PROJECT DETAILS

BVCH (Carlos Bresciani / Héctor Valdés / Fernando Castillo / Carlos García Huidobro): Unidad Vecinal Portales (Villa Portales), 1954D–1970

  • Santiago, Chile, Show on map
  • #RES #Precast #Public #Banham1966 #Latin America
  • In the 1950s, Santiago's population grew rapidly. The Unidad Vecinal Portales (Villa Portales) project was an attempt to change the scale of the affordable housing problem. The architects designed 19 blocks of flats in exposed concrete on an area of 31 hectares with numerous green, meeting and neighborhood areas that promote community life. 

    The Villa Portales was mentioned by Banham as a brutalist example in South American residential architecture.

  • Over the years, Villa Portales fell into poor condition due to lack of maintenance and damage caused by earthquakes. However, the complex is known for its social, architectural and urban history and significance. For this reason, organizations such as DOCOMOMO Chile, in cooperation with a neighborhood association of Villa Portales, began a major documentation and damage assessment project in March 2010 with the aim of preserving Chile's modern heritage. In recent years, the complex has been included in the Chilean Ministry of Housing's “Quiero Mi Barrio” program, which focuses on urban regeneration. This initiative has aimed to improve public spaces and engage the community, but large-scale renovations of the residential structures themselves remain limited. The complex still suffers from poor upkeep, though there have been efforts to preserve its historical and architectural value. Future unclear.

    This building was included in the red list, published in our exhibition catalog SOS Brutalism: A Global Survey (September 2017). After a status review on October 23, 2024, it is still classified as red (endangered) in the online database.