Plan de Renovación Barrio Los Yoses

Overview

The Barrio Los Yoses Renewal Plan works on a neighborhood with a precise identity, steep topography east of San José, International Style architecture, embassies and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. It is the first urban renewal plan by LDB Arquitectura, influenced by the PERI (Barcelona’s Interior Reform Plans), such as the one for Santa Caterina. The plan is structured in 25 urban acupunctures that activate the neighborhood point by point.

Street naming is the first step of identity. Historic names are kept, and the founding year and the tree that gives the neighborhood its name are referenced. The Inter-American Court is also made visible as a unique site in Costa Rica. Two pedestrian promenades, Los Yoses and Fátima, form an L in plan. The first rebuilds the street parallel to Avenida Central with pavers flush with the sidewalk. The second widens the west sidewalk toward the Fátima church. Both are planted with trees, lit at low height and linked with micro plazas, public art, small flower kiosks and a tourist information point at their intersection.

The micro plazas are an innovation in Costa Rica. They are sidewalk widenings with the essentials (a bench, a tree and a light). The cylindrical benches let people sit facing any direction and make it easy to talk with whoever is alongside. The proposed color palette is white, consistent with the architectural language of the neighborhood. In this way it becomes the white neighborhood of Costa Rica.