Displacement of people is one of the most powerful tools for urbanism, and space is not only occupied physically. Nonetheless, one could not say that Valparaíso lacks physical or mental force. One could only say it is weak in the sense that it is liable to break. And the reason for this is that historically Valparaíso has been a powerful expression of the contradictions of its time, and thus, a city prone to crisis. But crisis is perhaps a natural state of our times, and the lucidity of the city resides in the ability to express this global symptom throughout its intricate and contrasted building process, its passionate architecture, its heroic history and humble presence. As Marco Polo suggested to Kublai Khan, it makes no sense to establish a distinction between happy and unhappy cities, but rather into those that through the years and the changes continue to give form to their desires, and those in which desires either erase the city or are erased by it. We have strong reasons to believe that Unitary Urbanism 3 would have seen in this city shaped by desires an ideal place for the development of its program, not only because of Valparaíso’s unique geography and free spirit, but also because of its vast tradition of struggles and contradictions. Out of scarcity, earthquakes and fires, out of recycled wood, imported metal sheets and local materials, mixing building techniques that immigrants brought from all over the world, out of the yearning of the landscape and common life, its inhabitants have created an architecture that sings to the ocean, the elements and human relationships.
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3 ‘The theory of the combined use of arts and techniques as means contributing to the construction of a unified milieu in dynamic relation with experiments in behaviour.’ from Internationale Situationiste #1 , Paris, June 1958
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