Población Quebrada Márquez, Social housing complex in Valparaíso, Chile.
Población Quebrada Márquez is a housing complex of five modern-style blocks of four to five storeys on Calle Márquez, in the ravine between Cerro Arrayán and Cerro Santo Domingo, near the Iglesia de la Matriz. The blocks follow the ravine's slope, with walkways and balconies giving access to the homes and forming continuous facades stepped to the gradient. These horizontal circulations start at street level and end five metres up, creating viewpoints over the bay.
The complex was built between 1946 and 1949 by engineer Pedro Goldsack during Gabriel González Videla's presidency to address housing shortages for working families. This project represented a significant moment in Chile's public housing efforts, when the state directly invested in creating homes for lower-income populations.
The ravine and Calle Márquez mark the boundary between Cerro Arrayán and Cerro Santo Domingo, near the Iglesia de la Matriz. The street is shared by vehicles and pedestrians, and several viewpoints over the bay and neighbouring hills open along it. The five blocks remain almost entirely residential, with walkways and balconies giving access to the homes.
Calle Márquez is a shared street for vehicles and pedestrians, so walk with care along its edge. The horizontal walkways start at street level and end about five metres up, forming viewpoints over the bay and the neighbouring hills; the slope between them is steep. The blocks are almost entirely residential, so keep to the street and walkways.
The horizontal walkways start at street level and end five metres up, so the top landings double as lookout points over the bay and the neighbouring hills. The complex was declared a Typical Zone by Decree No. 605 on 31 August 2001, and in 2008 its facade was restored under the Valparaíso urban recovery programme at a cost of about 70 million pesos.
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