Double face strategies in Colombian modern built environment

• In Event: Late modern architecture in Latin America

Abstract

The massive transformation of the built environment in the 1950s served the political agenda of the time but conditioned the comprehension and appropriation of the modern architecture.
During the short and forceful dictatorship of Gustavo Rojas Pinilla (1953-57), through the “National Plan of Public Works,” the transformation of the Colombian built environment encompassed the international policies for the security of the Western Hemisphere while shaped the breakthrough of the modern architecture nationwide. Different strategies including “misrepresentation” allowed both the incorporation of facilities proper of the development in cities and rural areas, and the control of a vast and tumultuous territory. The instrumentalisation of architecture as a political tool shaped its reception.
This paper tracks modern architecture in Colombia as a result of the nation-building discourse, the security concerns in Latin America as a “backyard” area, the camouflaging strategies in use, and the historical reception of these constructions. I will argue how state architecture condensed not only ambitions but also frictions that shaped the collective memory, the urban development, and the conflictive cultural value of the modern architecture.

Author

• Maria del Pilar Sanchez Beltran, Universidad Nacional de Colombia