Valparaíso School: Open City Group (Masters of Latin American Architecture)

Since 1950 the avant-garde architect Alberto Cruz has had such a defining influence on the Faculty of Architecture at the Catholic University in Valparaíso that the phrase Valparaíso School was soon coined. Out of this work emerged in 1070 the anonymous group "Open City Group". Architects, students, artists and scientists went on to form the Open City outside the town of Valparaíso. They chose the word "open" to convey their unique attitude to dialogue and work where members of the collective are the architects, the inhabitants and also the clients – and also to show their experimental form of architecture which included erecting 1:1 size models! "Open" also refers to the act of creating and confronting oneself with an unknown result. Architectural solutions emerge from the dialogue between architects from different schools with architects from different schools with artists, scientists, painters, sculptors and writers. In this way many highly expressive buildings have been created. "The School of Architecture at the Catholic University of Valparaiso, Chile, underwent a transformation in 1952 when a group of young architects led by Alberto Cruz began teaching at the school. The Valparaiso School, as it became known, acquired an international reputation for its radical stance and its commitment to dialogue between architects and other disciplines. From 1970 onwards, it began to focus much of its research and design activity on the Open City project, which had been created by a group of architects, artists and poets with a vision of a city with "no master plan, no imposed ordering devices, and no hierarchical networks of infrastructure." Originally set up as a laboratory-type environment, this alternative community has since become a place of residence and work for like-minded people. Valparaiso School: Open City Group provides an insight into this radical experiment in urban development through a series of essays and photographs."--Jacket The Valparaíso School, as it became known, acquired an international reputation for its radical stance and its commitment to dialogue between architects and other disciplines. Since 1970 the Valparaíso School has focused much of its research and design activity on the Open City (Ciudad Abierta) project, created by a group of architects, artists, poets, and engineers with a vision of a city with'no master plan, no imposed ordering devices, and no hierarchical networks of infrastructure.'Originally set up as a laboratory-type environment, this alternative community has since become the place of residence and work for many people. Valparaíso School: Open City Group provides insight into this radical experiment in urban development through a series of essays and photographs. The School of Architecture at the Catholic University of Valparaíso, Chile, underwent a transformation in 1952 when a group of young architects led by Alberto Cruz began teaching at the school.