"Arquitectura Popular is not a book about 'popular architecture'—though that would be a great subject. Instead, this book summarizes my quest to make architecture popular. In other words, I strive to make my designs accessible to everyone. Because they are simple, affordable, and mass-producible. I believe that architectural design possesses virtues that can improve people's quality of life, and there should be no barriers to that." Alejandro Soffia begins his book with these words, emphasizing the importance of access to architecture and how it directly impacts quality of life.
The book is a "reflective monograph." It brings together five essays and 12 projects. The first two essays offer reflections on general issues: the practice of architecture within a context like Chile’s, and the pursuit of beauty. The projects are then grouped into sets of four, organized under three design strategies. These strategies represent ways in which architecture can become popular, with each defined by an essay. Low Technologies, Material Optimization, and Structural Reduction constitute design methods that anyone can use to achieve a "popular architecture."
