The city of Santiago was founded in the 16th century, between two rivers at the base of a hill, following the Spanish grid plan for American cities. Until the 19th century, references in the skyline were churches and significant public buildings. In the 20th century, the city center included high-rise buildings of six to ten stories.

Parallel to the downtown area, a peripheral zone, unbounded from the city center, began to grow, separating the working activities from housing. Appearing toward the east, the communes of Providencia in 1897 and Las Condes in 1901, together with the city center, concentrate the best examples of 20th-century architecture in the city.

By 1900, the city of Santiago had emerged with clear recognition of its limits and structure because of the ideas of the intendant, Benjamin Vicuña Mackenna inspired himself in the French baron Haussman and the Spanish Idelfonso Cerdà, which later was further developed by the Austrian Carl Brunner, differentiating a center and four sections in a concentric scheme that was maintained well into the 20th century.

By the 1930s, the first manifestations of the leading urban and architectural trends prevailing in Europe and the United States appeared, introducing Art Nouveau and Art Deco expressions, followed by modernism and the International Style. In the 1950s, residential growth in the communes of Providencia and Las Condes, inspired by the Garden City movement, broke the urban scheme that had prevailed since colonial times. In the 1970s, a large commercial axis with high-rise buildings developed, connecting the center with these communes and transferring traditional business to new centers in these areas.

The primary architectural expression in Santiago remains the skyscraper. The first manifestations, built between 1920 and 1940, borrow their image from those prevailing in the United States and Europe, expressed as an eclectic mix of styles in rapid succession. Formally, the first examples of tall buildings use the palazzo model in its two versions, referring to the image of the palazzo itself or stretching the middle part up to the needed height. In the first case, classical elements are used: in the second, a variety of styles are adopted. Clear examples of the classical palazzo are the Banco del Pac’fico (Bank of the Pacific, 1921) by Shade, Oyarzún and Phillippi and the office building of the Banco Hipotecario (Mortgage Bank, 1925) by Siegel and Sons. Fine examples of the stretched palazzo are the Edificio Ariztía (Ariztía Building, 1921) by Alberto Cruz Montt and the Díaz Building (1925) by Valdivieso and de la Cruz.

Around 1927, the first Art Deco designs appear, with a nationalistic character showing local indigenous elements, such as the Merced 849 (1927) by Luciano Kulczewski or the Ministerio de Hacienda (Exchequer Ministry Building, 1930) by Smith Solar and Smith Miller. At the same time, the first rationalist designs appear, such as a streamlined version, an example being the Oberpauer Building (1929) by Sergio Larraín, today a national monument. Especially interesting in this period is the architecture of J.Martínez, with works such as the University of Chile’s Law School (1934) and the Military School (1943), which suggests the Fascist architecture of the 1930s in Europe.

In a second stage of architecture in Santiago, between 1945 and 1960, rationalism precedes the International Style. Early examples include the Banco del Estado (State Bank, 1945) by Hector Mardones and later the Plaza Italia Building (1956) by Santiago Roi. A fine Le Corbusier-inspired building is the Benedictine Church and Monastery (1954–65), by J.Bellalta, P. Gross, J.Swimburn, R.Irarrazaval, and Fathers M.Correa and G.Guarda.

From 1960 to 1980, the volume of the block disappears, and the isolated tower emerges with an open space, surely inspired by Mies’ Lake Shore Drive Apartments or the Seagram Building. In this period, clearly the International Style is consolidated, producing buildings with volumetric purity and the use of curtain walls. Fine examples of this period are the Reval Building (1963) by Jorge Aguirre; the Costanera Building (1975) by Echenique, Cruz and Boisier; and the Torre Santa María, Santa María Tower (1977), by C.A.Cruz, J.M.Figueroa, J.Claude, Alemparte and Barreda. This period also sees the development of large complexes inspired by Le Corbusier that in some cases wiped out extended areas of the city. These include the Remodelación San Borja (San Borja Unit, 1960s) by the Ministry of Housing; the Unidad Vecinal Providencia (Providencia Neighborhood Complex, 1966) with its twin towers by Esquenazi and Barella; the Torres de Tajamar (Tajamar Towers, 1962–67) by Bresciani, Valdes, Prieto, Castillo, Lorca, Huidobro and Bolton; and the Villa Presidente Frei (President’s Frei Complex, 1965) by J.Larraín, O.Larraín, and D.Balmaceda. Other complexes also began to appear in the garden city communes toward the new areas farther east of the city, such as the Remodelación San Luis (San Luis Renovation, 1974) by Sandoval and Arancibia and the Torres de Vitacura (Three Towers of Vitacura, 1973) by Mauricio Despouy. An important Le Corbusier-inspired building is the Cepal Headquarters for Latin America (1963–68) by E.Duhart, R.Goycoolea, C.de Groote, and O.Santelices.

A fourth and final period of architectural development includes the last two decades of the 20th century, when several of the models used in the previous stage continued to prevail, such as the curtain wall-isolated high-rise, as demonstrated by the building Estado 10 (1982) by Borquez, Paredes and Sotomayor, or using the mirror glass wall as a covering, such as the Edificio Catedral (Cathedral Building, 1982) by Echenique, Cruz, Boisier and Dunner or the Shell Building (1989) by Asahi and Associates. Other interesting examples include the Consorcio Nacional de Seguros-Vida (Insurance Building, 1992) by B.Huidobro, E.Browne, and Judson (with European influences) and the CTC Building (1995) by M.Paredes, J.Iglesis, and L.Prat.

The Lever House (designed by Gordon Bunshaft, New York City, 1951) model continues its influence in the Crowne Plaza Hotel (1981) by Alemparte and Barreda. Other examples increasingly use mirror glass. The interior galleries used in the past, penetrating the city block, are now rescued and reinterpreted in several fine examples, such as the Panorámico Building (1981) by San Martin, Browne and Wenborne, which is later renovated by Record-n and Sartori (1990), and the Edificio Plaza Lyon (1977) by Larraín, Murtinho and Associates and the Shell Building (1989) by Asahi and Associates.

New in the 1980s and 1990s is the presence of more local and contextual aspects that adhere to Postmodern currents. Examples include the use of pre-Colombian references in the Montolin Building (1988) by C.Fernández and Associates, Art Deco references in the Financo Building (1989) by Alemparte and Barreda, classical elements in the Codelco Building (1984) by Boza and Associates, and the CCT Building (1991) by G.Mardones and Associates, inspired in the old brick buildings of downtown Santiago.

The recognition of scale of place directed the design of the Fundación Building (1982) and the Americas Building (1990) by Boza and the Torre San Ramón (San Ramón Tower, 1988) by Flaño, Nuñez, and Tuca.

The use of color or the curve is also present as a strong plastic element applied to buildings, such as that located at Callao and Versalles Streets (1991) by Boza and Associates and the Banmedica Building (1998) by B.Huidobro and Associates.

At present, architects are reinterpreting famous existing buildings, such as the Simon Bolivar Building (1991) by Paredes and Associates, with a clear reference to the AT&T Building by Philip Johnson in New York, and the Cruz Blanca Building (1991) by G.Kreft, producing a bizarre reference to the Chrysler Building in New York. We leave the 20th century and enter the 21st with an increasingly eclectic architecture that, together with the mall culture, is slowly making our cities lose their local character in a world of globalization.

MARCELA PIZZI AND MARÍA PAZ VALENZUELA 

Sennott R.S. Encyclopedia of twentieth century architecture, Vol.3 (P-Z).  Fitzroy Dearborn., 2005.

INTERNAL LINKS

CHILE;

FUTHER READING

Boza, Cristián, 100 Años de Arquitectura Chilena, 1890–1990, Santiago: Editorial Gabriela Manzi Z., 1996

Eliash, Humberto, and Moreno, Manuel, Arquitectura y Modernidad en Chile, 1925– 1965, Santiago: Ediciones Universidad Católica de Chile, 1989

Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanismo de la Universidad de Chile, 150 años de Enseñanza de la Arquitectura en la Universidad de Chile 1849–1999, Santiago: Ograma 1999

Strabucchi Chambers, Wren, Cien Años de Arquitectura en la Universidad Católica 1984–1994, Santiago: Ediciones ARQ, 1994

Universidad de Chile, Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanismo y Ministerio de Vivienda y Urbanismo, Guía de la Arquitectura de Santiago, Chile, 13 Recorridos, Ograma S.A., 2000

De Toesca a la Arquitectura Moderna 1780–1950, Santiago: La Huella de Europa, 1996