Back to basics. A critical view of traditional dwellings in southern Chile through nineteenth century photograph

Abstract

Photography is, doubtless, an extraordinary tool for the historic study of architecture. This is proven by its capacity to document territories and buildings with ample scales of register. Photography arrived in Chile in the second half of the nineteenth century, coinciding with a process of national construction and territorial consolidation which was being developed in parallel to that of other American nations. Views of cities, streets and buildings, captured by both renowned and unknown photographers, are a testimony of the influence of colonial hispanic architecture on the building traditions of the country. They also document the origins of a new kind of architecture, arising in the so-called ‘colonisation territories’ as a result of an exchange of local and European building traditions, which was swiftly assimilated and expanded. Thanks to the lenses of the nineteenth century photographers today we can take advantage of valuable visual evidence that allows us to better understand the traditional architecture of the centre and South of the country.