Host Institutions

DOCOMOMO International is a non-profit organization dedicated to documentation and conservation of buildings, sites and neighborhoods of the Modern Movement. It was initiated in 1988 by Hubert-Jan Henket, architect and professor, and Wessel de Jonge, architect, and research fellow, at the School of Architecture at the Technical University in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Docomomo International’s missions are to act as a watchdog when important modern movement buildings anywhere are under threat, to exchange ideas relating to conservation technology, history, and education, to foster interest in the ideas and heritage of the modern movement, and to elicit responsibility towards this recent architectural inheritance.

Since its creation, DOCOMOMO International has experienced rapid growth, establishing itself as a significant player not only in the realm of conservation but also in the broader field of architectural culture. The pluralist, interdisciplinary nature of DOCOMOMO International, due to its ability to bring together historians, architects, town planners, landscape architects, conservationists, teachers, students, and public officials, has been a strong asset.

Since its creation in 2004, Docomomo Chile has carried out an intense program of divulgation and valorization of modern heritage, documenting more than 2000 cases along the country. It has organized 5 National Seminars in Santiago (2005), Antofagasta (2007), Valparaiso (2009), Concepción (2012), Santiago (2014), Valdivia (2018) and virtual meetings in 2021 and 2022. Along with these, several smaller events have been held at a national and regional scale. Its national members are regular participants in international activities, such as Docomomo Conferences or seminars implemented by national working parties.

In addition, Docomomo Chile has held thematic seminars for the discussion of specific intervention or conservation cases, like the Centro Cultural Bicentenario at the Chilean embassy in Argentina, or the ECLAC (CEPAL) building in Santiago. In the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake, the organization set up a field team to assess the damage inflicted on relevant residential complexes.

In 2018, Docomomo Chile organized the International Meeting Modern Heritage and Best Practices: Sustainability, Conservation, Management, and Architectural Design. At the same time, it organized the Workshop Modern Heritage and Contemporary Architectural Design, focused on investigating intervention strategies and the role in which architectural design –in its contemporary capacity– can act as a complement to the preservation of modern heritage.

The workshop gathered students and teachers from different backgrounds: Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Universidad Nacional de Rosario-Argentina, Universidad San Sebastián, Universidad Austral, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, and the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.

FADEU encompasses the School of Architecture, the School of Design, and the Institute of Urban Studies, all of which offer a variety of postgraduate studies, certification programs, and other courses. It is located in the Lo Contador campus, a space in which the relationship between colonial heritage and new architecture is a crucial feature.

The teaching of Architecture at the Catholic University of Chile began at the end of the 19th century when the first architecture course was taught in the University. The School was created in 1894, becoming the first formal architecture school in the country and one of the first in the Americas.

In recent decades, a significant number of young architects have found recognition in the national and international media with relevant works, and our School is highlighted in Biennials and international competitions. Likewise, a significant number of architects who graduated at PUC have obtained important recognitions at the national level, such as the National Architecture Prize, and at the international level, such as the Pritzker Prize and RIBA International Fellow. It is Nº 39 in the World School of Architecture 2021 QS Ranking.

It is an interdisciplinary organization created in 2007, belonging to the Faculty of Architecture, Design, and Urban Studies; the Faculty of History, Geography and Political Science; the Faculty of Arts and the Faculty of Engineering of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. It seeks to promote the production of knowledge regarding tangible and intangible heritage values in the country through programs and actions from the academic field, research, and technical advice, in order to contribute to the consolidation and strengthening of the identity and cultural legacy that has been built in its historical development. It is an institution based on the collaboration and reunion of different actors, public and private, various disciplines, and generations, all of which are linked through its activities in four areas: training, research, divulgation, and project development.