As the end of our trip now rears its ugly head, I look back on my Santiago experience and think of some of the major differences between what I’ve seen and experienced here versus back in Colombus. The large amount of plant life penetrating the cities here, the language barrier, the weird trash pick-up baskets, and (what stuck out most to me) the amount of street art here. It seems that everywhere you turn there is some moral, tag, or scribble; and no surface is safe. It’s on buildings, street signs, the road, benches, and literally all of the bus windows. The people here are creative and it shows through the marks they’ve made on their environment. Over the week I’ve seen lots of reoccurring tags in different locations through the city. Whoever did each of them has that innate desire to leave something personalized and recognizable for others to see. Even though it may not connected to their name what matters to them is knowing they have this entity out there that everyone can see that is inherently theirs. Art is all about creating and making something outside of yourself that evokes something in other people who see it. What better gallery than a cityscape that millions of people live and work in? Back home grafetti is certainly more frowned upon back home. But I’m a person that thinks that any art opposed to no art is usually good art. I think it adds interest and depth to santigo. It makes the large city feel more personal and connected. It helped me to recognize the cultural perspectives of the people here through their own handiwork on their city.
Continue reading artists de la calle
Neighborhoods
Valparaíso’s Crafted Authenticity
Traveling through Valparaíso was a beautiful experience from start to finish. It was awe-inspiring to see the many architectural styles within such a short distance from each other. We were enlightened with views of pretty houses on a hill all leading to the big blue ocean.
However, there was this emptiness to the portion we walked through. It kept nagging me through the walk that the only people we saw were vendors, waitresses, and other tourists. Not to say that it was necessarily a bad feeling, but at some point I had to ask if I was walking through a film set. Most of the houses appear to be houses in terms of typology but had a lot of variance in the programs. It might be unreasonable to expect a majority of people to be able to afford the maintenance for such a house. Yet, at the same time I think houses built should serve their purpose as houses and not as vessels to drive the tourism market.
One of the main reasons I believe it only to be geared toward the tourism market is the emphasis placed on appearances. There were many houses empty and vacated that were being renovated to have the appearance of vibrancy even if it did not necessarily start that way. I am a fan of the appearance of the city, but I do believe it is similar to Santa Monica where zoning code drives a lot of the decisions of the outer appearance. In my opinon, giving individuals the opportunity to control their facades would be preferable. Even though the houses were eye-catching, I felt myself more moved by the murals throughout the city. That was the most authentic experience for me personally. The same energy used to paint the intricate work could be applied to the surface treatment of the facades.
Valparaíso gives an appearance of parts relating to the whole while the relation is only surface level
This door shows a treatment of surface where formal properties are overlayed with graphics
Even with a mural painted over the masonry the bricks’ pattern is still present and gives the image another layer of depth
America, Land of Who?
The United States of America or just America, that’s how I and most others refer to these 50 states. Whenever I travel abroad, I refer to myself as an American. I know my customs and traditions to be American. I remember the first time that I was introduced to the concept of “America” meaning more than just the United States of America. It was in one of my introductory Spanish classes at OSU. My professor asked us who was more American, us or someone from Panamá, perhaps. After all, Panamá is located in Central America. Ofcourse I was already aware of the existence of both Central and South America but we, the USA were the Americans, right? It was during that Spanish class that I began to challenge that idea. I was indirectly reminded of this when visiting La Moneda Cultural Center. On the glass walls, the phrase “America, Tierra de Quienes” was painted. This translates to “America, Land of Who?”. As I was pondering on this, I began to think of the ethnic and cultural background of the people that make up “America”. Let’s think about Latin America in particular since we are in Chile. In 2019, it’s a melting pot like the United States but we know that much of the cultural make up comes from Spainards, enslaved Africans, and Indigenous peoples native to this land. I saw this cultural make up represented in the artwork all over Valparaíso which we visited on day 5. Some of the people depicted on the murals were, in my opinion very clearly of African descent and others indigenous. This experience in Chile has truly brought this concept to life for me and I will continue to learn about and expand on this idea of America being more than the United States of America.The United States of America or just America, that’s how I and most others refer to these 50 states. Whenever I travel abroad, I refer to myself as an American. I know my customs and traditions to be American. I remember the first time that I was introduced to the concept of “America” meaning more than just the United States of America. It was in one of my introductory Spanish classes at OSU. My professor asked us who was more American, us or someone from Panamá, perhaps. After all, Panamá is located in Central America. Ofcourse I was already aware of the existence of both Central and South America but we, the USA were the Americans, right? It was during that Spanish class that I began to challenge that idea. I was indirectly reminded of this when visiting La Moneda Cultural Center. On the glass walls, the phrase “America, Tierra de Quienes” was painted. This translates to “America, Land of Who?”. As I was pondering on this, I began to think of the ethnic and cultural background of the people that make up “America”. Let’s think about Latin America in particular since we are in Chile. In 2019, it’s a melting pot like the United States but we know that much of the cultural make up comes from Spainards, enslaved Africans, and Indigenous peoples native to this land. I saw this cultural make up represented in the artwork all over Valparaíso which we visited on day 5. Some of the people depicted on the murals were, in my opinion very clearly of African descent and others indigenous. This experience in Chile has truly brought this concept to life for me and I will continue to learn about and expand on this idea of America being more than the United States of America.
America, Land of Who at La Moneda Cultural Center
One of many colorful murals in Valparaíso
Mural in Valparaíso
Valparaiso Around the Corner
I can honestly say that the city of Valparaiso is the the most beautiful and unique city I have visited. Not just because of the vibrant colors on all of the buildings, it’s the unique organization and topography that help to make the city so memorable. Being built on the side of a mountain, makes the view of the city and the navigation through the city very different from the flat Ohio fields where I grew up. Everywhere you go there are either stairs or inclines, hardly a flat place in sight. The constant changes in elevation and everything being packed so close together make it hard to see very far in most directions. This aspect allows for many hidden doorways, alleys, and drop offs everywhere you turn. Just walking through the streets of this city is an adventure. The surprises at every turn give the city a very playful and fun atmosphere.
The compactness of the city also exaggerates its eclectic nature. Everything, old and new, the wealthy and shanties are often butted right up next to one another. This allows for even more stark visual contrast. No matter where you look, you don’t know what you’re gonna get.
One city, many cultures
A governmental building near Valparaíso port
View of Valparaíso hillside
Colorful historic facades
I thoroughly enjoyed visiting Valparaíso, and one of the most interesting things that I learned on the day trip was the qualifications for Valparaíso becoming a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and all of the regulations that must be followed to maintain that status. I did some more research on the UNESCO website and learned that the significance of the site has to do with the eclectic mix of culture that resulted from the many settlers from different countries stopping at Valparaíso. One thing that I found particularly interesting was the fact that in order to follow UNESCO regulations, only the facades of buildings need to be preserved. This regulation resulted in some interesting architecture, such as the first picture in this post. This governmental building still complies with UNESCO regulations because the outermost facade is still in tact, however a glass-clad building emerges out of the top. Although I was not a fan of this particular building, I think that the overall concept presents the opportunity to experiment with a blend of new and old architecture. Also, this allows architects to continue to renovate the interior of buildings to suit the needs of people living in the city, while still maintaining the iconic appearance that Valparaíso is known for. UNESCO recognizes the fact that buildings will require maintenance in order to stay operating, so specific measures have been put in place to identify where and what buildings can be amended.
I really enjoyed looking around the city and seeing the innumerable historic buildings, each with their own character. Some buildings appear very dilapidated, however it is important to remember that they serve a historical purpose as well as a functional purpose. Looking inside some of the windows I noticed interiors that had recently been updated to fit the needs of people living there. However, every building contained a historic facade, which was not only visually appealing to me as a tourist, but also gave a glimpse into the past about the various cultures that passed through the city and left their mark, creating the picture that Valparaíso is today.
Government and Collective Efficacy
View from the top where a little café is located. Showcasing the cerro on one side and the city on the other.
Today on our last stop of the day we visited UC lo Contador Campus ( school of architecture). The Chilean guide and professor at the school was absolutely amazing apart from letting us into all the amazing spaces on campus. Specifically, I was incredibly impressed with his comment about collective efficacy in Chile. He mentioned how Chile had been facing natural disasters -mainly earthquakes- for the past 10-15 years and that this was incredibly hard on the government. Moreover, that a continuous flow of natural disasters put a huge strain on the government. This caused a huge financial strain on the government which led the governments funds to dry up. This strain existed because of the continuous renovations thay needed to be done on the buildings and projects affected by natural disasters like earthquakes. Normally, this would be a huge issue and questions about government’s level of leadership would be in question. However, it was poetically mentioned that this caused a blessing for the community. This created what we know as collective efficacy. The community came together to unifórmalo spear head the problem head on. As a collective effort they rounded up funds and support from architects as well as a few supportive politicians to raise money and ideas on how to combat this issue. This shows how Chilean people are so much different than the United States where our culture is very individualistic. Here we see the strong bonds created in social circles but also the importance of community and how that relationship is incredibly important in times like these. However, what I enjoyed the absolute most was the fact that this bind still continues to grow. That as a community in times of new the Chilean community comes together to combat issues regardless if it affects them on an individual level or not.
A New Street Style
View of street near Pre-Colombian Museum
Often times during studio, it is common for someone to begin a project by trying to create areas with an ambiguity of space. That includes me, but it wasn’t until I visited Santiago that I realized what that truly means. From division of interior and exterior to separation of public and private spaces, so much of Santiago seems to blend together and act as a whole rather than piece by piece.
The sketch focuses on the streets, which act as a specific example of this. So many of them are at the same height as the sidewalk. They do not have that slight change in section with a curb to indicate difference. Small round and circular mounds help with that, but other than that the space feels very continuous and helps encourage the public use. The sketch shows how there are very many changes in ground patterns, but the street still isn’t very separately defined.