Latin America and the historiography of 20th century architecture.

Seven “non-Latin American” views that insert Latin America in the world architectural chronology.

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to explain how Latin American architecture is studied in some universal histories in the 20th century. Seven books, about international architectural history, are reviewed. The authors of those books are: Henry Russell-Hitchcock (1903-1987), Leonardo Benevolo (1923-2017), Kenneth Frampton (1930), Manfredo Tafuri (1935-1994), Charles Jencks (1939-2019), Josep María Montaner (1954) and William Curtis (1948). The topics reviewed are: the Latin American buildings and architects mentioned in these histories, together with the criterias used for rating Latin American architecture on the world. The conclusions explain how the construction of a historicity from foreign perspectives, and the influence of these histories on existing ideas about Latin American architecture.