Ilumel: Architecture at an Urban Intersection

One example explored during the presentation was Ilumel, a furniture and design destination located within Santo Domingo’s Polígono Central, at the intersection of Abraham Lincoln Avenue and José Amado Soler Street.

The project developed over several years through a masterplan that gradually integrated a collection of previously separate buildings into a larger architectural composition.

The intervention added more than 10,000 square metres dedicated primarily to exhibition and commercial spaces while creating a unified architectural identity for the complex.

But the project presented another opportunity.

Its prominent location meant that the intervention would not only transform the experience of the store; it would also alter the image of one of the city’s significant urban intersections.

The architecture therefore needed to respond at two scales:

the scale of the building and the scale of the city.

Existing contours, neighbouring buildings, topography and approaches from different directions influenced the development of the volume.

Rather than treating the façade as a single composition, its proportions and gestures responded to the changing conditions surrounding the site.

Landscape became another important element, helping mediate between the architecture, pavement and street.

Divano: Extending the Intervention

The masterplan also included Divano, positioned alongside the Ilumel complex.

Here, the architectural language was reduced to the relationship between two contrasting volumes.

One appears heavier and more monolithic, expressed through concrete. The other becomes lighter and warmer through a sequence of vertical timber elements.

More importantly, the project explored a direct relationship between the building and the city sidewalk.

Instead of treating the property boundary as a rigid separation, the intervention considered how architecture, landscape and public space could visually extend into one another.

The objective was not simply to create a recognisable commercial building.

It was to ask how a private development could still make a positive contribution to the experience of the street.

Five Principles for Urban Intervention

Looking back at these projects led to five principles that can guide the way we approach architecture within an existing urban context.

01 — Observation

Before designing, observe.

Understand the city through everyday experience rather than exclusively through plans, regulations or satellite images.

How do people actually use the street?
Where do they stop?
Where is shade needed?
What is missing?

Observation turns context into something lived rather than abstract.

02 — Experience

Architects should continuously move between the perspective of designer and user.

A decision that works perfectly in a drawing may feel entirely different when experienced at street level.

The question becomes:

Would this space work for me if I encountered it every day?

03 — Empathy

Every architectural intervention enters into a relationship with what already exists.

Neighbouring buildings, pedestrians, vegetation, infrastructure and communities are not background elements. They are part of the project.

Understanding their scale and character helps architecture determine when to contrast, when to connect and when to step back.

04 — Interaction

A building should not simply occupy its site.

It should establish relationships.

The ground floor, entrances, landscape, façade and boundary conditions determine how architecture communicates with its surroundings.

These moments are where the private project meets the collective city.

05 — Experimentation

Architecture is also a continuous process of testing and learning.

Ideas move from concept to drawings, from digital models to construction and eventually into everyday use.

Once a project becomes occupied, we can observe what worked, what did not and what should be approached differently next time.

Every completed project therefore becomes part of the research for the next one.

What Does Architecture Give Back?

Perhaps the most important question is not simply whether a building looks good.

It is whether the project establishes a meaningful relationship with its context and contributes something to the people who experience it.

Architecture is only one component within the enormous complexity of a city.

But collectively, these interventions matter.

A better pavement edge.
A tree preserved.
A shaded entrance.
A more generous setback.
A connection instead of a barrier.

Individually, they may appear small.

Together, they construct the experience and eventually the image of the city.

This is the responsibility behind the idea of the Citizen Architect:

to experience the city first as a citizen, understand it through the sensitivity of an architect, and design with an awareness of what every intervention can give back.

Presentation
Innovative Contextual Architecture in the Dominican Republic

Event
2A Interaction Forum 2019

Case Studies
Ilumel · Divano

Topics
Architecture · Urban Context · Public Space · Architectural Intervention · Santo Domingo · Citizen Architect

Location
Madrid, Spain

Year
2019