Architecture fanzines in Chile (2005-2016): the role of independent architecture magazines in the 21st century

Abstract

As a complex discipline, the study and analysis of architecture allows for many means to address meaning, form and sup- port. Architecture exists thanks to praxis as a fundamental connection between ideas and practice; the discipline itself is the meeting of architectural and written language. Thus, architecture is based on doing, thinking and declaring through diverse forms of representation such as architecture magazines. Their role is to transmit elements of both discourse and projects by means of different formats and supports, thereby defining themselves as objects with different levels of information and as historiographical sources in and of themselves. In this area, fanzines stand out as independent, low-cost publications that communicate disciplinary concerns in a limited context, where provocation and existence in a small historical framework are necessary to transmit ideas in open discussions, and where the freedom with which they are created generally allows for the discussion of topics disconnected from the rules of their cultural and historical context. This article presents 10 Chilean cases from the 21st century that the author has systematized and analyzed, and offers general conclusions on the role of this type of publication within the discipline based on the topics they address.