Chile. Salar de Carmen

While in Antofogasta, I visited a project called Salar de Carmen. It was designed by Mario Perez de Arce and Jaime Besa in 1959 and encompassed 850 homes. It was very much in the modernist tradition and while originally was a very striking project, has since been transformed into an unrecognizable project, almost blending in with the vernacular of the surrounding neighborhoods.

The original design in 1961


1961 and 2008






Additions and Transformations

Each of these corners were originally the same design


A typical street elevation showing the variety, transformation and progress of the fabric

Context today

Comments

bg said…
living houses. your study fascinates me.
November 20, 2008 at 4:36 AM
luke w perry said…
thanks for the comment. houses are made to be lived in, right? most people associate living homes, etc, with green and sustainable stuff, (living roofs), but got to start with the people first and get it right, or at least give them room to operate.
November 23, 2008 at 8:25 PM
bg said…
same thing happened here (banat, western romania) when the austrians rebuild almoust every village from scratch. If you look at those houses today(after 150-250 years) - most of them are made from earth, you can see some living typologies...
for ex: http://www.flickr.com/photos/41863920@N00/1095301209/in/pool-banatregion
November 24, 2008 at 11:13 AM
luke w perry said…
hi bg. can you post your link again i couldn't get it to work? i think part of it was cut off. yeah, these old houses have all kinds of ranges in materials and low tech applications. it is interesting to see how people reinterpret them and sometimes lose all essence or original intent. here a lot of earth houses are actually for middle and upper class, as it has become a 'style'. i'd like to see the houses you are referencing.
December 2, 2008 at 4:13 PM
bg said…
sorry, hope it will work now:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/41863920@N00/1095345533/in/pool-banatregion
or:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/41863920@N00/2436201780/in/pool-banatregion
http://www.flickr.com/photos/60341039@N00/2505884849/in/pool-banatregion
December 7, 2008 at 5:48 AM
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