The urban scope of the territorial and cultural confrontations between the United States and the Soviet Union extends beyond the well-known post-war reconstructions of Europe, reaching across countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Through plans, maps, and microhistories, the exhibition explores the role of architecture and urban design in the more than 500 projects—led by Robert McNamara—that the World Bank financed between 1972 and 1985 in 136 cities of what was then known as the "Third World." This war on poverty sought to halt the advance of communism and expand the geopolitical frontiers of the First World into developing countries, this time through an economic growth agenda that instrumentalized urban housing.
Fundación Ruta País, in collaboration with MK, the Association of Architectural Offices of Chile (AOA), and Fundación IDDEA, invites you to the Master Lecture: “Architecture of the Earth,” featuring the renowned international firm Ensamble Studio.