When designing spaces for viewing, architecture enters into a dialogue with the territory in an effort to understand the landscape and the enjoyment of reality, whether natural or built. Through an invitation to contemplate our surroundings, several architecture professionals in Latin America embark on the challenge of constructing structures that interact with nature, reinterpret certain building typologies, or become part of the learning and teaching of architecture for future generations. The wide variety of landscapes and cultures present in the Latin American context reflects the endless opportunities where architecture holds the potential to foster dialogue between the observer and the observed while drawing from the region’s deep connection with local flora, fauna, and other species.
Although one of the definitions from the RAE (Royal Spanish Academy) describes a mirador (or lookout) as "a well-situated place for contemplating a landscape or an event," the architectural characteristics of these spaces vary according to their geographical location, climate factors, local materials, and construction technologies, among others. The architecture of lookouts encompasses a range of typologies, from elevated platforms or roadside stops that offer viewing points over uneven terrain in mountains, riverbanks, or shorelines to placements at specific points, framed views, or cantilevered structures extending over cliffs. Whether gazing at the sea, an endless forest, a lake, or a city, the experience of observing from a different perspective is shaped by elements such as informational posts and orientation tables with signage, furniture and seating for resting and viewing, lighting, and binoculars, among other features.
