English versions of the following articles are available online

Title:The City as Text
Author:Carolina Ureta. Designer, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Master in Cultural Management, Universidad de Chile. She specializes in editorial projects and graphic design linked to cultural development. She is the director and founder of the project The City as Text; co-author of the book Luis Fernando Rojas: Obra Gráfica 1875-1942, awarded as Best Edition 2015; and is part of the digital platform Diseño Nacional. She has participated in international congresses on the study and history of design in Taipei (2016), Medellin (2018), Barcelona (2018) and New York (2020). Currently, she is part of the curatorial team of the Chilean Pavilion for the London Design Biennale 2021, and is a student of the Master in Visual Communication at the Royal College of Art, United Kingdom.
Abstract:After the social unrest of October 2019, the walls became the spokespersons for the infinite ways to demand a more dignified life. Thus, an architectural element – the facade – became a territory of political struggle. Through photography and design, the City as Text project registered this condition and transformed it into an archive for a future in which, hopefully, it will no longer be necessary to make those demands again.
Keywords:coexistence; documentation; demonstrations; city; photography
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Title:Coexistence between different species: Emanuele Coccia in conversation with Jorge Godoy
Author:Jorge Godoy. Architect, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso. March A ADRL, Architectural Association, London. Founding partner of GUN Architects and Animalesque. His work focuses in cohabitation and inter-species design. Since 2008, he has worked as visiting professor and researcher at the AA, TU Berlin, London Metropolitan University, IA AC, Centro de Estudios Urbanos Torcuato di Tella and Universidad Federico Santa María. Emanuele Coccia. PhD in Philosophy, University of Florence. His work has focused on the history of European normativity, aesthetics and, recently, on the ontological state of images and their normative power. He has served as a teacher at Albert-Ludwigs-Universität-Freiburg, the University of Tokyo and the University of Buenos Aires, among others. He has also been an Invited Research Fellow at the Italian Academy for Advanced Studies in America at Columbia University. His books include La Vie sensible (2010), Le Bien dans les choses (2013), La Vie des plantes. Une métaphysique du mélange (2016) and, recently, Métamorphoses (2020). He is currently an associate professor at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS).
Abstract:Our planet is a complex interaction of different life forms, in which human beings are just one among many other species. Awareness about this condition is the basis of Emanuele Coccia’s thought, one of the most influential philosophers today. In this interview, he presents his ideas regarding our coexistence, mainly with non-animal living beings: plants, trees, or even viruses.
Keywords:coexistence; non-human; knowledge; posthumanism; interview
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Title: Animalesque: Urbanism of Coexistences
Author: Animalesque Group. Architectural Association Visiting School Extended Programme, Berlín, Germany.
Abstract: True coexistence implies understanding that as humans we not only depend on other living beings but also have a lot to learn from them. This set of projects in Berlin explores different models of letting animals be, understanding their own ways of making architecture, and integrating them into our human practices.
Keywords: coexistence; urbanism; integration; ecosystems; project
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Title: Prototyping Coexistence: Design for Interspecies Futures
Author: Martín Tironi. Sociologist, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, 2006. Master in Sociology, Sorbonne V, 2010. PhD, Center de Sociologie de l’Innovation, École des Mines de Paris, 2013. Post-doctorate, Center de Sociologie de l’Innovation, École des Mines de Paris, 2014. Visiting Fellow, Center for Invention and Social Process, Goldsmiths, University of London, 2018. His research areas are anthropology of design, digital devices and technologies, and urban infrastructures. His work has been published in The British Journal of Sociology (2020), Journal of Cultural Economy (2018), Environment and Planning D (2018), among others. He exhibited the installation “Ashes of coexistence” at the Museum of Contemporary Art (Biennial of Medial Arts 2019) and is currently preparing the curatorship of the Chile Pavilion for the London Design Bienale (2021). Pablo Hermansen. Designer (1991) and PhD in Architecture and Urban Studies (2013), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. His lines of research are the material conditions for interspecies coexistence, the prototyping as a more-than-human cosmopolitical device and the performative strategies of political visibility of counter-hegemonic groups. His work has been published in the Journal of Cultural Economy (2018), Prototyping Across the Disciplines (2020), Dearq, no. 26 (2020), among others. He exhibited the installation “Ashes of coexistence” at the Museum of Contemporary Art (Biennial of Medial Arts 2019) and is currently preparing the curatorship of the Chile Pavilion for the London Design Bienale (2021).
Abstract: In order to coexist with other species, human beings must be able to overcome the perception of being the dominant species. This article portrays how facts refuted the initial – anthropocentric – hypothesis explaining the failure of an experiment with chimpanzees. This not only shows that it is wrong to ascribe human defects to other species, but also that we have a long way to go to understand more-than-human environments.
Keywords: coexistence; non-human; design; prototyping; essay.
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Title:Reggio School
Author: Andrés Jaque / Office for Political Innovation (OFFPOLINN) is an international architectural practice, based in New York and Madrid, working at the intersection of design, research, and critical environmental practices. The office develops transmedia and interscalar projects, intended to bring inclusivity into the built environment.
Keywords: coexistence; school; forest; education; project
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Title:Recasting the Gandhian Urban Legacy in the Indian City: Nature, Alterity, and Activism
Author: Elizabeth Soyka. Master of Architecture, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Michigan, USA, 2019-2021. Bachelor of Arts in Architecture, Clemson University, USA, 2015-2019. Yunsong Liu. Master of Urban Design, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Michigan, USA, 2019-2020. Bachelor of Architecture, Tsinghua University School of Architecture, cnCN 2013-2018. Emily Ebersol. Master of Architecture, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Michigan, USA, 2019-2021. Bachelor of Science in Architecture, University of Pittsburgh, USA, 2015-2019.
Abstract: Although he became worldly renowned for his non-violent manifestations, Gandhi was also an environmentalist who believed in the coexistence between different species, in a universe where humans, life, and creation are one. This research presents us with a series of initiatives – from care to recycling to activism – in an attempt to recover interspecies coexistence as an alternative to contemporary neoliberal development in India.
Keywords: Coexistence; memorial; alterity; activism; essay
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Title:Juan Luis Undurraga Integral Stimulation Center
Author: Sebastián Irarrázaval. Architect, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and Architectural Association of London. He has taught at the School of Architecture of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile since 1993 and has been a visiting professor at various universities, including Mit and iUaV. His works have been exhibited in various exhibitions and biennials and has been widely published in specialized magazines. He has received various distinctions, including the Shenzhen & Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale Award (2012), the RIBA International Award (2016) and the RIBA International Fellowship (2018).
Abstract: Faced with a society that isolates them through categories that suggest situations of temporary impairment – such as vulnerability or disability -this project builds a space in which the architecture itself integrates and stimulates the children it receives. A thick wall separates and protects them, allowing an interior with a great variety of routes, shapes, and spaces.
Keywords:coexistence; foundation; circulation; movement; project
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Title: The Embrace of the Dark Cloud
Author: Grandeza. Constituted by Amaia Sánchez Velasco (1985) and brothers Jorge (1984) and Gonzalo Valiente (1982), together with the architect-writer Miguel Rodríguez Casellas (1966), who share much more than an interest in teaching, and a workplace – the UTS of Sydney. Within different perspectives, they have all experienced the new geographies of neoliberal violence and the need to re-politicize the way architecture is thought about and exercised. Far from addressing those commonplaces of reinvention and entrepreneurship, or technological determinism that coined innovation as the only way to relevance, the group explores design’s material and discursive as a key tool for emancipation.
Abstract: Starting from a cloud of smoke that connected two distant cities at the beginning of 2020, this essay explores the historical similarities between these two Pacific ports – Sydney and Valparaíso. Analyzing the commonalities and divergences between Australian and Chilean neoliberalism, the collapse of this model is evidenced in the smoke from fires or barricades that could give rise to new forms of post-liberal coexistence.
Keywords: coexistence; ne(cr)oliberalism; fires; protests; essay
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Title: Us/Them: Geographical Fantasies, Frictions and Disappointments
Author: Ricardo Greene.Sociologist, Master in Urban Development and PhD in Anthropology from Goldsmiths, University of London. He was director of FIDOCS and FILIT, of the Association of Documentalists of Chile ADOC and of the Association of Editors of Chile. He currently directs the magazine and publishing house Bifurcaciones, the chrono-photographic project Esto Es Talca and the audiovisual platform CinEducación. His recent work includes the documentary The Absence (2018, JaF) and the book Conocer la ciudad (2018). He is part of the collective Cosas Maravillosas. Lucía de Abrantes. Sociologist, National University of Buenos Aires (UBA), Master in Social Anthropology, Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO), fellow and doctoral student in Anthropology from the Universidad Nacional de San Martín (UNSAM). She is a professor at UNSAM and actively participates in the program, based at this university, “Migrations and social transformations in small and medium agglomerations”. Luciana Trimano.Social Communication graduate, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, 2007. Doctor in Social Communication, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, 2014. Her work focuses in the communicational processes generated by residential mobility and counter-urbanization. She is a researcher at the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET) at the Center for Research and Studies on Culture and Society (CIECS-CONICET and UNC ), Argentina.
Abstract: If coexistence were easy, it just wouldn’t be an issue. Because, beyond idealizations, the practice of encountering difference is complex, and its folds are rough. Based on examples of people who are moving to live “far from the city,” this article depicts the clash between metropolitan and rural culture, proposing alternatives for a possible balance between the two
Keywords: coexistence; migration; towns; cities; essay
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Title:Infinite Bench
Author: Azócar Catrón. Architecture and urban planning practice and workshop based in Concepción. It was founded by Ricardo Azócar, (architect, Universidad del Bío-Bío, 2016) and Carolina Catrón (architect, Universidad del Bío-Bío, 2016). In 2016, it obtained the Revelation Work award from the Colegio de Arquitectos de Chile and, in 2018, its monograph Catalejo (Editorial Dostercios, 2017), obtained the First Prize of the XiV International Biennial of Architecture of Costa Rica. Its work has been exhibited at the XVi Venice Architecture Biennale “Freespace,” at the Xi Ibero-American Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism, at the Arc en Rêve Center D’architecture in Bordeaux, among others. During 2019, its Infinite Bench project obtained the Distinguished Work award at the XXI Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism of Chile, and in 2020 it obtained a Mention in the category of international built work at the VII International Biennial of Santa Cruz, Bolivia.
Abstract: A circular bench occupies an area of a park without intervening it, surrounding some trees without enclosing them. Its own geometry makes sitting on its concave side the natural gesture, looking towards the trees, the bench itself, and the other people sitting on it. With no more fuss than its red color, this element shows a way in which architecture can coexist with vegetation instead of competing.
Keywords: coexistence; park; street furniture; community; project
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Title: Habitability or Profitability? Urban Planning Regulations Subordinated in Form and Functionality to the Regulation of Land Profitability in Santiago de Chile
Author: Elke. Schlack. Architect, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, 1997. PhD with a specialty in International Urban Planning and Urban Legislation, Technological University of Berlin, Germany, 2008. Her topics of interest include public space, theory of public space, regulation, governance and public policies of public space. She is a researcher on various projects, including ANID and Núcleo Milenio. She has published POPS – el carácter público del espacio urbano (Santiago, 2015), Housing and regeneration in deprived neighborhoods in Santiago (Delft, 2019) and the chapter “Espacio público-descontento, expectativas, fórmulas de desintegración e integración”, from the book Hilos tensados (Araujo, 2019)
Abstract: Urban regulations, as possibilities and limitations to construction, outline one of the forms of coexistence within the city. Their criteria, however, do not always point to that end. As this article describes, if a norm based on habitability entails a regulation based on criteria such as coexistence and quality of life, one with an axis in constructability entails a focus on market and profitability.
Keywords: coexistence; laws; rasante; construction; coefficient; article
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Title: Despite the State and the Market. Housing Informality and Coexistence as a Resistance Strategy
Author: Juan Pablo Urrutia. Architect, Universidad de Chile, 2008. Master in Management and Administration of Real Estate Projects, Universidad de Chile, 2011. MPA, London School o Economics and Political Science, London, and Sciences Po, Paris, 2014. Editor of the books Guía para la formulación de planes maestros integrales de recuperación de barrios y viviendas (2017), and Idea política pública: 20 ideas de arquitectura, ciudad y territorio para Chile (2017). He was co-curator of the XXI Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism of Chile 2019. He is currently an assistant professor at Instituto de la Vivienda and head of the Department of Architecture at Universidad de Chile. Juan Correa. Geographer, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, 2013. Diploma in Quantitative Research Methods, Universidad Diego Portales. His work addresses urban inequality, segregation, social housing policies, urban public goods, and indicators in Geographic Information Systems. He was coordinator of applied research at Fundación Vivienda (2017-2020) and visiting professor at the Universidad de Chile. He is currently a researcher at the Centro de Producción del Espacio of Universidad de las Américas. Isabel Alt. Architect, Universidad de Chile, 2017. Master in Urbanism, Universidad de Chile, 2020. She was coordinator of the Graduate School (2017) and chief of staff (2018-2019), at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, Universidad de Chile. She has participated in different research projects as editor and coordinator of the urban planning area and has also been teaching assistant in the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of the University of Chile.
Abstract: Sharing a space is perhaps the most basic form of coexistence. The narrower it is, the more potential conflicts there can be. Hence, this way of living together has been scarcely promoted by public policies. However, this article argues that, given thehousing deficit that Santiago faces and the lack of new, well-located land to build on, this approach may as well be the solution.
Keywords: coexistence; co-residence; resistance; housing policies; essay
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Title: Coexisting in Architectures that Coexist. Front Building and Covered Patio in the UC Extension Center, Campus Oriente, Providencia, 2019
Author: Fernando Pérez O.Architect, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, 1977. Doctor in Architecture, Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Barcelona, 1981. He is currently Adjunct Professor at UC. Head of the School of Architecture (1987-1990), Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Fine Arts (1990-2000) and Head of the Doctorate Program in Architecture and Urban Studies (2014-2016). Visiting Design Critic at Harvard University (1990), Simón Bolívar Professor University of Cambridge (2000) and Fellow of the Swedish Center for Advanced Studies (2007). He has published extensively on modern architecture in Chile and South America. He is currently the director of the National Fine Arts Museum of Chile. José Quintanilla Chala. Architect, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, 1993. Doctor in Architecture, Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Barcelona, 2004. He is a member of the Colegio Oficial de Arquitectos de Cataluña, Spain. Since 2010 is a professor at the School of Architecture, Design and Urban Studies UC. In 2007 he founded Opalum, an architecture studio based in Barcelona. Among his collaborations are the studies for the Judicial City of Barcelona and L’Hospitalet de Llobregat (in collaboration with Enric Soria) and the Integral Rehabilitation of La Modelo Penitentiary Center, together with the School of Judges of Spain. Among his publications is the book Los hechos de la arquitectura (ARQ Ediciones, 1999) in collaboration with Fernando Pérez and Alejandro Aravena.
Abstract: The articulation between the new and the preexisting is a permanent dilemma for architecture. The usual responses – formal mimesis or radical contrast – entail possibilities at opposite ends that do not ensure the coexistence of different architectures. This project is committed to an alternative strategy, to simply let the preexistence be and add only what is missing: a façade, a roof, and an underground program.
Keywords: coexistence; materials; university; continuity; project
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Title: Magnolio Media Group
Author: Pedro Livni. Architect, Universidad de la República de Uruguay, 2002. Master in Architecture, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, 2011. He was curator of the Uruguay pavilion for the Venice Biennale in 2012, and his work has been awarded in different instances, including: Miami International Architecture Biennial (2005), Quito International Architecture Biennial (2006) and Argentine Architecture Biennial (2018). He is also the founder of Pedro Livni Arquitectos based in Montevideo and, together with Gonzalo Carrasco, of the architecture critic site VOSTOKPROJECT. He is currently a professor at the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella in Buenos Aires and at the FADU of the Universidad de la República de Montevideo.
Abstract: Achieving an appropriate coexistence between different uses in confined spaces is one of the ways in which architecture can contribute to vitalizing cities. It is not only about the formal articulation of different volumes, but also about allowing the programs to mutually enhance each other, thus generating synergies between them. This project in Montevideo accomplishes this by adding an unsolicited space: a covered public void in the center of the site.
Keywords: coexistence; recycle; house; expansion; project
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Title:C oexistence between Chileans and The Mapuche. Chile, Plurinational and Intercultural State
Author: Elisa Loncón. Professor of English, Universidad de La Frontera, Master in Linguistics, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Iztapalapa UAM-I (Mexico), PhD in Humanities, University of Leiden (Holland) and PhD in Literature, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. She has worked in institutions such as the Ministry of Education in Chile, UNESCO, Fundación Integra, Fundación Magisterio de la Araucanía, Sociedad Interdisciplinaria de Estudio y Desarrollo Social (SIEDES) and several universities in the country. She is one of the creators of the Intercultural Center for Research and Educational Transformation Rangin Wenu Mapu. She is currently an academic in the Department of Education at the Universidad de Santiago de Chile and an external professor at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
Abstract: The result of the plebiscite of October 25, 2020, in which the ‘apruebo’ option prevailed by a surprisingly wide margin, has led Chile into a democratic process that will lead to a new political constitution for the country. In the demonstrations that led to this plebiscite, one of the most repeated demands was related to the constitutional recognition of indigenous peoples. It is no coincidence that the Mapuche flag or the Wünyelfe – the Mapuche star – were among the most characteristic symbols of the unrest.From that perspective, and at this historical juncture, in this debate we ask if it is possible for two nations to coexist, or if this can lead to a conflict like the one developed between Jewish people and Palestinians. Well, although we are aware that the relationship between the Mapuche people and the state of Chile has been complex – to the point of being an unresolved conflict of over 500 years – perhaps the new constitution is the ideal instance to legally acknowledge a problem that, after all, is a coexistence conflict
Keywords: coexistence; State; Mapuche; plurinationality; debate
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Title:Coexistence between Chileans and the Mapuche. The Telluric and the State: An Approach to the Mapuche Question
Author: Hugo Herrera. Lawyer, Universidad de Valparaíso. Dr. Phil. Universität Würzburg. He has published articles and books on political philosophy, law and epistemology, including Sein und Staat. Die politische Philosophie von Helmut Kuhn (2005), Carl Schmitt between Technological Rationality and Theology (2020), and Octubre en Chile (2020). He is currently a tenured professor at the UDP School of Law.
Abstract: The result of the plebiscite of October 25, 2020, in which the ‘apruebo’ option prevailed by a surprisingly wide margin, has led Chile into a democratic process that will lead to a new political constitution for the country. In the demonstrations that led to this plebiscite, one of the most repeated demands was related to the constitutional recognition of indigenous peoples. It is no coincidence that the Mapuche flag or the Wünyelfe – the Mapuche star – were among the most characteristic symbols of the unrest. From that perspective, and at this historical juncture, in this debate we ask if it is possible for two nations to coexist, or if this can lead to a conflict like the one developed between Jewish people and Palestinians. Well, although we are aware that the relationship between the Mapuche people and the state of Chile has been complex – to the point of being an unresolved conflict of over 500 years – perhaps the new constitution is the ideal instance to legally acknowledge a problem that, after all, is a coexistence conflict.
Keywords: coexistence; State; Mapuche; plurinationality; debate
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Editorial. Precarious existence

History will probably remember 2020 as a turning point. Globally, the Covid-19 pandemic slowed down the relentless advance of the Anthropocene and cast doubt on the capitalist development model. Meanwhile, at the local scale, the principles that governed us in the last four decades were also questioned, to the point that we now have the chance to define a new beginning. After the landslide victory of the ‘apruebo’ option in the plebiscite of October 25, Chile is moving towards a constitutional process that will allow us to define the rules of our coexistence as a country – a new constitution – in a democratic and just manner.

Thus, this year we have faced a paradox: as guinea pigs of unprecedented confinement strategies on a global scale, our survival depended on the suspension of some of the most basic forms of coexistence. However, precisely because of this, we realized that we cannot exist without others. And even the very definition of ‘others’ has already fallen short. We no longer speak only of the inclusion of minorities and the marginalized, but also of other species: plants, trees, animals, or even a virus. We have coexisted with them all this year.

This issue of ARQ is a space to make these various forms of coexistence visible. The photographic report portrays the walls within the city as the medium where the yearnings for dignity exist side-by-side after the 2019 uprising. In the interview with the acclaimed philosopher Emanuele Coccia, we are able to grasp some of his ideas on the cohabitation with non-human species, such as plants or animals. Along these lines, the Animalesque Group shows us how architecture can learn from the way in which animal construct spaces. Tironi and Hermansen present us with an experiment in human-animal coexistence where failure was the key to understanding these more-than-human beings. Office for Political Innovation, for its part, invites us to participate in a project where the cosmopolitical approach – in which all species and things have the same rights – is used to awaken children’s curiosity. Soyka, Liu, and Ebersol analyze interspecies coexistence as one of Gandhi’s contemporary heritage in India. Sebastián Irarrázaval proposes a citadel to protect vulnerable children where they can develop the ability to fend for themselves. Valiente, Valiente, Sánchez, and Rodríguez-Casellas narrate the casual connection between two cities located on different sides of the Pacific. Greene, de Abrantes, and Trimano analyze the problematic relationship between metropolitan and rural culture. Azócar and Catrón show us how a simple element in the public space can trigger new forms of interaction. Elke Schlack argues that what regulations do is to norm coexistence. Urrutia, Correa, and Alt study the forms of cohabitation in Santiago as an alternative to solve the housing deficit. Pérez, Quintanilla, and their team present a project that ensures the conjunction of different architectures. Pedro Livni manages different programs in the center of a Montevideo block. And finally, in the debate, two positions are confronted on a crucial issue regarding the constitutional process: the possible coexistence of the Mapuche Nation within the State of Chile. This number, however, leaves open a fundamental question: how to understand this year?

A possible answer is given by Anna L. Tsing when she affirms that “progress stopped making sense” (2015:25). Lacking an idea of a better future, what characterizes our time is precariousness, that “state of acknowledgment of our vulnerability to others,” where we realize that “to survive, we need help, and help is always the service from another, with or without intent”(Tsing, 2015:29). Both the pandemic and the social unrest in Chile are demonstrations of the fragile condition of our existence. The mere fact that the most precarious jobs have become ‘essential’ proves Tsing right. We learned, by force, that hiding precariousness only leads to anguish and that, instead, its socialization opened the door to political changes – unthinkable just a couple of years ago. When precariousness is the norm, there is no possibility of existence without a pact of coexistence.

The point is not that coexistence is precarious because it is at risk of not materializing, but that the very precariousness in which we all live makes coexistence necessary. If our planet can collapse from a virus or from global warming, then all of our lives are precarious. No one is safe.

Not even ARQ. In its forty years, our magazine has become a space where different ways of understanding architecture have interacted. Perhaps it is that flexibility that allows us to continue looking to the future and not to the past. Bad or bad, we are the same age as the current political constitution of Chile. But, unlike the Magna Carta, our precariousness has forced us to adapt to the times. Hopefully, it is that precariousness – opposite to the rigidity of the 1980 constitution – that allows us to continue to exist for many more years. At least, we already managed to survive this strange 2020.

Notes
TSING, Anna Lowenhaupt. The mushroom at the end of the world: on the possibility of life in capitalist ruins. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2015.