Estoa. Journal of the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism

Influence of the quality of the definition of the activity name on the unit price

2026-04-06T17:52:17+00:00

The dispersion among building unit prices would be considered normal since no two projects are alike; however, it is shown that price dispersion tends to decrease as the level of detail in the item name (NDN) increases. Therefore, different databases of unit prices for projects in Ecuador from the last five years are obtained to analyze the relationship between the NDN and price variations. Furthermore, the results are analyzed and discussed with reference to variables such as the location of the project, year of execution, and type of work. It is emphasized that the findings contribute, on the one hand, a guide for generating construction item names that lead to more accurate and fair cost estimates. They also provide technical arguments to regulatory bodies to determine potential underestimations or overestimations of prices.

Urban mobility and citizen perception: quality, safety, and comfort of public transportation in Bogotá

2026-04-06T17:52:15+00:00

This study analyzes how the quality, safety, and comfort of public transportation influence usage frequency and citizen satisfaction in Bogotá, within a framework of sustainable mobility and spatial justice. Based on surveys of 385 users and correlation analysis, a critical gap was identified: 60% of users perceive insecurity and 40% rate service quality negatively. Perceived quality correlates with frequency of use (r = 0.35, p < 0.05), while comfort emerges as a key factor in satisfaction. The results show that the deficit in well-being and trust limits system efficiency and reproduces territorial inequality, guiding strategies consistent with SDG 11.

Educational breakdowns. Learning proposals with games, models, prototypes, mock-ups, and detachable architectures

2025-09-17T16:33:26+00:00

An effective way to learn architecture is through educational breakdowns, dissecting architecture with a thorough understanding of its components. Developing learning approaches with construction games, prototypes, scale models, and temporary or detachable architectures opens up an interesting field for experimentation in teaching architecture, from the beginning to the advanced stages. The use of approaches based on educational breakdowns will allow for the design of teaching strategies at various scales, ranging from the reduced scale of a model to the realistic scale of detachable architecture. For the architect, the analog model becomes the designer’s toy, with which they test the variables of a future implementation. Detachable architectures are built like a game, with parts that are assembled. Learning through breakdowns, experimenting with models and architectures, effectively blends the serious aspects of construction with the playful nature of play.

Synthesis of the Arts in Quito in the mid-20th century

2025-09-16T13:23:59+00:00

Throughout history, societies have expressed their collective identity through art in public spaces. In Quito, this tradition dates back to pre-Hispanic petroglyphs and extends through the Baroque period, which transformed church façades and interiors into narrative surfaces. In the 20th century, the city witnessed a singular phenomenon of Synthesis of the Arts: a collaboration between architects and artists that, within a short timeframe, materialized in projects linked to the Casa de la Cultura, the Universidad Central campus, and preparations for the XI Inter-American Conference of 1959. This study documents and contextualizes that exceptional moment, analyzes its aesthetic and ideological content, and assesses its value as a genuine expression of the spirit of the time. Finally, it underscores the urgency of recognizing and preserving this legacy through a critical architectural lens.

Carbon and nitrogen content in Mexico City: evidence of the influence of urban social structure

2025-09-08T16:54:38+00:00

Globally, urban ecosystems are key to mitigating climate change. However, studies focus on developed countries, with few studies in Latin American cities. In this study, we modeled the carbon and nitrogen contents in vegetation and soil in Mexico City and evaluated how urban social inequality (social and economic development; form and structure; and functional typology of residential land uses) influences their contents. Our results indicate that lower social classes and high population densities have the lowest estimates of carbon and nitrogen. In contrast, middle and upper-middle social classes (property and construction prices) show the highest values of carbon and nitrogen. This knowledge is essential for understanding the impacts of urbanization and designing more sustainable urban planning strategies in the face of global environmental change.

E-commerce and residential density: A geospatial analysis of demand in Córdoba (Argentina)

2026-01-13T20:58:24+00:00

Electronic commerce has caused a territorial restructuring process of retail commercial activity. This trend and its implications on the physical-functional urban structure are currently subject of debate. In this context, destination points of e-commerce parcels constitute key data, since they allow to analyze the level of demand in different areas and to evaluate its correlation with various socio-urban indicators. This paper aims to analize the incidence of residential density on the volume of B2C ecommerce purchases in different areas of the City of Córdoba, Argentina. The proposed methodology uses geographic information systems (GIS) for cross-referencing geospatial data and is complemented with linear correlation calculations. The results reveal that areas with lower residential density tend to have a higher average number of purchases per home.

Percepción social y valoración del patrimonio industrial vivo: Casa Hacienda y Planta Industrial Cayaltí

2026-01-23T13:48:48+00:00

Industrial heritage is fundamental to collective memory and cultural identity, especially in agro-industrial regions such as Cayaltí, in northern Peru. The objective of this study was to analyze the social perception of the heritage value of the Cayaltí Hacienda House and Industrial Plant, identifying the dimensions of symbolic value, formal value and use value that define its potential as living heritage. A qualitative methodology was used with semi-structured interviews with twelve key social actors, using thematic coding and triangulation for the analysis. The results show a high appreciation of symbolic value shared by all groups, as well as formal recognition from technical and cultural perspectives. However, the use value presents diverse perceptions, highlighting challenges for its functional activation. It is concluded that the sustainable revaluation of heritage requires participatory strategies, heritage education, and multisectoral coordination to enable its functional recovery and social strengthening.

Analysis of potential impacts of urban air mobility in cities and their development

2026-01-23T21:30:05+00:00

Urban Air Mobility (UAM) is an emerging mode of urban transportation based on new aeronautical, electrical, and communications technologies. However, this will present a significant challenge for urban planners, as the planning and implementation of UAM must include and consider the development of new dedicated infrastructure, the socio-urban context, local needs, and an assessment of the impact it will have on cities and their development. Therefore, the objective of this review article, which uses a quantitative systematic review methodology, is to analyze the anticipated or potential impacts that this emerging mode of transport will have on urban development. As a result, this study presents an assessment of the impacts of UAM on urban infrastructure development, the existing urban transport system, the local economy, the urban environment and ultimately, society.

Biophilic assessment of urban planning in the El Kala world biosphere reserve (eastern Algeria)

2026-02-11T16:22:31+00:00

This study focuses on the El Kala World Biosphere Reserve, valued for its ecological and landscape importance, and intersected by the presence of the city of El Kala, which has been guided by an urban development master plan since 1990. The objective is to analyze the relationship between urban growth and natural spaces, highlighting the urgent issue of forest fires as a central challenge for sustainable planning. The method relies on a biophilic approach, which emphasizes the innate human connection to nature and uses documentary, landscape, and behavioral analyses to understand how architect-urbanists perceive and manage this environment. The results reveal three scenarios that show the standardized nature of the master plan, its adaptability to the surrounding ecosystems, and the persistent gap between projected strategies and actual implementation. In conclusion, the research underlines the need to integrate biophilic principles more deeply into urban planning, while stressing that effective responses to forest fires are essential to balance development with the ecological preservation.

Alternative space construction through creative mapping: the design potential of cinematic narratives in the case of Alice in Wonderland

2026-02-24T19:28:23+00:00

This study aimed to integrate fantastical cinematic narratives into alternative spatial constructs using creative spatial mapping methods. In a design application conducted with Interior Architecture students using the film Alice in Wonderland as an example, mapping was used as a tool for analyzing the existing narrative and generating new spaces based on this analysis. The findings show that, despite being based on the same narrative, distinct spaces with clear formal and semantic differences were produced. Consequently, creative spatial mapping is considered a flexible and productive design tool that enables the reinterpretation of fictional worlds, and a qualified approach that supports creative thinking in design education.

Construction of ecological networks as a tool for sustainable territorial planning

2025-11-21T21:15:37+00:00

Territorial transformations caused by human activities alter habitat availability, modify ecological flows, and generate conflicts in landscape connectivity. Primarily in rural areas, agricultural activities reduce natural cover, fragmenting ecosystems. In response, ecological networks constitute a planning strategy that integrates core areas, corridors, and buffer zones to maintain ecological functionality. This study aims to identify and construct an ecological network for the Loja canton through the Analysis of Morphological Spatial Patterns (MSPA), the Minimum Cumulative Resistance (MCR) model, and circuit theory. Twenty- two ecological sources, 47 potential corridors, 26,768.08 ha of chokepoints, and 19,224.57 ha of barriers were identified, distributed unevenly across the territory. The model allowed for the visualization of priority areas for conservation and zones where territorial pressure affects ecological flows, making it a valuable tool for sustainable territorial planning.

Architectonic heritage as a symbolic locus: the jesuit church of Cuenca (Ecuador) and its dissolution from the social imaginary

2026-01-26T15:21:40+00:00

The Church of the Compañía de Jesús in Cuenca, Ecuador, considered the city’s most outstanding building during the viceroyalty, was demolished in the second half of the 19th century. The objective of this research is to analyze the processes that led to this event and its subsequent influence on the city’s narrative. To this end, and with a view to ascertaining its symbolic position within the local context, the development of the Jesuit order is examined, and, based on primary documentation and archaeological findings, its most representative stylistic, morphological, and iconographic characteristics are reconstructed. Then, applying the History of Mentalities and in light of the semantics of architecture, the motivations for its demolition and the implications of this for the idiosyncratic character that subsequently emerged are explored. Although it is a specific case, the research invites us to reflect, in general terms, on the consequences of the loss of emblematic buildings or those listed as heritage sites.

Women’s participation in the construction and re-signification of industrial mining heritage: memories, practice and power

2026-02-18T16:05:53+00:00

Industrial heritage has traditionally been associated with male productive activities, a linkage that has rendered women’s participation invisible both in its social construction and in the processes of re-signification that followed deindustrialization. During the industrial boom in company towns, women played a fundamental role in sustaining the social fabric and everyday life, and more recently they have assumed a key position in the preservation of collective memory, the reappropriation of industrial vestiges, and the creation of new forms of heritage-making from community-based perspectives. At present, a substantive shift in their role can be observed: from historically marginalized actors within official narratives, they have become central agents in the conservation of industrial memory and in the transformation of former infrastructures into spaces for encounter, care, and cultural action. These practices democratize heritage processes and foster new ways of inhabiting rooted in feminine, community-oriented approaches.

Forms of production, appropriation and spatial practices in public space in popular neighborhoods of Manizales, Colombia

2026-03-06T18:00:51+00:00

The forms of production and appropriation of recreational and sports public spaces (PS) in popular neighborhoods of Manizales, Colombia, and the role of everyday practices in its social construction are examined. A multiple case study with a comparative approach was conducted in the Nuevo Horizonte commune, which included three units of analysis derived from a layered inventory of georeferenced information: conceived, self-managed, and co-managed public spaces. Cartographic and regulatory reviews were combined with fieldwork through systematic observation, semi-structured interviews, and life histories. Various spatial practices were identified that reveal tensions between formal planning and community production. The findings show that, beyond their origin, these spaces are transformed into common places through everyday appropriation and collective care, although they remain traversed by tensions and disputes over use and control. It is concluded that these forms of public space production highlight the need for more flexible and participatory planning approaches, in accordance with the socio-spatial dynamics of working-class neighborhoods.

Relationship between indoor environmental quality criteria and occupant satisfaction in CES-Certified buildings in Chile

2026-03-12T19:47:07+00:00

Sustainability certification systems evaluate different building categories in order to reduce emissions, improve energy performance, and promote occupant well-being. Among these, Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) focuses on ensuring occupant comfort. This study analyzes whether the design strategies implemented to obtain scores in the IEQ category within the Chilean Sustainable Building Certification system (CES) effectively guarantee the satisfaction of people working in these spaces. Through a comparative study between CES technical documentation and occupant surveys conducted in two certified office buildings, the consistency between certification criteria and perceived comfort was examined. The results show that the CES tool prioritizes IEQ within its framework, which corresponds with high levels of occupant satisfaction, particularly in terms of thermal and visual comfort.