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| Laboratorio de Arquitectura Latinoamericana | |
|---|---|
| Name | Laboratorio de Arquitectura Latinoamericana |
| Native name | Laboratorio de Arquitectura Latinoamericana |
| Abbreviation | LAL |
| Formation | 1980s |
| Type | Research studio |
| Location | Latin America |
| Fields | Architecture, Urbanism, Design |
Laboratorio de Arquitectura Latinoamericana is a transnational design and research collective operating in Latin America that integrates practice, pedagogy, and critique through collaborative studios, built work, and publications. The collective engages with networks across Buenos Aires, São Paulo, Mexico City, Lima, Bogotá, and Santiago while connecting to international institutions such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Columbia University, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, University of Buenos Aires, and Universidad de Chile. Its activities intersect with debates around modernism in Le Corbusier, regionalism in Luis Barragán, and critical urbanism associated with Henri Lefebvre and Manuel Castells.
The collective emerged amid late twentieth-century discourses influenced by projects in Brasília, Ciudad Universitaria (UNAM), Córdoba (Argentina), and the aftermath of political transitions in Argentina, Chile, Peru, and Mexico. Early collaborations referenced precedents such as Oscar Niemeyer, Germán Samper, Alejandro Aravena, and the pedagogical models of Taller de Arquitectura de Ricardo Bofill and Taller Popular de Serpaj while engaging with funding from entities like the Ford Foundation and networks including ArchDaily and Fundación OSDE. The timeline intersects with exhibitions at Venice Biennale, symposiums at Bienal de Arquitectura de São Paulo, and exchanges with curators of MoMA, Tate Modern, and Centre Pompidou.
Founders, early directors, and contributors include architects and scholars affiliated with Universidad de Buenos Aires, Universidad de Chile, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, and visiting researchers from Harvard Graduate School of Design, ETH Zurich, AA School of Architecture, and Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio. Leadership rotated among practitioners connected to figures such as Clorindo Testa, Teodoro Fernández, Rogelio Salmona, Enrique Walker-Rodríguez, and collaborators from studios like MVRDV, OMA, and SOMA. Advisory relationships included critics and historians associated with Kenneth Frampton, Beatriz Colomina, Eduardo Souto de Moura, and institutions like ICOMOS.
The collective synthesizes influences from Modern architecture, Tropical Modernism, and Critical Regionalism while referencing theoretical frameworks by Aldo Rossi, Rem Koolhaas, Adolfo Natalini, and Sverre Fehn. Methodologies draw on precedents in participatory design from Christiania, community-led housing models from Favelas, incremental strategies seen in Alejandro Aravena's work, and research-by-design methods promoted at MIT Media Lab and Berkeley Center for New Media. The studio emphasizes material studies linking suppliers such as Cementos Argos and construction techniques from workshops influenced by Carpentry Guilds and practices showcased at Serpentine Galleries.
Built and unbuilt projects span urban interventions in Buenos Aires's La Boca, housing prototypes in São Paulo's Paraisópolis, public space initiatives in Mexico City's Coyoacán, cultural centers in Lima's Barranco, and adaptive reuse in Bogotá's La Candelaria. Collaborations involved municipal governments of Buenos Aires, São Paulo, and Mexico City and partnerships with NGOs such as Habitat for Humanity, Inter-American Development Bank, and UN-Habitat. Projects dialogued with canonical works like Casa del Fascio, Kahn's Salk Institute, and Rietveld Schröder House and were presented alongside commissions by Renzo Piano, Santiago Calatrava, Toyo Ito, and Glenn Murcutt.
Education programs included workshops, summer studios, and seminars hosted at Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, Universidad de los Andes (Colombia), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, and guest lectures at Princeton University, Yale School of Architecture, and Columbia GSAPP. Research topics encompassed housing policy studies linked to reports by Banco Mundial, urban morphology referencing Camillo Sitte, and material testing published in collaboration with laboratories at ETH Zurich and Stanford University. The collective mentored students who later joined practices such as BAM, DRMM, and Elemental.
Exhibitions were mounted at venues including the Venice Biennale, Bienal de Arquitectura de São Paulo, Centro Cultural Recoleta, Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires, Museo Tamayo, MACBA, and Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (Argentina). Publications ranged from monographs and catalogs to articles in journals like Arquine, Domus, Architectural Review, A+U, El Croquis, and databases such as ArchDaily and Dezeen. Curatorial collaborations involved figures from Rem Koolhaas's Office for Metropolitan Architecture, editors from Phaidon Press, and critics associated with The New York Times architecture desk.
The collective influenced contemporary practices across Latin America, informing policy dialogues at Inter-American Development Bank, pedagogy at Universidad de Buenos Aires and Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, and design approaches in studios led by Alejandro Aravena, Tatiana Bilbao, Elemental, and MAPA. Its legacy appears in curricula at Harvard GSD, discourse at Copenhagen Architecture Festival, and conservation efforts coordinated with ICOMOS and local heritage agencies in Cusco, Quito, and Cartagena. The networked model informed later collectives and think tanks such as Project for Public Spaces, Cities Alliance, and research platforms at Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.
Category:Architecture firms of Argentina Category:Architecture in Latin America