Neo-Andean Baroque

A bewildered tourist might well ask themselves where they are, who lives in these strange and brightly colored buildings, and, indeed, if they are dreaming as they wander the streets of El Alto, a Bolivian city that has always been a secondary outlier of La Paz. El Alto is called “the Aymara Capital,” because of its population of this Andean people who, along with the Quechua, historically span the borders of various South American countries. For a number of years now, they have had an architecture that is distinctive and unlike any other: the invention of a self-taught Aymara architect, Freddy Mamani. The vivid, multicolored façades, not unlike those that may be seen in certain Arctic regions, contrast sharply with the monochrome landscapes surrounding nearby Lake Titicaca. Like the “leaning houses” of Amsterdam, these smart, pragmatic buildings of El Alto take into account a community’s practical requirements, while appearing to unsuspecting outsiders as extravagant and dreamlike visionary architecture.