El espacio percibido y concebido del Quicentro shopping center en dos escalas de la ciudad de Quito

Abstract

In the current academic narrative about shopping mall debates and discussions exists in regards of the spatial hierarchy and the urban transformations, in different scales, produced around these architectures. On the one hand there is an “apocalyptic” approach that accuses the mall as a threat to the city. On the other hand the other approach poses the shopping mall as an opportunity to transform and invigorate the urban space. Finally there is a contemporary approach that describes the shopping mall as an element and a phenomenon that has triggered morphological transformations. It has rearranged the uses in the city. Thus in this present research all these different approaches are discussed from the Quicentro Shopping mall case study located in Quito – Ecuador. This by analyzing the conceived space (Planned) and the perceived space (Built) in a city size scale as a general and a sector scale around the area where the mall is inserted. Thus this research seeks to understand the role played by the Shopping mall in Quito and the different scales since its planning to its effective materialization.