Collective housing in Colombia: Rogelio Salmona’s contribution to residential architecture in the 1960s

Abstract

Returning from a decade in Europe, Rogelio Salmona faces up to both the Colombian reality and his own architectural thinking. He joins to a group of young architects wishing to overcome functionalism limitations, exploring new alternatives to do this. They are architects concerned about linking architecture to the place, to the landscape, and to the Colombian society. They study the new social functions of the architectural work, the traditional building logic and the specific individual needs, without abandoning avant-garde and new technologies. These interventions have in common the Rogelio Salmona’s tenacious concern to provide an appropriate response to an architecture both looking for innovative spatial solutions, and, above all, ethically, politically and socially committed to the construction of a democratic city.