Francisca (1 July 2006). "Políticas sociales de vivienda en Chile: de la autoconstrucción tutelada a la privatización segregada 1967-1997". Cadernos Gestão Pública e Cidadania. 11 (49): 77–95. doi:10.12660/cgpc.v11n49.44067.
- ↑ "La vivienda pública y la Universidad Católica". Revista Universitaria. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. 2021.
- ↑ "Autoconstrucción de «Villa La Reina»". Casa Museo Eduardo Frei Montalva.
- ↑ "Ley 16368". Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional de Chile. 9 November 1965. Retrieved 7 October 2026.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 Quintana, Francisco (2014). "Urbanizando con tiza". ARQ (Santiago): 30–43. doi:10.4067/S0717-69962014000100005.
- ↑ Meneses Varas, Belén (2014). "Rescatando la memoria de Villa La Reina: La oralidad de la autoconstrucción tutelada y la identidad colectiva, 1966-1980". Contextos: Estudios de Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales (32): 79–90.
- ↑ Castillo Velasco, Fernando (2008). Lecciones del tiempo vivido. Catalonia. ISBN 9568303901. Search this book on
- ↑ Franco de la Jara, Eliana; Jorge Ortiz Veliz (1983). "Estructura interna y diferenciación social urbana: comuna de La Reina" (PDF). Informe Geográfico. 30. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
- ↑ "Arquitecto Fernando Castillo Velasco y su apreciada comuna La Reina". Universidad de Chile. 29 April 2011.
- ↑ "La vivienda pública y la Universidad Católica". Revista Universitaria. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. 2021.
- ↑ "Villa La Reina: El Legado de la Autoconstrucción". Instituto de la Vivienda, Universidad de Chile. 24 August 2018.
- ↑ Márquez, Francisca (1 July 2006). "Políticas sociales de vivienda en Chile: de la autoconstrucción tutelada a la privatización segregada 1967-1997". Cadernos Gestão Pública e Cidadania. 11 (49): 77–95. doi:10.12660/cgpc.v11n49.44067.
- ↑ "De Ñuñoa a La Reina" (PDF). Biblioteca Nacional Digital de Chile. 2025.
- ↑ Márquez, Francisca (1 July 2006). "Políticas sociales de vivienda en Chile: de la autoconstrucción tutelada a la privatización segregada 1967-1997". Cadernos Gestão Pública e Cidadania. 11 (49): 77–95. doi:10.12660/cgpc.v11n49.44067.
- ↑ Jünemann, Felipe (December 2005). "Comunidad e Identidad Urbana: Villa La Reina". Informe de práctica Fondecyt 1050031. Universidad Academia de Humanismo Cristiano.
- ↑ "Recuperación de espacios públicos y construcción en fondo de patio en Villa la Reina". Consejería de Fomento y Vivienda, Junta de Andalucía.
- ↑ Figueroa, Inés (2014). "Competencias de los pobladores en vivienda y barrio: trayectoria y experiencias recientes en Chile". Revista INVI.
- ↑ Márquez, Francisca (1 July 2006). "Políticas sociales de vivienda en Chile: de la autoconstrucción tutelada a la privatización segregada 1967-1997". Cadernos Gestão Pública e Cidadania. 11 (49): 77–95. doi:10.12660/cgpc.v11n49.44067.
- ↑ Márquez, Francisca (1 July 2006). "Políticas sociales de vivienda en Chile: de la autoconstrucción tutelada a la privatización segregada 1967-1997". Cadernos Gestão Pública e Cidadania. 11 (49): 77–95. doi:10.12660/cgpc.v11n49.44067.
- ↑ "Fernando Castillo Velasco". Corporación Cultural de La Reina.
- ↑ Saavedra Cerda, Francisca (2024). Villa La Reina, un caso de autoconstrucción asistida: análisis de sus transformaciones y estado de conservación (Undergraduate thesis). Universidad de Chile.
- ↑ "Fernando Castillo Velasco". Corporación Cultural de La Reina.
- ↑ "Villa La Reina: El Legado de la Autoconstrucción". Instituto de la Vivienda, Universidad de Chile. 24 August 2018.
- ↑ "Recuperación de espacios públicos y construcción en fondo de patio en Villa la Reina". Consejería de Fomento y Vivienda, Junta de Andalucía.
- ↑ "Proposición de un plan de producción y distribución de vivienda en la "Villa La Reina"". Archivo Patrimonial, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
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