The Discourse on Contemporary Chilean Architecture. Four Fundamental Debates

Abstract

The article proposes to give an interpretation to the important attention that the contemporary Chilean architecture has received, through four debates that base, in part, the quality of the works as the innovative programmatic, spatial and material solutions that can be observed, in twenty years of experience. The careful review of Chilean and international disciplinary journals gives an overview to sup port the theoretical proposal, which reorders a critical view on the development of works and authors. Thus the exceptionality of Chilean architecture is put into perspective, by concepts that explain common architectural strategies: Manifestos, Monomaterial, Refund and Landscape. These four concepts specifically refer to groups of works, which manage to find meaning beyond the specific solution of each building, and proposes to understand common logics that underlie and give a broader sense to contemporary production.