Interventions at La Moneda Palace, from the 19TH, 20TH, and 21ST centuries. The projects and their architects

Abstract

The Palacio de La Moneda, or La Moneda Palace, is the seat of the Presidency and the Executive Power of Chile, the Ministry of the Interior and Public Security, the General Secretariat of the Presidency, and the General Secretariat of the Government. It is one of the main historical and most important buildings in Chile in terms of its current representative function, as the Government Palace. Since its construction, in 1786, it has been the witness and star of the historical-political and social-urban evolution of the nation, of events that have been expressed in its own architectural metamorphosis and the evolution of the urban fabric. Designed by architect Joaquín Toesca, a disciple of Francesco Sabatini, a professional of the court of Carlos III, King of Spain (1759-1788), the Palace is the main example of Neoclassicism in Chile. It was inaugurated in 1805 as the Royal Mint of Santiago, to mint the kingdom's currency. After the independence of Chile, in 1845, the Seat of Government and Presidential Residence moved to the building. It is on this date that it adopts its representative function, and therefore, the moment where the first important modification of its floorplan took place, beginning a process of continuous evolution characterized by the dynamic transformation and permanent adaptation of its architecture, through successive interventions, functional updates, and its reconstruction after the 1973 air raid. The lack of an organized and detailed record of its permanent alterations makes it difficult to understand them from their current state and for possible future interventions. As a result, this article presents the most important and significant changes on the perception of the building, thus becoming the first organized record of contemporary interventions of La Moneda Palace.