Material and Immaterial Dimensions of the City: Conflict, Urban Transformation and Heritage in Cali, Colombia

The architectonic and urban organization is one of the most valuable sources of information available that portrait existing patterns and dynamics within a given human group. This characteristic contained by architecture and urbanism is present in times of peace but become particularly interesting in times of social tension and hostility, as they tend to materialize these phenomena into the urban landscape. Thus, the study of architecture and urbanism in complex scenarios could highlight, first social and cultural consequences that a given event has had on the community, and second, could point out opportunities for intervention and spatial renovation attempts that contrast the previously acknowledged consequences in their different dimensions. It is precisely this second point that transforms architecture and urban intervention into active peace building promotors, within torn scenarios trapped between overcoming the past or perpetuating present aggressive dynamics resulting from conflict. It is for this reason that the study and understanding of architecture and urbanism in contexts of conflict is of vital importance, especially when significant cultural sites are involved. As they have not only witnessed the beginning and development of the conflict but also tend to be urban symbols of collective memory and identity. This is the case of Colombia, which has experienced since 1940’s different waves of violence historiographical known, first as La Violencia and since 1960’s as Conflicto Armado Interno. These long periods of time, added to the impacts that years of confrontation have had in the cultural fabric of the country, have deeply marked the Colombian culture giving rise to architectural responses that reflect the polarization and social fragmentation that have characterized these periods. Thus, the following research seeks to analyze the Colombian city of Cali as case studio, in order to understand the architectural and urban changes before, from 1910-1940, and from 1940’s to the present day passing through each of the conflicts mentioned above. This process has allowed the identification of specific urban typologies that have been generated directly or indirectly from conflict dynamics. At the end, cultural heritage would be analyzed in this context as a tool that enables reparation and peacebuilding processes through memory preservation. This new approach could contribute to the change in the vision of heritage and architecture from passive elements to active promoters of development and peace building.