CEPAL Building

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 United Nations Building in Chile –headquarters of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)– was designed by Emilio Duhart’s office and built in Santiago de Chile. Since its construction works were finished, in August 1966, the project met with an unprecedented approval with regards to its architectural quality. Thus, not only did the project depict the aesthetic rules of the time, it also reflected its social and political paradigm. Its publication in specialized journals such as AUCA (Chile, 1966), L’Architecture d’Aujourd’hui (France, 1967/1968) or Architecture de Lumiére (France, 1968) captures its impact. In addition, it was exhibited in the exposition “Latin America in Construction: Architecture 1955-1980” at the MoMA in New York in 2015 and has recently been included on the observation lists of DOCOMOMO and Chile’s National Cultural Heritage. El Edificio de las Naciones Unidas en Chile –sede de la Comisión Económica para América Latina y Caribe– fue proyectado por la oficina de Emilio Duhart y construido en Santiago de Chile. Desde que acabaron las obras, en agosto de 1966, el proyecto generó un inédito consenso disciplinar en cuanto a su calidad arquitectónica, pues, plasmando los cánones estéticos de su momento, reflejaba también el paradigma social y político de entonces.