Globalization in its literal sense is the process of transformation of local phenomena into global ones.
It can be described as a process by which the people of the world are unified into a single society and function together under comparable values. When translated to urbanism and architecture, globalization means that the different city- and landscapes, the diverse “genius loci” of the world, will come in contact with each other and exchange their development, contemporary topics of discussion, challenges and solutions. Thanks to the speed of communication and great interchange of professionals, architecture, we often say, has become a global subject.
We often find the answers for our local challenges abroad. It is wonderful that we are, let’s say, not alone. But the impact of ‘flattening the globe’ costs often a big deal of IDENTITY.

Montevideo is characterized by different architectonic and urban identities which, working together, form a unique city. Its great potential lays on the fact that it combines a clear city atmosphere with a luxurious amount of nature, from parks to a long coastline, and from industrial landscapes to well ordered and charming colonial streets where the huge amount of trees play an important role in the definition of the city’s identity. The streets of Montevideo are “the greenest streets of the world” and its coastline one of the most diverse, bringing sand beaches and varied sea harbours together as a continuous theatre scène. This coastline, like a “business card”, tends to represent the diverse city areas.

Coastal cities, developed with the impulses of maritime or fluvial commerce, often gained their main identity from their harbours. With the growth and consequential relocation of these harbours and with the lost of their major roles to trains and airports, the harbour areas often became “lost” areas working as barriers between city and water.

In Montevideo, the 1900’s harbour offers a great extension of history and potential structures waiting for re-development. It almost separates the city from the bay, one of the most important areas of its natural identity. At this special point the city almost tries to “steak its head above the harbour” to be able to look again into the bay. It imports from abroad high-rise structures which, standing isolated, tend to uncharacterize this particular area rather than offer it a new link between city and water.

The phenomenon of “re-conquering” the waterfront by re-using its existing structures and re-designing the coast-line is an active one in many cities all over the globe.
The river cities of Rotterdam and Amsterdam in the Netherlands offer good case-studies. Also the south-European sea cities of Lisbon or Barcelona illustrate this method of “re-enforcing” the city’s identity by creating a new image for the coastline. An important factor for its success is the exploration and re-definition of the existing atmosphere, avoiding the risk of loosing the character of the area.

Montevideo often competed with its great neighbours, looking to their own development, almost loosing contact with its own self.