The transformation beyond the form. Non-architectural contingencies on high-rise buildings in the Chilean press (2009-2017)

Abstract

The proliferation of high-rise buildings has transformed the physical physiognomy and symbolic density of intermediate and metropolitan Chilean cities. At this level, new problems have changed the configuration of urban debates, of those that occur inside as well as outside of expert spaces, that is, academia and its associated communities of practice. The present article investigates the possible transformation of high-rise buildings in the debates and news recorded in the Chilean press: from strictly speaking architectural objects to heterogeneous objects that are open to other kinds of association and, therefore, to other forms of policy and management. To this end, 482 pieces of press mentioning high-rise buildings, published by two national daily newspapers between January 2009 and June 2017 were studied. The analysis examined how the themes presented, their urban location, and the temporality of the facts related gave an account of the transformation of the frameworks of meaning the buildings are associated with, in contrast to their architecture.