Amereida in Valparaiso: an utopian dream of XXth Century

Abstract

In 1952 came a radical change in architecture teaching at Valparaíso Pontificia
Universidad Católica: the Chilean architect Alberto Cruz Covarrubias and the
Argentine writer Godofredo Iommi introduced that revolution. The new starting
point would encompass the poetic significance of architecture as an expression
of the designer’s singular talent, as well as involving students and teachers within
Latin-American reality. The architectural design begins with a collective poetic act
— called “phalène” —, which identifies the work into a dynamic and changing
process, without defining forms and spaces a priori. In 1970, it was begun the
complex of dwellings and public buildings of “Ciudad Abierta Amereida”,
embodying the social utopia and constructive techniques of the teaching staff of
the school, which is kept until today. In a site located thirty kilometers from Viña
del Mar, in Ritoque, noticeable by its hills and dunes overlooking the Pacific
Ocean, “agoras” for outdoor social activities were randomly constructed, some
buildings for cultural life — a music room — an amphitheater, a cemetery and the
teachers' houses, built by themselves with the help of the students. Its configuration
reflects the influence of Surrealism and the art movements of the sixties.
Latin-American culture is taken through its Latin cultural heritage, the main
component of the regional history: hence, the relationship with Virgil and the epic
poem Aeneid as a justification for the name Amereida given to the "Open City"
complex. This utopian experiment of the second half of the twentieth century is
an important contribution representing an alternative approach for questioning
aesthetic movements already present in Latin-American architecture.