A historical study of Latin American modernism, foregrounding Quito, Ecuador as a point of encounter between local and international influences. Situated at the crossroads of the foreign and the vernacular, Quito-the capital of Ecuador, with its world-famous yet understudied built environment-stands as a testament to architectural in-betweenness. This book interweaves history and theory to explore how near and far influences have shaped its unique character.
Case studies present diverse and unexpected episodes in the architectural history of this city, spanning the intricacies of its topography, the design of modernist houses and the appropriation of the motel typology. Together, they show how fluxes of different origins have created an architecture marked by diversity and interrelation. To theoretically frame these investigations, this anthology readdresses the notions of the global and the local, examining their tension and unavoidable coexistence, while introducing the in-between as a phenomenon with many variations and embodiments, increasingly referenced in architectural thinking. This book not only furthers the evolution of these concepts but also demonstrates their value as tools for analyzing the architectures of Latin America and the Global South more broadly.
With contributions from both international experts and a new generation of Ecuadorian scholars, Modern Architecture of Quito is an indispensable resource for students and researchers investigating the development of architectural modernism in Latin America.
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A historical study of Latin American modernism, foregrounding Quito, Ecuador as a point of encounter between local and international influences.
Acknowledgements
Foreword, Lara Schrijver (University of Antwerp, Belgium)
Approaching
1. Architectures of the In-Between - Christian Parreno (San Francisco de
Quito University, Ecuador)
2. Kenneth Framptons Towards a Critical Regionalism: A Retreat from
Postmodernism or a Visionary Plea for a Resilient Future? - Véronique
Patteeuw (ENSAP Lille, France) and Léa-Catherine Szacka (University of
Manchester, UK)
Encountering
3. The Maze of El Panecillo, or the Impossible Roundabout - Cristina Bueno
(San Francisco de Quito University, Ecuador)
4. Architecture for Pan-Americanism: Local Aspirations, Regional Interests,
and the (Unrealized) Inter-American Conference of Quito of 1959 - Ernesto
Bilbao (Auburn University, USA)
5. Modern Houses on the Slopes of Quito - Marcelo Banderas (San Francisco de
Quito University, Ecuador)
6. The Motel, a Neighborhood in Quito: The Adaptation of an Imported Type -
Karina Cazar and Ana María Carrión (both San Francisco de Quito University,
Ecuador)
Extrapolating
7. Our North Is the South: Reflections from a Meeting on Teaching the History
of Latin American Architecture - Ana María León (Harvard Graduate School of
Design, USA) and Fernando Luis Martínez (University of Buenos Aires,
Argentina)
8. Neither Black nor White: The In-Between Position of Latin Modern
Architects - Ana Esteban-Maluenda (Polytechnic University of Madrid, Spain)
9. The Universal, the Global, the Regional, and the Local: Toward an
Architecture of Place - Karen Rogers (Auburn University, USA)
Contributors
Index
Christian Parreno is Assistant Professor of History and Theory of Architecture at San Francisco University of Quito, Ecuador. He is the author of Boredom, Architecture, and Spatial Experience (Bloomsbury, 2021).
