Gobierno de Chile

As part of the Bicentennial Legacy, the government of President Sebastián Piñera Echenique has created a Consolidation Project for the traditional Civic Center of Santiago. This is an ambitious goal that seeks to improve and give identity to this space, the scene of important milestones in the history of Chile.

Historical Milestones

Over time, the center of Santiago has been the site of numerous republican events. Since its creation in 1796, when La Moneda Presidential Palace was built, to the present, its composition has gone hand in hand with the democratic, political and social development of our country.

• Conceived in the late 18th century and completed in 1805, La Moneda Presidential Palace was the principal work of Italian architect Joaquín Toesca, who designed it in the neoclassical style. As its name implies, it was initially built to house the mint, and only later became the Government Palace of President Manuel Bulnes.
• On September 22, 1820, Bernardo O’Higgins began work on the Alameda. This broad avenue passed to the south of Toesca’s building, while the War and Navy Ministry was installed to the north.
• In 1930, so as to harmoniously link the Alameda with La Moneda, the old buildings separating them were demolished, making space for the Plaza de la Libertad and opening the southern façade of the Government Palace.
• Four years later, the War and Navy Ministry was also demolished, freeing the northern side of La Moneda Presidential Palace where the Plaza de la Constitución was created.

• In 1937, Carlos Vera Mandujano made a definitive proposal for the city center, which has been almost completely implemented. In this proposal, Bulnes Plaza was opened on the south side of the Alameda to incorporate the third structural element of the civic center: the Eje Bulnes (Bulnes Axis) pedestrian walkway.
• More recently, the Plaza de la Ciudadanía was created, a series of restructuring, demolition and other work until the latest great milestone was achieved at this historical site: as part of the celebrations of our country’s Bicentenary, the Great Chilean Flag was hoisted on a 61 meter mast in the central reservation of the Alameda. No doubt this event will live long in the memory of the Chilean people.

In short, the Civic Center is the fruit of numerous projects and debates, of conceptual exchange and the evolution of paradigms. It represents more than two centuries of history, and now, thanks to the presidential initiative and as part of the works of the Bicentennial Legacy, a new era is beginning with this project to renovate Santiago’s Civic Center.

a) Renovations in the Civic Center:

• The Grand Concourse: the intention is to bring the sidewalks and roads to the same level, with elements to separate them, thus maintaining the continuity of the urban space. The project, directed by Cristián Undurraga, leaves La Moneda Presidential Palace as the only building standing out in this Plaza of dimensions unprecedented in Chile.
• Facades: the facades, with their flaking stucco and worn cornices, will be renovated. At the same time the air-conditioning equipment, which currently protrudes from the windows in disorder, will be re-organized.
• Moneda Bicentennial Building, with a floor area measuring 30,000 m2 at street level, will house various departments that are currently overcrowded or located in a way that makes it difficult for them to carry out their work. The building, the work of architect Teodoro Fernández, proposes a luminous, contemporary space in its interior, within a space whose lines respect the original design of the Civic Center.
• Cocheras Building, measuring 3,700 m2 at street level, will form part of the reorganization of the Public Works Ministry. This will allow more space for the work of this important institution, which is currently partially dispersed.

b) Renovations on the Bulnes Axis:

The projects on the Bulnes axis will be commissioned through a NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITION, so as to obtain the best ideas for this plan.

• Revitalization of the Bulnes axis: the pedestrian walkway will be revamped so it can cater for the urban activity which will be generated as a result of the planned works.
• Bulnes Civic Center: a total of 70,000 m2 will be built on fiscal land to house government departments which are currently dispersed or in rented space, with the resulting functional and economic benefits.
• Finishing touch for Bulnes avenue: the Bulnes avenue Project. It was always intended to put a monument in what used to be a Plaza and is now Almagro Park. This opportunity was lost with the sale of the lands that previously housed the National Congress and the Education Ministry. It is necessary to adapt to this new reality, and look for the best way to give an appropriate finish to this urban project which is so important to the Chilean people, whether through a monument in honor of the Bicentenary of Chile or through an urban gesture.
• Santiago Pavilion: Chile’s urban history, both of what was built and what never left the drawing board, merits a place where it can be told and displayed. We need to recognize the efforts made by our forebears to give us a worthy capital city, and we must pass this history on to future generations. The Santiago Pavilion, to be built in some part of this Urban Complex, is the final proposal under consideration.