Architect Cristián Izquierdo Builds a Multi-Family Complex—and Instant Community—in Santiago
To build a home for his family in the heart of the city, the designer gathered some friends and put a new spin on communal living.
To build a home for his family in the heart of the city, the designer gathered some friends and put a new spin on communal living.
You might have glimpsed the three thirty-something couples laughing and strolling through the Santiago, Chile, district of Las Condes over the last few years. They would invariably steer toward the French restaurant Baco, where the conversation always took a turn toward brainstorming: Will our front patios be partitioned off, or will the kids be free to run between them? Should we enclose the upstairs landings?
The friends alternated wine-pouring duties—the surgeon taking turns with the Olympic hopeful, the psychologist, the agronomist, and the journalist—while the ringleader of the group could be counted on to produce pencil and paper, transcribing their ideas into drawings. His compatriots would sign off on the agreed-upon sketches, and they would all disband with the same cheer with which they started.
A group of friends, led by architect Cristián Izquierdo, designed and developed a five-unit complex for their own families in Santiago, Chile. So many neighbors have stopped at the steel-slatted fence to chat about the architecture that a local radio station invited Cristián to discuss the design process on air.
Photo by Cristóbal Palma
"There have been a lot of low-rise, high-density developments in Santiago recently, but they are mainly governed by isolation of the family unit and the importance of the car," says Izquierdo.
Photo by Cristóbal Palma
Architect Cristián Izquierdo first orchestrated these lubricated design meetings in 2018, about a year after his toddler son started wanting to explore outside the family apartment. He and his wife, psychologist Magdalena Sánchez, known as Maida, began to hunt for a new home with outdoor space. They could have found something with a patio in Las Condes within their price range, but hardly the open-interior home with outdoor space they hoped for.
Residents Jorge Browne with his daughter in the communal courtyard that runs along the front of the structure.
Photo by Cristóbal Palma
See the full story on Dwell.com: Architect Cristián Izquierdo Builds a Multi-Family Complex—and Instant Community—in Santiago
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