With a width of 8 meters, the corridors are designed to accommodate the internal marching of troops without disrupting other pedestrians. Furthermore, these walkways create opportunities for gathering, which are characteristic of any educational institution. 10 R YMCA Architects: Enrique Cueto + René González + Osvaldo Muñoz Municipal Permit Year: 1963 The British institution established its first office in Chile in 1912, locating it in Valparaíso. In the 1960s, plans were made to build a new office, which would be situated on two streets: Blanco and Errázuriz avenues. The building was designed to be highly flexible in its use, based on three large interior spaces that serve as focal points. One of these notable spaces is the entrance hall, which leads to a grand ceremonial staircase that ascends to the other levels. The other two spaces consist of a large underground area that would serve as a swimming pool, and, on the fourth level, a gym for sports such as basketball and volleyball.
Sergio Castillo, which is oriented to follow the sun’s path throughout the day and the winds coming from Valparaíso Bay. While the towers are residential, the platform is a neighborhood-scale commercial space that complements the nearby Cardonal Market, which supplies the city with a variety of products. 15 R Esmeralda Street Building Architects: Alfredo Vargas Stoller + Alfredo Vargas H + Rafael Vargas H Municipal Permit Year: 1964 This building is located in the city’s financial district, near the Turri Clock, marking one of the corners where Cochrane and Prat streets meet. The building houses offices and was originally designed for the Municipal Employees’ Pension Fund.
16 R Pedagógico Universidad de Chile-Sede Valparaíso (Actual Casa Central Universidad de Playa Ancha) Architects: Sergio González + José Covacevic Municipal Permit Year: 1965
11 R O’Higgins Building Architects: Abraham Shapira + Raquel Eskenazi Municipal Permit Year: 1956/1958
The project’s origins stem from the need to provide space for Universidad de Chile’s Pedagogical Institute in Valparaíso, founded in 1948. During the 1960s, it became necessary to build new facilities for the education- al center. Consequently, a section of Playa Ancha Municipal Park was selected for the project, located at the far end of the Naval Academy, which had been situated there since the late 1950s. Both projects, with their elongated buildings, flank what is now known as Alejo Barrios Park, creating a harmonious ensemble on the Playa Ancha plain. A distinctive feature is the depth of its facades 17 , with filters provided by reinforced concrete sunshades that protect the large windows and create a dynamic play of shadows that stands out against the built-up skyline of the neighborhood. 17 R Casa Rauch Architects: Sergio Acevedo Bonzi + Oscar Valenzuela Gálvez Municipal Permit Year: 1963 This building rises 5 meters above Avenida Alemania on Cerro Alegre, with its facade facing north. A retaining wall forms the access staircase from the street, leading to a walkway that runs along the edge of the lot without obstructing the views of the bay. The entrance to the house is hidden from the street, creating a small welcoming porch. The house consists of two cubic volumes with different heights, connected by a staircase bridge. The lower volume overhangs the slope, while the rear volume is embedded in the excavated area.
This building is located near Plaza Aníbal Pinto, with two entrances between O'Higgins and Condell streets. The upper floors house offices, while the ground floor is a shopping arcade. A notable feature of the ar- cade is the Ópticas Koch store, which was designed by Eduardo Vargas and Cornelia Koch.
12 R Ópticas Koch in the O'Higgins Building Architect: Eduardo Vargas. Visual artist: Cornelia Koch Year: 1956 – 1958
Eduardo Vargas worked alongside Max Bill, who was one of the most gifted students at the Bauhaus in Dessau. Eduardo and Cornelia were a married couple who integrated architecture and design into their work, creating designs that were highly avant-garde for their time, both in terms of the materials they used and their presentation. Examples of this include the display cases and interior furnishings at Ópticas Koch, which remain unchanged to this day.
13 R Conjunto Habitacional Empart Valparaíso Architect: Jaime Bendersky Municipal Permit Year: 1964
The building is located near Plaza Sotomayor and the city's financial district. It occupies a large portion of a block flanked by Blanco and Cochrane streets and Almirante Señoret Passage. It consists of a complex of two towers set on a platform. The towers are residential and rise above the surrounding skyline, dominating the view from Cerro Alegre to the coastline. Meanwhile, the three-story platform features a screen-like facade on all sides, composed of modular fiber-cement panels designed specifically for the project. On the other hand, the central hall’s ceiling is characterized by concrete volumes that filter natural light into the interior space. This space was designed to house the offices of a public agency. For many years, it served as the headquarters of the Valparaíso Region’s water utility. 14 R Conjunto Habitacional Empart Brasil Architects: Jorge Aguirre + Pablo Burchard + Pedro Burchard Municipal Permit Year: 1966 Located in the El Almendral neighborhood, it overlooks Valparaíso Bay and occupies an entire city block between Brasil and Yungay avenues and Morris and Simón Bolívar streets. It consists of three towers built on an L-shaped platform within the site. The buildings flank a north-facing plaza that houses a sculpture by
18 R CORVI El Almendral Building Architect: León Koslowski. Mural Artist: Carlos González Yáñez. Municipal Permit Year: 1958
This building is located near Plaza O'Higgins in the El Almendral neigh- borhood. On the ground floor, there is a shopping arcade that connects two streets. At the entrance on Victoria Street, there is a large mural by artist Carlos González Yáñez. The mosaic, made of quarter-sized tiles from the IRMIR factory, tells a story unique to Valparaíso. González was also one of the creators—along with Eugenio Brito and María Martner—of the mural that wraps around the auditorium of the Montemar Marine Biology Station at Universidad de Chile’s Valparaíso campus, now known as Universidad de Valparaíso.
17 Perez, F. (2024). Architecture in 20th-Century Chile. (Vol 3). ARQ
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