Amereida, Open City. Part 1: The foundation of the group and its place

This article is part of the [Beyond Los Andes] , a personal project curated by Germán Andrés Chacón that explores the approach of modernity and the following tendencies on Chilean architecture through the analysis of some of its works, seeking to reveal the features that define its specific nature. Este artículo es parte de la serie [Beyond Los Andes] , comisariada por Germán Andrés Chacón en la que se estudia el enfoque de la modernidad y las posteriores tendencias en la arquitectura chilena a través del análisis de algunas de sus obras, tratando de revelar los aspectos que definen su carácter específico. The Open City of Amereida is one of the most singular experiences of 20th century Latin American architecture. It is a heterogeneous group of more than forty constructions –including open spaces (agoras), workshops, living spaces (hospederías and cubículas), places of worship and sculptures– located in a beautiful landscape in Ritoque, Chile, facing the Pacific Ocean. These buildings have all been particularly designed in a participatory process (in ronda), without a predefined shape, by a community of professors and students of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso inspired by symbolism, Dadaism, surrealism and the Situationist International, among other artistic protest movements of the 1960s. In Open City, this human group brings life, work and study together, assigning a poetic significance to architecture: La Ciudad Abierta de Amereida es una de las experiencias más singulares de la arquitectura latinoamericana del siglo XX. Se trata de un heterogéneo conjunto de más de cuarenta construcciones –entre las que se encuentran espacios abiertos (ágoras), talleres, espacios habitacionales (hospederías y cubículas), lugares para el culto y esculturas– situado frente al Océano Pacífico en un bellísimo paisaje en Ritoque, Chile.