Entre la idealización y el pragmatismo: planes para la reconstrucción de la ciudad de San Juan, Argentina (1944/1948)

Abstract

San Juan city in Argentina is located in arid and high seismic risk zone. The earthquake of 1944 is the most significant natural event in the history of the city. It caused a fracture in all levels: urban, architectural, economic, social. For the reconstruction between 1944 and 1948, seven "Official Plans" were proposed and the review of them shows a process of transition between theoretical ideas and the necessary pragmatism of reality, through the course of successive proposals. This feature distinguishes San Juan from other Argentine and Latin American cities. Though the Plans did not materialize in space, they left some traces that were recaptured in the reconstruction of the city with an adaptation of these theories and the reaffirmation of the historic settlement patterns as a form of appropriation of space and urban identity.