Bolivian architect Freddy Mamani is aiming to imbue culture, colour and personality into the "monochrome" city of El Alto, through buildings based on ancient local architecture and craft.

The architect has strived to slowly transform El Alto with his colourful architecture, as seen in these photographs.

"In the last 18 years, my practice has been trying to introduce a colour to El Alto," said Mamani, speaking through a translator at The Met's A Year of Architecture in a Day symposium last month. "I have created what I call the New Andean Architecture in El Alto."

Located outside of the capital La Paz, about 13,000 feet (4,000 metres) above sea level, El Alto is one of the youngest cities in Bolivia but already its second most populous.

The majority of its inhabitants migrated from rural areas. They come from a variety of different Bolivian cultural backgrounds, but around 75 per cent identify as Aymara.

Built rapidly over the past three decades to accommodate this influx, the city's urban sprawl is predominantly constructed from traditional adobe mud bricks and similarly hued modern versions.

"El Alto is always considered a monochromatic city, because of the altitude and the very cold alpine climate," Mamani said. "[My] buildings, day by day, are giving more of a modernity to the city."

His references for the style he has developed come from the ancient city of Tiwanaku, 60 kilometres from El Alto, which thrived 500-1000AD when it controlled much of the Southern Andes. The palace at the UNESCO World Heritage Site is still used for political events and speeches today.

"My architecture incorporates lines and motifs from a very ancient architecture, from the imperial capital of Tiwanaku," said Mamani, who visited the archeological site during high school. "I wanted to rescue these lines and motifs from Tiwanaku, and imbue contemporary architecture with these ancient forms."

He takes the geometric shapes found among the ruins – which include depictions of condors, pumas and other natural forms – and blends them into more figural organic designs that also reference elements like mountains, lightning, animals and flowers.

"All of these elements from Tiwanaku can be translated into symmetrical forms in contemporary architecture," Mamani said. "This architecture has its own language, its own culture, its own identity, and translates these ancient ideas into the contemporary city."

Photograph by Mattia Polisena

For the colours, the architect looks to another local tradition – the woven textiles that are created for, and worn by, women of the Aymara culture. The bright blues, greens, reds and pinks of these fabrics are splashed liberally across the facades of Mamani's buildings.

The finished structures each serve multiple purposes. Typically, the first floors accommodate stores and commercial spaces, while the second and third floors are composed of large activity halls for bringing together families and the community.

Photograph by Mattia Polisena

Apartments – or sometimes sports facilities – occupy the fourth and fifth floors, then the top floor is reserved for "cholet": a fusion of the words chola (a woman who wears a very wide skirt) and chalet.

The boldly patterned exterior surfaces continue inside the grand halls, where floral motifs form ceiling plates for modern chandeliers and capitals for columns.

Photograph by Mattia Polisena

Lighting adds to the effect, with 2,000 to 3,000 single coloured bulbs as well as five to seven large chandeliers used in each hall.

"We try to use colour to transmit joy to the occupants," said Mamani, who begins his design process with sketches, then works closely with artists to realise the results.

The craftspeople who work on his projects learn artisanal architectural moulding techniques from a young age. All the colours in the interiors are hand-painted with brushes.

Photograph by Mattia Polisena

Mamani has so far completed around 70 buildings like this in El Alto, and more than 100 across Bolivia. Many locals consider these structures to be status symbols.

"May architecture serves as a form of trophy, as many of the Aymara people of El Alto want to win or obtain these buildings," Mamani said. "They want to express their culture and identity through these buildings, but they also show economic power in recent years."

This has not gone unnoticed by competitors in the construction industry, who have tried to capitalise on Mamani's success by mimicking his signature style across their own structures.

"Other contractors and builders in El Alto have followed in my footsteps, and started integrating colour into the facades," Mamani said. "It doesn't bother me that they copy me, I believe that it is really making the city better in general."

Photograph by Mattia Polisena

The New Andean Architecture has also sparked interest internationally, and thanks to widespread media attention, is bringing visitors from around the world to El Alto.

"Another benefit is that tourists are now visiting these buildings, and a tourism industry is building up in a city that was previously monochromatic," Mamani said.

Photograph by Mattia Polisena

A recreation of one of Mamani's ballrooms forms part of the Southern Geometries: From Mexico to Patagonia exhibition at Fondation Cartier, 261 Boulevard Raspail, Paris, which runs until 24 February 2019.

The Met's In Our Time: A Year of Architecture in a Day symposium took place 19 January 2019, and also included presentations from OMA, MAD, SO-IL and many more.

Videos of the symposium's three sessions are available to watch on Dezeen, which was media partner for the event.

Photography is by Tatewaki Nio unless stated otherwise.

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  • Nina 2 years ago edited

    It's beautiful! Makes me think of a cartoon, actually it reminds me of this TED-ed video about One Hundred Years of Solitude.

      • DBC 2 years ago edited

        Vomit.

          • Rob Rohena 2 years ago edited

            Glad to see the Power Rangers take some time off from fighting bad guys and focus on architecture.

            I love it. I don't think I have ever seen something this new and novel.

              • Gary Osland 2 years ago edited

                Thankful that I don't have to drive by or live next to such an awful display of taste. Time will not be kind to this type of design. But then had I lived decades ago, I may have said the same for Casa Familia.

                  • yethica 2 years ago edited

                    Has anyone else played the game Monument Valley? This reminds me of that. And I don't hate it.

                      • KJ 2 years ago edited

                        So tastefully reflects the vibrant nature of Bolivian heritage and will be beautifully complemented by those big blue skies.

                          • Life in Shaw 2 years ago edited

                            So groovy. I love 60s and 70s colours. Take me back! I can see The Brady Bunch performing "It's A Sunshine Day" in that grand hall!

                              • SuperChromatic 2 years ago edited

                                I like it. They're fun and friendly, although the interiors are a bit much even for me. They say good things about socioeconomic health, as interesting and adventurous architecture often gets thrown out the window as optional in harder times. I think anyone who is willing to defend brutalist or deconstructivist architecture but balks at this needs to recalibrate their head. Besides, is this really worse than boring rectangles clad with aluminium panels?

                                  • Rthko 2 years ago edited

                                    Mamani's works are indicative of an era of prosperity in Bolivia, in which artists and designers of traditionally disenfranchised groups now have the resources to share their voice. Regardless of how "jarring" the western audience considers the pallets, these buildings should still be celebrated.

                                      • Mp 2 years ago edited

                                        OMG.

                                          • Ha! I recently visited the Bodys Isek Kingelez exhibition at the MoMA. Kingelez was a Congolese sculptor who, in Dezeen's own words, "modelled futuristic African cities with recycled cardboard, colourful paper and Coca-Cola cans". I never knew Kingelez had a kindred spirit in the Andes.

                                            • Michael Graves on Ayahuasca. We shouldn't encourage this raunchiness, but I'm just glad that it exists.

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                                                  • spadestick > Guest 2 years ago edited

                                                    I beg to differ - both of them have awful taste.

                                                      • Bsl > Guest 2 years ago edited

                                                        Graves's aesthetics are very controversial. His Portland municipal building is one of the most criticized buildings ever. Yes Graves is very constrained in comparison, but there are colors and geometrical elements that are common in both architects work.

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                                                            • I suggest you research what the users of the PPS building thought of it before you spend too much effort defending it. I'll save you the trouble actually, it was universally detested, to such a degree that the city was considering demolishing it a few years ago.

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                                                                  • "I judge only by its look, not its functionality"

                                                                    As flawed a premise for a debate about architecture as I have ever heard.

                                                                  • Bsl > Guest 2 years ago edited

                                                                    .. so who and what determines what mastery is? Awards and prestige? Academic diplomas? Fame and fandom? Published literature? Years of experience? Scale and cost of projects? Number of employees in his firm?

                                                                    A true master is one who invents his own method, and is later measured by the method that he invented for himself. If Mamany acquires the same resources afforded to Graves, he'll be a master for sure.

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                                                                        • Well if he made it from an obscure Bolivian town to exhibiting in Paris and New York, then be assured you'll be hearing more from him :P

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                                                                              • Are you being paid to promote Mamani? At this point more positive comments on are posted on this article pretty much just to spite you.

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                                                                                    • "The fact that somebody shows something in Paris or New York City doesn't impress me at all." Please share all the magnificent work that you've created for us all to enjoy.

                                                                    • ettore sottsass would be jealous

                                                                        • jon 2 years ago edited

                                                                          I was fortunate enough to be in the audience at The Met when Mamani presented his work as part of the In Our Time symposium, and the audience listened with rapt attention as the man talked in depth about his cultural heritage, his backstory, and his perspective as a designer -- all using a mixture of anecdotes, humor, and intellectual deliberation.

                                                                          This is the kind of work that is unique in a way that jolts you awake, and the process is clearly informed by an understanding of the function of ornament and sculptural formalism in a vernacular context. The entire auditorium absolutely loved his portfolio, his spirit, as well as the way in which he's able to completely transform an entire urban landscape on his own through some very modest means, and with help from indigenous labor as provided by traditional artisans.

                                                                          Why should Hundertwasser and Gaudi be lauded as joyous triumphs but Mamani's work derided as kitsch when they are both equally authentic manifestations of the artist and the culture they inhabit? Could it be our biases at work? I certainly hope not, and hope to see more from Mamani, as well as the many more who will no doubt be inspired by him.

                                                                            • spadestick > jon 2 years ago edited

                                                                              The difference is that Gaudi incorporates structure into his works that forms the sculptural whole including the whole internal composition. But Hundertwasser and this dude are simply slap-on pastiche, a mere exercise in facadism. Who likes facadism? Surely no formally trained architect or designer. Can't even believe people are defending and lauding facadism. Look, I am not saying he's not a nice guy, nor the social and modest means aspects of the work. That's beside the point. Mexicans just do it so much better, in my opinion.

                                                                                • jon > spadestick 2 years ago edited

                                                                                  I am happy to welcome anyone who challenges that status quo, and Mamani certainly sent a jolt though the discourse of architecture with his flamboyant portfolio. It's the kind of unabashed perspective that makes you wish you could walk through an entire neighborhood of such structures, so that your senses can be overwhelmed by its unbridled effervescence as the pieces melt into a dizzying yet strangely cohesive whole, the way La Boca, San Miguel, Guanajuato, Santa Marta, Kampung Pelangi, etc do.

                                                                                  Look, as someone who loves the work of Renzo, Chipperfield, Zumthor, Neri&Hu, FCJZ, Vector Architects, and everyone else who produces simple yet elegant marriages of exquisitely detailed material and form, I am the last person who would endorse facadism, but I think emerging voices, especially ones that communicate a long-absent local cultural heritage, have a voice at the table, and that our evaluation of their contributions need to be very carefully examined and executed, so that we can accurately distinguish between what is valid criticism, and what is simply conservatism.

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                                                                                  • jon > Guest 2 years ago edited

                                                                                    You speak as if these are incontrovertible truths. As much as I enjoy their creations, I could easily find thousands of people who think the work of those two artists is garish and hideous; both from their time and among contemporary audiences. What are the "objective" criteria you use for good taste, then? I would argue that your strong reaction is more likely due to the fact that, like many people, Mamani's works are simply something you have never seen before, and have not had a chance to process and contextualize it -- either visually or mentally. With the benefit of time, open-mindedness, and careful study, there is much to be appreciated in them, even if they don't end up being your favorite thing.

                                                                                      • yes > jon 2 years ago edited

                                                                                        Thank you for this Jon. This person has posted 3 times on this article on the same basis that the architect has no good taste without speculating what good taste is - quite ridiculous.
                                                                                        And to further add to what you said about processing it visually or mentally I think it is also about processing it experientially. It is all very well judging something from a still photograph - but go to Bolivia, live there, speak to the people etc. ''contextualize'' it as you said.

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                                                                                            • bbb > Guest 2 years ago edited

                                                                                              And only a very stupid person will believe that they have been 'trained in good taste at art school'. Architecture goes beyond good or bad taste such as who the building is for, where it is situated, how it is used, how it will function in 10 / 20 years time etc. These are the important questions and part of what makes an architect. To merely judge something on colour / facade-geometry is a very shallow judgement. Maybe your criticism has something to do with your 'good art training' where you have been conditioned to a certain perspective. Nevertheless you don't want to go to Bolivia to 'see a nightmare' building, where a building is not just for seeing in the 1st place - stick to judging art.

                                                                                              You have bombarded this article with your opinions that have 'no good taste' (in your words). Take a step back and look beyond the colours.

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                                                                                              • qwerty > Guest 2 years ago edited

                                                                                                If you have been seen 'everything' worth seeing in ancient, old and contemporary architecture and art and trained in good taste. Then what on earth are you doing on Dezeen (I don't even know why I am here haha) in the comments section running down a project in architecture with words like 'the ugliest thing I have seen'. Dezeen must love you.

                                                                                                And don't say you here to inflict change because you care so much. If you had such a good eye you would not have too comment on this article so much, you would simply be going about your business creating art with 'good taste and colours'.

                                                                                                • jon > Guest 2 years ago edited

                                                                                                  Those same "clashes" of color and geometry are endemic to the Aymara peoples' cultural heritage, and observed in every facet of their life, including their architecture, clothing, religious iconography, and graphic illustrations, and have survived centuries of generations to create an identity that is meaningful and important to an entire region of the world. I continue to contend that your perspective is likely impacted by a pro-establishment (often Euro-centric) bias that is inherent in many academic programs.

                                                                                                  Likewise, there is no such thing as being "trained in good taste at art school"; the purpose of art school is to be trained in technical skill, history, and business/marketing, while being creatively nurtured, so that the student can find their voice and the individual artist can emerge.

                                                                                                  As the mesmerized audience at the Met will attest, the taste aspect is very personal, not to mention determined democratically. Top-down, arbitrated taste, on the other hand, can be constrictive, especially to emerging creatives whose perspective or interests fall outside those of the academic elites'. There are tons of now-iconic names who challenged the aesthetic and intellectual status quo throughout history to create the rich, beautiful variety of artistic production we get to enjoy today. Not allowing Mamani's work to be part of that marketplace of ideas, and seeing how it fares in popular appreciation and longevity is a disservice to Art, not to mention anyone who truly cares about it.

                                                                                                  Creativity does not need gatekeepers. There is no need to extend elitist and absolutist biases beyond the walls of these institutions. Let art and artists be free.

                                                                                                    • HeywoodFloyd > jon 2 years ago edited

                                                                                                      Not going to muddle into your debate with Malgorzata about taste, other than to advise you that you are definitely fighting an uphill battle on that front!

                                                                                                      To repeat my own comment above, I appreciate the academic rationalization of the style, but I can't help but think that you are being too lenient because the designs are representative of a specific local heritage. If this kind of work were to come out of a western architecture school I don't believe it would be thought of so sympathetically. I don't think that it's fair to allow for architecture that is somewhat objectively garishly colored and clunky from one group just because of their cultural context but not another. I am definitely not advocating for a universal vernacular, I just think we should attempt to be universally consistent in how we evaluate architecture.

                                                                                                        • jon > HeywoodFloyd 2 years ago edited

                                                                                                          I do agree with you in many aspects, and your response, as usual, is a much more nuanced and engaging one than "I have excellent taste and hate Mamani, and hope everyone like him goes bankrupt so they can stop making the world an ugly place".

                                                                                                          I don't know if "lenient" is the right word for it, because it implies an arbitration on a different culture than mine, but I am more open-minded, willing to listen, and welcoming of a new perspective that is fundamentally different to my experience. This is a local aesthetic that is just now finding its voice in a modest fashion that mirrors the way that architecture was traditionally practiced --as a direct collaboration between local craftsmen and the architect as "master builder"-- that you don't get to see a lot these days, and I am excited to see where it goes, and what kind of lessons it can offer us as an example of regional urbanism, both by way of its successes, as well as through its blunders.

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                                                                                                            • If you truly don't care for something, the appropriate response is to simply move on. If Mamani is eliciting such strong reactions, he must be doing something right.

                                                                                                  • Never heard of El Alto but now I want to visit. So awfully compelling or compellingly awful I need to see it.

                                                                                                      • Jacob Volanski 2 years ago edited

                                                                                                        The immediate impulse from most of us on a design website is to dismiss these things as kitsch trash, but there is something to be said of an interesting and culturally engaging facade.

                                                                                                        The compositions are whimsical and I think that there is indeed a place for whimsy in architecture. I myself have taste for a bit more restraint, but in a place that is striving to make an image for itself, this certainly does the job.

                                                                                                        That all being said, I'd love to see how this vision of plastic opulence fares after a decade or two of ware.