Re-imagining Modern Architecture

Emilio Duhart, 1940-1970

Meynard, Evelyn

This book presents an essential selection from the portfolio of Emilio Duhart H. (1917-2006), a pivotal figure in Chilean architecture. Interweaving episodes from his life and work with the expansion of the modern movement as a global phenomenon, this chronicle places Duhart at the center of an ongoing dialogue between the universal precepts of modernism and the specificities of the Chilean cultural landscape.
From his early contact with Walter Gropius in the 1940s to his collaboration with Le Corbusier in the 1950s, Duhart crafted an architectural narrative that not only adopted the ideas of modernism but transformed them, translating them into a language deeply tied to the local circumstances.
Duhart’s personal and professional trajectory offers a fascinating perspective for understanding the global expansion of modern architecture, exploring themes central to its dissemination, such as migration, education, social class, housing, and urban challenges. In this light, his life and work are presented as a matrix rich in connections, capable of dialogue with other emblematic cases worldwide.