Challenging Latam Architectural History: Weaving a Plural Network

This event marks the inauguration of the Latin American Architectural Histories Affiliate Group (LAAH AG)'s public activities. Our speakers will address prevalent issues pertinent to the research and global dissemination of Latin American Architecture history within Latin America (Latam). These include the enduring Eurocentrism prevalent in contemporary historiography, such as sources, theoretical frameworks, and methodologies; the recurrent utilization of canonical case studies (actors, works, cities); biases relating to class, gender, and race; the insufficient documentation of historical artifacts; and the challenges hindering the dissemination of research output from or within Latam, particularly in languages other than English.

In a roundtable format, we intend to stimulate a debate on the contemporary challenges inherent in constructing Latin American Architectural Histories. By posing a common question to the panelists, we hope to spark a conversation that will develop into the first thirty minutes. From that initial part, we will open the floor for the audience’s questions, which we expect will turn into a sixty-minute dialogue between the participants in the audience and the panelists. In total, we expect the activity to last for ninety minutes.

Through this event, we seek to engage with the scholarly community, encouraging their involvement and support for the LAAH SAH AG; this is a direct invitation to share their experiences in teaching and researching the histories of architectures in Latin America and their expectations regarding how this group can enrich their own scholarly goals. We aim to identify urgent actions our Affiliate Group requires to cultivate a more diverse and critical body of knowledge on the subject.

Participants

Biographies

Ingrid Quintana-Guerrero

Architect (UNAL), with a PhD in Architecture and Urbanism (Universidade de São Paulo), and a Masters’ degree in Architectural History (Université Paris 1). Quintana’s work on circulation of architectural ideas in Modern and Contemporary Latin American from a decolonizing approach has been recognized with various awards, including the Honor Distinction at the Bienal Iberoamericana de Quito (2018 and 2020) and Bienal Colombiana de Arquitectura y Urbanismo (2024 and 2020). Currently she cocurates the project  Bauhaus Reverberada: una serie de eventos sobre Bauhaus y América Latina. She also serves as Multimedia Reviews editor for Architectural Histories and co-chairs the SAH's Latin American Architectural Histories Affiliate Group.

Fernando Luiz Lara

Professor Lara works on theorizing spaces of the Americas with an emphasis on the dissemination of design ideas beyond the traditional disciplinary boundaries. Framed by decolonial theories, Lara has written widely about issues that pertain to the built environment of our continent. His latest publications include Modern Architecture in Latin America (with Luis Carranza, 2015); and The Rise of Popular Modernist Architecture in Brazil (2008). Among the many books he edited are Decolonizing the Spatial History of the Americas (2022) and Spatial Concepts for Decolonizing the Americas (with Felipe Hernandez, 2023).

María González-Pendas María

González Pendás is an architectural historian of modernity and coloniality of the Spanish transatlantic world whose research explores the intersections of aesthetics, technologies, ideologies, and power through the built environment. Other projects have investigated relations of labor and race in México; the coloniality of concrete technologies and innovation across the South Atlantic; and the relationship between technology, religion, and secularism in global modernity.

Mark Healey

Born in Germany and raised in New Jersey, Minnesota, and Argentina, Mark Healey graduated with honors from Princeton University. After studying at the University of Barcelona on a Rotary Fellowship, he earned his MA and Ph.D. in Latin American History from Duke University. His research interests include modern Latin America, especially Argentina, Colombia, Chile, and Brazil. Environment; cities and citizenship; architecture and urbanism; the history and politics of natural disaster (and rebuilding); labor; race; nationalism and state-formation.