Bresciani Valdés Castillo y Huidobro, Unidad Vecinal Portales, Santiago, Chile, 1958-1968. Pedestrian square contained between the buildings and houses. © René Combeau, 1960, Archivo de Originales slgm. fadeu puc
Housing explorations. Unidad Vecinal Portales in Santiago

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52200/65.A.DTPWO1DY

Keywords:

Modern Movement, Modern architecture, Modern housing, Post-war housing, Welfare architecture, Mass housing, Santiago modern architecture, Unidad Vecinal Portales, Bresciani, Valdés, Castillo y Huidobro, Restoration of modern architecture

Abstract

This article explores the contribution of Unidad Vecinal Portales – built in Santiago de Chile by the studio Bresciani, Valdés, Castillo y Huidobro – to the debates on social housing in Chile between the 1940s and 1960s. A series of radical decisions, put into action in the complex, demonstrate a deep exploration at the urban, typological, and aesthetic levels. This exploration has given life to an important case study in Chile and Latin- America, where urban and architectural challenges of the second half of the 20th century blend harmoniously.

How to Cite

Bonomo, U. (2021). Housing explorations. Unidad Vecinal Portales in Santiago. Docomomo Journal, (65), 22–27. https://doi.org/10.52200/65.A.DTPWO1DY

Published

2021-07-01

Issue

No. 65 (2021): Housing for All

Section

Essays

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Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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Author Biography

Umberto Bonomo, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

Architect (IUAV, 2004), Phd in Architecture and Urban Studies (Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, 2009). He works on social housing and heritage and is an Associate Professor at the School of Architecture, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, and Director of the UC Cultural Heritage Center.

References

APEY, María Angélica, Historia de la sociedad nacional de Agricultura, Santiago, Sociedad Nacional de Agricultura, 1998.

BONOMO, Umberto, Las dimensiones de la vivienda moderna: la Unidad Vecinal Portales y la producción de viviendas económicas en Chile, 1948-1970, Santiago, Phd Thesis, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, 2009.

CHATEAU, Francisco, El Espesor del Suelo Moderno: el problema de articular ver- ticalmente grandes estratos orizontales en la uvp, Santiago, Master Thesis, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, 2002.

GIEDION, Sigfried, Arquitectura y comunidad, 2nd Ed., Buenos Aires, Nueva Visión, 1958.

HIDALGO, Rodrigo, La vivienda social en Chile: y la construcción del espacio urbano en el Santiago del siglo XX, Santiago, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Centro de Investigaciones Diego Barros Arana, 2005.

RAPOSO, Alfonso, AGUIRRE, Max, Espacio urbano e ideología: el paradigma de la Corporación de Vivienda en la arquitectura habitacional chilena: 1953-1976, Santiago, Universidad Central, Centro de Estudios de la Vivienda, 2001.

VALENZUELA, Luis, Mass housing and urbanization on the road to modernization in Santiago of Chile, 1930-1960, Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 2005.