Tamed Tropics: Modern Architecture in the Colombian Caribbean

Abstract

In the Southern Bolivar Savannas, in the heart of the Colombian Caribbean, the experience of architectural designs developed during the 1950s and 1960s is significant. There is an important modernist legacy from Colombian architects such as Roberto Acosta Madiedo Portilla, José Rodrigo De Vivero Amador, Miguel Rafael Farah Zakzuk, among others, who are the exponents of this modern architecture, thanks to their ability to conquer the emerging social elite of the agricultural economic boom, interpret cultural legacy, and reflect on landscape, geography, and climate. This investigation is supported by a meticulous search for historical facts and files associated with a diligent architectural survey campaign, which allows to reveal the essence. The following critical lecture reveals the important effort of young architects in the 1950s and 1960s, their commitment to combine elements derived from the vernacular tradition with the new and exciting language built on modernist paradigms. On the other hand, single-family houses integrate the architecture and garden landscape, tamed for the tastes and needs of its inhabitants. The search through tools of representation, bibliographic, and iconographic analysis reveals an architecture capable of being founded through the consolidated patterns in the Caribbean culture and the new vision acquired in the architecture schools in Colombia including those from other countries such as the United States of America. Actually, the great capacity to adapt the cultural tradition without losing contact with the tropical climate and nature is evident.