Colombia. "Avant-garde design that addresses geographical and climatic diversity, anti-seismic safety and sustainability as part of any project", are part of the attributes that characterize Chilean architecture and that have earned important recognitions to its exponents, including the Pritzker Prize 2016 obtained by the outstanding architect Alejandro Aravena.
With the aim of reinforcing the international positioning achieved by this sector -considered one of the most important unconventional services that the country can offer to the world- the Association of Architects' Offices (AOA), the College of Architects of Chile and the export promotion agency, ProChile, decided to promote a brand that represents this area in markets considered as strategic.
Thus, after carrying out different activities in countries such as China, Germany and France, today the sector brand "Arquitectura de Chile" has decided to work actively in Latin American markets such as Peru and Colombia, to exchange knowledge and experiences.
In this context, this week a total of 22 representatives from twelve architecture offices, an engineering office, a university and two trade union institutions will arrive in Bogotá to launch this brand with which Chile will seek to position its architecture services and strengthen ties with a country with which it shares infrastructure needs as a mechanism to improve its competitiveness and preserve its heritage.
"The activities in Colombia are framed in the context of the project of diffusion of the architecture of Chile and the capacities of its professionals to develop in a globalized world. Many international architecture studios have already established themselves in Chile and Colombia by eliminating geographical boundaries and determining new boundaries set by the technical and soft skills of professionals, as tools that allow them to form alliances with their peers from other markets and face together challenges and assignments with an important comparative advantage. Chile and Colombia have several common and complementary aspects, which allows generating an interesting and competitive professional society in the face of the new scenario of the provision of architecture services, "said Fernando Marín, Director of "Architecture of Chile".
The brand will be presented at the Chile-Colombia Architecture Summit "Opportunities for Collaboration and Strategic Alliances", which will take place from 08:00 hours on Wednesday 22 at the Hotel Estelar. The event will be inaugurated by the ambassador of Chile, Ricardo Navarrete, and will also feature the participation of the commercial attaché of ProChile, Hugo Corales; the president of the AOA, Pablo Larraín; the president of the National Colombian Society of Architects, Flavio Romero; and the outstanding Chilean architects Sebastián Gray, Cazú Zegers and Cristián Undurraga, ambassador of the brand "Arquitectura de Chile".
The latter, together with his Colombian counterpart Konrad Brunner, will share in this meeting his associative experience "Civic Center Universidad de los Andes Bogotá" and, during that same afternoon, he will also give a master class in that house of studies. The day will conclude with a dinner that will be offered by Imagen de Chile, which within the framework of this mission will promote the national architectural offer as part of its campaign "Ask for Chile, a World of Services", a public-private initiative that aims to position the country internationally as a relevant actor in the offer of global services, highlighting its potential in the creation and export of solutions linked to information technologies, engineering, architecture, audiovisual production and video game development.
To these activities will also be added various meetings with Colombian companies and institutions that will be held by the Chilean delegation, composed of representatives of the following offices / institutions: Francisco Vivanco Real Estate and Urban Projects, Admitec, BL Arquitectos, Alemparte Barreda Wedeles Besancon Arquitectos y Asociados, SENARQ, UNIACC, ARQIAR, Rearquitectura, Luis Villanueva Arquitectos, PM200, DECOBAU, Alberto Moletto Architect, Engineering and Construction Pael, Duque Motta & Arquitectos Asociados, together with the College of Architects of Chile and the AOA.
Subsequently, part of the Chilean mission will move to the city of Medellín, to continue with its activities of relationship with the architects of the Colombian market.
