Urban Fractures: Histories of Discontinuities

2011 – 2012

Authors:

Ignacio Cardona, Francisco Paúl, Research Leads; Oscar Rodríguez, Jesús Zambrano, Manuel Zorrilla, Research Team; Juan Sánchez, Elia Gómez, Mariapia Bevilacqua, Franklin Rojas, Bibiana Sucre, Juan Pocaterra, Ernesto Medina, Víctor Sánchez Taffur, Consultants

Institutions:

Universidad Simón Bolívar

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This research examines urban fragmentation in Caracas by identifying and classifying the spatial conditions that produce discontinuity and inequality across the city. It proposes a taxonomy of five urban fractures: hydric, where watercourses become barriers rather than integrated urban systems; topographic, where steep terrain separates neighborhoods; zoning, produced by disconnected land-use patterns; mobility, where roads and highways divide communities; and monofunctional, generated by large-scale facilities that interrupt the surrounding urban fabric.

The taxonomy reframes these fractures as opportunities for urban reconnection and establishes a framework based on connectivity, proximity, and continuity. It subsequently informed design research and projects at multiple scales, including the La Carlota International Competition (2012) and the Transformation of the Tocome Water Flows (2021), extending the research from the classification of spatial inequality toward design strategies for reconnecting fragmented territories.