Overwriting the Memory of a Modern Ruin in Chile: From UNCTAD III to GAM

Abstract

Located in central Santiago, the Gabriela Mistral Cultural Centre (GAM) is in fact the latest renovation of a building that embodies several historical shifts affecting Chile since 1972. Originally conceived as an emblem of modernisation during Salvador Allende's presidency, it became the headquarters of the Pinochet military junta after the 1973 coup d'etat. In present times, due to the October 2019 social protest movement, the building has been transformed by activists into an impromptu platform for protest art. This essay explores the discursive and spatial relationships between the latest renovation of the GAM building and past events through an analysis of the renovation's design, its socio-political and cultural context, and its impact upon Chilean collective memory.Archival research for the essay encompasses governmental documents, press releases, and architectural drawings -in conjunction with newspaper articles and television clips. Furthermore, three figures involved in the renovation were interviewed: Christian Yutronic, one of the architects responsible for the redesign; Felipe Mella, the current director of GAM; and Caiozzama, a prominent protest artist who has transformed the building's façade. This study reveals the links between architectural form and collective memory in contemporary Chile, interweaving topics such as remembrance and erasure, the conservation of 'difficult' heritage, and the role played by ideology within current architectural discourse.