Literature Review

LITERATURE REVIEW

I will formulate my literature review by highlighting the pivotal 1970s Chilean ‘dawn of neoliberalism’ era

at the point of Salvador Allende’s socialism, vs Augusto Pinochet’s acceptance of neoliberalism, and how

this has shaped Chile’s economy and housing up to present day, to the detriment of many Chileans, to the

benefit of few. Augusto Pinochet was a dictator in Chile, from 1973-90. He was adored by the neoliberal

global north politically, with Margret Thatcher pinning the success of the Falklands War, down to the aid

of Chile. Similarly, as in Britain, he privatised the housing market within Chile and despite his tyranny, is recognised as the one who developed his nation into a ‘rich country’, but many of the poorest were

abandoned. Still to this day Pinochet’s effect on Chile leaves many divided, the leftist population were the

result of a mass genocide, whilst many thank him for their economic gain.

Analysis the Chilean housing timeline from the establishment of MINVU (Ministry of Housing and Urbanism of Chile) and their activity through relationships with many presidents over the last century.

How neoliberalism, the global north and the media have advertently affected the scenario, will allow me to

develop empirical evidence to suggest, why it became a laboratory for neoliberalism, the decline of social

housing and what this means specifically for architecture of the Elemental generation. Investigating the

claims and strategies of participatory architecture, during the establishment of the incremental housing and participatory design model at Quinta Monroy, for Chileans most “needy individuals” (Sanoff, 2000: 1).

I will focus on their award-winning project, Quinta Monroy, a prototype for their incremental design and

housing manual. To understand it from an economical, architectural and personal lens and how it situates

itself within the present Chilean housing political framework, whilst drawing from its experiences from

the early 20th century.