Building Cultures Valparaiso takes a critical look at how pedagogy, practice and poetry are brought together at one of the most influential schools of architecture of the past 50 years: the School of Architecture and Design of the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaiso in Chile.

The editors have brought together research on the origins of the school, on the role that poetry plays in teaching and practice, and on the school’s larger historical place in the context of a global out-break of radical architectural teaching in the late 1960’s. Contributors come from both within and outside of the school and include Beatriz Colomina, David Jolly Monge and Gerald Wildgruber.

In addition to original research, Building Cultures Valparaiso includes a collection of student drawings from the early years of the Valparaiso School’s Open City, a 270 hectare stretch of land along the Pacific Ocean that serves as a laboratory for living and working together. These drawings provide an insight into how the philosophy of the school translates into the making of architecture.

Through its exploration of the Valparaiso School’s radical approach to teaching and making, Building Cultures Valparaiso serves as a guide for all those interested in an experimental vision of architecture.