Cultural Architecture of Superposition: Reframing Heritage and Public Space in San Isidro | Bachelors Design Project

Site Context

The proposal emerges from a study of San Isidro’s urban evolution, where new architectural layers were progressively built over the traces of agricultural estates. This condition inspired the concept of superposition, expressed through the coexistence of solid and lightweight volumes. The new white enclosures, blending with the color of the patrimonial façade, rise gently above the ground, evoking the sensation of dissolving into Lima’s grey sky.

Through this approach, the project aims to reactivate forgotten urban voids and redefine their relationship with heritage. The result is an architectural sequence that connects education, performance, and public space — a new topography for cultural life in the city.

Design Process

The project began with an urban and historical analysis of San Isidro, identifying the transformation of the old agricultural grid of haciendas into the current urban fabric. The vacant lots surrounding the heritage building Astrid & Gastón became an opportunity to explore the concept of superposition—how new architecture can coexist with layers of memory.

Initial sketches focused on how to reinterpret this idea spatially: solid volumes were grounded, while lighter white enclosures emerged above them, symbolizing contemporary layers rising toward Lima’s grey sky. The topography was modeled to create a sequence of public terraces and plazas that link the new cultural buildings—the theater, the art school, and the exhibition workshop—through pedestrian paths and visual connections.

Digital models and hand drawings were used to test the permeability of the spaces, balancing enclosed programs with open, flexible platforms. The process gradually shifted from the scale of the urban grid to the tactile experience of materials, reinforcing the dialogue between permanence and transformation that defines the project’s architectural language.

Final Outcome

The project investigates the pertinence of architectural superposition within a historical and urban context. Located above the heritage building of Astrid & Gastón in San Isidro, the proposal integrates a theater, an art school, and an exhibition workshop into a cohesive cultural complex. The design strategy arises from the reinterpretation of the agricultural structure of the former haciendas, using their traces to organize public circulation and define a hierarchy of open spaces.

Topographic manipulation becomes a key design tool: the terrain is carved to generate plazas, terraces, and viewing platforms that link the new volumes to the existing heritage building. Roofs transform into extensions of the public realm, hosting events and artistic activities that reinforce the dialogue between users, the city, and the pre-existing architecture.

Materiality emphasizes a contrast between permanence and lightness. The lower volumes are conceived as massive, textured enclosures that anchor the project to the ground, while the upper white envelopes dissolve visually into the sky, reducing the impact on the surrounding fabric. 

The proposal defines a system of spatial transitions—between interior and exterior, solid and void—that encourages interaction and continuity, establishing an architectural narrative that connects contemporary culture with the historical and environmental memory of San Isidro.

Conclusion: Ultimately, the project weaves new architecture and heritage into a layered cultural landscape, transforming vacant sites into interconnected public and cultural spaces that reunite San Isidro’s historic memory with its contemporary urban life.

[This Academic Project has been published with text and images submitted by the student]