Abstract
The earliest influences of Modern Architecture in Chile have its firsts examples in the decade of 1930. Even though such trends were associated with the employment of new materials and technologies, Chilean audiences recognised them by their abstract forms. The reason behind this phenomenon is rooted in the local understanding of architecture as a matter of styles rather than as a new conception of architecture itself. Indeed, historiography identifies this particular moment as that of “Parallel Architectures.” This notion characterises the eclectic coexistence of diverse styles that were assimilated as part of a formal repertoire. In this context Picturesque revival, Art Nouveau, and Art Deco structures were synchronically built, alongside with other revisionist buildings inspired by the indigenous imagery. Luciano Kulczewski (1896-1972) was one of the most prominent architects during this period. In the midst of this paradoxical background, he led the introduction of Modern Architecture in its Streamline variant. However, internal tensions tended to contaminate the absorption of these foreign influences, giving place to a domestic interpretation of those models. The current paper argues that Kulczewski’s Streamline houses are particularly significant since they are located in Santiago de Chile’s Civic Centre, where classicist architecture was the hegemonic style linked to the oligarchy. Those primeval cases will be examined in the light of Walter Mignolo’s postcolonial discussion. Thus, Kulczewski’s work will be explained as an example of peripheral negotiation with regard to the metropolitan ideologies that were adapted by Latin-American architects, stressing the idea of a “glocal” architecture.
Presenters
Daniel GonzálezLecturer, History and Social Sciences Department, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Región Metropolitana de Santiago, Chile Raúl Pacheco Aravena
Profesor Invitado, Arquitectura, Universidad de Chile, Región Metropolitana de Santiago, Chile Alicia Campos
Academic and resercher, Departmet of Architecture, University of Chile, Región Metropolitana de Santiago, Chile Ronald Harris
Student, Doctor en Arquitectura y Urbanismo, Universidad de Chile/Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Región Metropolitana de Santiago, Chile
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2021 Special Focus - Voices from the Edge: Negotiating the Local in the Global
KEYWORDS
Architecture, Aesthetics, Modernity, Streamline, Latin America
