Chile and the debate about shaping Modern architecture / Hugo Mondragón
While the debate on Modern Movement developed in the middle of 20th century, South America –especially Brazil– was a regular subject for international press. At that time Chilean practice was often seen as secondary; this article reviews local projects participating in the discussion that architectural magazines motivated.

Parking lots in downtown Santiago / Sara Maestrello

As an opposite to the Invention of Chile, this photographic register delivers a careful, unprejudiced vision of our reality from abroad: periphery features unfold within downtown Santiago, as a result of urban dynamics that combines consolidation and abandon processes.

Open City traces / Andreea Mihalache
During the 80’s, the activity of the School of Valparaíso was the main reference for foreigners on Chilean architecture. Related by some critics to art movements and Californian sheltering experiences, the expeditions named as Travesías act as their main connection to the rest of America, being part of their inner motivation.

The city as school / Francisca Benítez

How many possibilities do architects have for acting in the urban realm? The experience of this Chilean woman in NY is far more than designing buildings. It is all about developing a communicative code to start a participative, engaged dialogue between architects and citizens: this time, high school students speak.

Chile: Truly, madly, deeply / Cristóbal Palma

This selection on the work of a Chilean photographer shows current eagerness of international architectural press. What do foreigners look for, or what do they want to see from the remote Chile? Leaving stereotypes and romantic visions aside, a careful reading reflects accurately the state of local architecture practice.

Park of Colours / Alfonso Gómez

A Chilean architect reviews this project by Enric Miralles revealing some relevant, current topics of contemporary architecture: explicit links with art, design’s social dimension and distant but converging references, such as Michelangelo and urban graffiti.

About principles on architectural representation / Lorena Valdivia

Far from being restrictive, distance from Chile to traditional cultural centers has given to its architecture fortitude and courage. This peripheral condition has resulted in attention to representation means and concerns about the way architecture is learnt while being distant from its object of study.

FARM House, Silves, Portugal / Mauricio Pezo, Sofía von Ellrichshausen

A critical reading on vacation house models, hedonism culture and current coastal town developments triggered the layout established in this project. The pool moves from the backyard to the core of the house, within an introverted scheme that protects domestic intimacy.

Urban voids, Philadelphia, USA / Jill Desimini, Danilo Martic

Everybody seems to agree about the importance of lively, open public spaces: now authorities should embrace this aspiration. This project by a Chilean-American partnership entered a landscape competition aiming to recover a series of vacant lots in Philadelphia.

New city, Geum River, South Korea / Cristián Undurraga, Pablo Allard

Finalist of an international competition, this project engages with recent urbanism issues: garbage administration, water recycling and transport efficiency are tackled from urban design, also defining how new structures merge within existing lanscape.

María Cher Store, Buenos Aires, Argentina / Mathias Klotz, Edgardo Minond

¿Are we talking about Chilean or Argentinean architecture? Growing collaborations over the Andes make harder to define professional territories and question the importance of “national” architecture. Place relates to other topics, regarding specific, not generic conditions: plot’s shape, current regulations and cultural demands.