Papers by María del Pilar Sanchez-Beltran
Architecture and Culture, Feb 25, 2022
Abstract This study draws on the findings of a cultural analysis of the state architecture built ... more Abstract This study draws on the findings of a cultural analysis of the state architecture built in the mid-twentieth century in Colombia and promoted by the former dictatorship of Gustavo Rojas Pinilla. It questions the rationale underlying the infrastructure developed in Bogotá by situating it within the international politics of Latin America during the Cold War. I find that the massive transformation of the built environment during the Rojas regime remains a shadowy and elusive subject, but this does not mean that the regime did not have an agenda for the built environment. Architectural objects were material embodiments of the paradigms of the Modern Movement under the discourse of the welfare state, yet they conveyed the purpose of warfare. Most of these buildings have been largely neglected by canonical studies and communities, despite that they shaped the urban development of the country, and most remain in regular use.
Architecture and Culture, 2022
This study draws on the findings of a cultural analysis of the state architecture built in the mi... more This study draws on the findings of a cultural analysis of the state architecture built in the mid-twentieth century in Colombia and promoted by the former dictatorship of Gustavo Rojas Pinilla. It questions the rationale underlying the infrastructure developed in Bogotá by situating it within the international politics of Latin America during the Cold War. I find that the massive transformation of the built environment during the Rojas regime remains a shadowy and elusive subject, but this does not mean that the regime did not have an agenda for the built environment. Architectural objects were material embodiments of the paradigms of the Modern Movement under the discourse of the welfare state, yet they conveyed the purpose of warfare. Most of these buildings have been largely neglected by canonical studies and communities, despite that they shaped the urban development of the country, and most remain in regular use.
ABSTRACT Es un proyecto de Renovación Urbana formulado bajo la modalidad de Plan Parcial. Busca t... more ABSTRACT Es un proyecto de Renovación Urbana formulado bajo la modalidad de Plan Parcial. Busca transformar las condiciones de deterioro social, ambiental y físico-espacial del sector de la Plaza de Mercado de la ciudad de Manizales, Colombia, mediante el uso de diferentes instrumentos de planeación y gestión urbana. si
The instrumental representation of architecture shaped the reception and comprehension of the mas... more The instrumental representation of architecture shaped the reception and comprehension of the massive transformation of the built environment defined by the Colombian dictatorship in 1950s. During that period, the military regime boosted the nationwide dissemination of the modern architecture. It was thus, framed in the ‘National Policy of Public Works’. The bulk of these projects was permanently showcased in the media as a materialization of the nationalist discourse. However, internal records of both, the national government and cooperation agencies provide a different perspective. The contrast between written registers about the same architectural objects convey more than a different rhetoric.
The dichotomy between the reality and the representation of these projects embodies the tension between national and international agendas. The analysis of primary sources, including recently declassified official reports, media records, and raw blueprints, sheds a new light on the instrumentalization of architecture as a political project. Strategies in use, including the equivocal representation of the built environment policy -whether it was made via soft power and camouflaging strategies- have been defining in the understanding and appraisal of modern architecture and urbanism. Thus, the cultural disdain and silence about them in the canon of studies have reinforced the aim of original registers generating long lasting effects. One can appreciate that what was said about these projects has been stronger than them. That is to say, words have proved a greater impact than their material construction.
The emphasis of this presentation will be the critical and parallel reading of records about a selection of projects of infrastructure the regime developed within its ‘National Policy of Public Works’. This contributes to the revision of the historiography about the modern state

architecture from a different perspective. Questioning the convergence of different agendas in the representation, materialization, and reception of modern architecture. Which indeed can be seen in the context of other developing countries of Latin America at the time.
Key words
Colombia; Architecture; Urban development; Politics; Cold War; State; Modern; Representation; Media; Declassified archives
The influence of the international conflict in shaping the urban and architectural development of... more The influence of the international conflict in shaping the urban and architectural development of Colombia is not clear-cut. Intertwined international and national agendas prompted the political and military strategy that boosted the dissemination of modern architecture. The selected state image expanded towards distant areas and through diverse infrastructural projects proposed and developed by the Colombian dictatorship in the 1950s. Despite the visibility of the 'National Policy of Public Works' in the media – and the fact that most of these works are still in use – this state architecture since its creation has remained invisible.
Based on archival material, recently declassified official reports, raw blueprints, and oral history, my contention is that this phenomenon can be traced on different scales. For instance, the canon of studies about the urban development of Bogotá (Colombia's capital city) has overlooked the material outcomes of the period, which in turn reinforces the camouflage strategy implemented by the regime at the time. In other words, the production of these spaces was heavily shaped by the representation of them, and this has influenced the reception of these state projects.
The Colombian case results therefore in a salient example of different effects of the political instrumentalization of architecture, the mediation of modern architecture, and its influence in the de-construction of identity.
This paper presents an advance on critical thoughts involved in the social and cultural analysis ... more This paper presents an advance on critical thoughts involved in the social and cultural analysis of public architecture built during the Colombian dictatorship of the 1950s by placing it within the context of the Cold War.
During the 1950s, Latin American countries underwent a rapid urbanization process, which has so far been discussed as the result of different ideas of modernization in the region. My PhD research addresses yet another aspect of this process of rapid urbanization and modernization, namely the role of the military government in promoting a considerable number of government-related buildings throughout the entire country as part of a ‘National Policy of Public Works’. Interestingly, this policy was not accompanied by any official document to explain what its contents and objectives were. Findings in original archival sources, oral histories and recently declassified official reports raise critical issues about the actual use of modern architecture in Colombia as a materialization of welfare discourse on the national scene, but also raise questions about its use as an instrument in the Cold War on the international stage.
This paper is structured in two parts. In the first one, drawing on Neil Leach and Jean Louis Cohen’s approaches to camouflage and architecture, I will introduce the idea of external camouflage. In the second part, I will present what I have identified as the three main tactics of camouflage used by Colombian state architecture during the dictatorship of 1950s as part of the Mutual Security Act. These conceptual discussions on the double truth strategy of architecture and urban projects in the Western Hemisphere will open questions that can be extrapolated to other regions in future studies.
This paper focuses on the relationship between architecture and power in the 1950s in Colombia, t... more This paper focuses on the relationship between architecture and power in the 1950s in Colombia, tracing the relations of the Cold War in the consolidation and dissemination of modern architecture in this Latin American country.
El conjunto de construcciones de la Escuela Naval de Cadetes Almirante Padilla, en la isla de Man... more El conjunto de construcciones de la Escuela Naval de Cadetes Almirante Padilla, en la isla de Manzanillo, materializa uno de los conjuntos arquitectónicos modernos de mayor interés para la historia de la arquitectura colombiana. Dicho conjunto fue planteado como respuesta y proyección del crecimiento de la Armada Nacional, luego de la guerra con el Perú. En él puso especial interés el gobierno militar (1953-1957) del General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla, y, en particular, el entonces Contralmirante Rubén Piedrahita Arango, como Ministro de Obras Públicas. Gracias a su interés por el desarrollo masivo de una infraestructura moderna a nivel nacional, se promovió un renovado nacionalismo, que se consolidó con obras de gran impacto social haciendo uso de los lenguajes y las técnicas más avanzadas, para su tiempo a nivel internacional.
El presente artículo da cuenta del avance de la investigación académica en curso, sobre las obras arquitectónicas estatales promovidas por el Gobierno de Rojas Pinilla en la década de 1950, que toma como caso de referencia el proyecto original de la Escuela Naval de 1955, a fin de contribuir no sólo a la historia de la arquitectura moderna colombiana, sino a la memoria de la Armada Nacional.
Drawing a social and cultural analysis of the public architecture planned and built during the Co... more Drawing a social and cultural analysis of the public architecture planned and built during the Colombian dictatorship of the 1950s, this Conference paper presents on-going research questioning what rationale underlies the ‘National Policy of Public Works’ lead by General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla.
This analysis challenges the current canon of study of modern architecture in Colombia, by situating it within the international politics of the period. Using original sources, including historical archives, oral history, declassified official reports, and raw blueprints, this research analyses the relation between architecture and power in light of the concept of agency; where rather than having a specific function, architectural objects might pursue different purposes, to suggest that behind the nationalist discourse of the welfare-state, the consolidation of the modern architecture nationwide was a camouflaged instrument of the Cold War.
The paper first introduces the discourse of the construction of a new state and traces how this was influenced by US foreign policies and cooperation agreements in Latin America. It follows by giving an overview of the dictator’s plan for the network of airports in Colombia as a materialization of both, national, and international policies. The final section presents how the new state-architecture aimed to catalyse collective memory representing the ideals of the modern movement. Rather than a synthesis of on-going work, what is articulated here are critical thoughts on the “double-truth” of the necessary infrastructure, questioning how this has influenced what I might refer to as a ‘conflictive identity’ in the region.
Key words
Colombia; Architecture; Politics; State; Modern; Representation
Documento que define como líneas de acción la investigación, comunicación, apropiación y protecci... more Documento que define como líneas de acción la investigación, comunicación, apropiación y protección del patrimonio como base para la gestión integral de los bienes de interés cultural y natural.
El tema central de esta investigación acerca de la arquitectura eclesiástica en Bogotá, es su pap... more El tema central de esta investigación acerca de la arquitectura eclesiástica en Bogotá, es su papel como instrumento civilizador, en un preponderante rol social y político, principalmente en la educación, “entendida no solo como la transmisión del saber intelectual, sino del control o moderación física y mental”, esto es entonces: como promotor o como catalizador del proceso de urbanización y desarrollo arquitectónico en Colombia, en este caso particular en el Barrio Las Cruces; entendiendo esa urbanización, no solo desde la estructuración espacial o las condiciones de habitabilidad, sino desde la civilidad y educación del individuo; es decir, tanto desde el urbanismo como de la urbanidad, concibiendo ambos como un proceso inherente al “progreso de la ciudad”.
En este sentido se busca señalar los criterios de dignificación e intereses de la Iglesia Católica en sectores urbanos marginales o deprimidos en esta época y su manifestación en los elementos arquitectónicos, que contribuyen a la realización del Templo Parroquial de Nuestra Señora del Carmen del Barrio Las Cruces; en el cual confluyen diversos aspectos de interés religioso y político, junto con el desarrollo de la arquitectura (especialmente la sacra, históricamente definida como patrimonial) como símbolo de progreso para las nuevas clases sociales en formación a principios del siglo XX.
Soportado en fuentes primarias se desarrollan aspectos del: contexto histórico y urbano entre 1886 y 1936, la Iglesia Católica como institución civilizadora, la arquitectura eclesiástica como símbolo y cultura material, el papel de la Iglesia en el crecimiento urbano de Bogotá
Aproximación a los factores históricos, culturales, urbanísticos, geográficos y ambientales, que ... more Aproximación a los factores históricos, culturales, urbanísticos, geográficos y ambientales, que han influido para que el Seminario Conciliar de Bogotá se haya mantenido como reserva física y cultural de la ciudad.
Investigación sobre el Museo Militar de Colombia y el Museo de Arquitectura Leopoldo Rother, edif... more Investigación sobre el Museo Militar de Colombia y el Museo de Arquitectura Leopoldo Rother, edificios de carácter académico-cultural que han sido clara representación de su época, y reúnen ciertas condiciones por la que permanecen en el tiempo y en la memoria colectiva, apropiándose de nuevas funciones que han contribuido a su vigencia respondiendo a diferentes concepciones urbanas y arquitectónicas.
Indagación y análisis documental sobre el ejercicio profesional de uno de los primeros arquitecto... more Indagación y análisis documental sobre el ejercicio profesional de uno de los primeros arquitectos colombianos de reconocida influencia en la construcción de la ciudad, la academia y el gobierno local en la Bogotá de inicios del siglo XX.
Books by María del Pilar Sanchez-Beltran
Fase 1 PEMP Centro Histórico de Manizales, 2020
Colección que compila la investigación aplicada desarrollada para la primera fase de formulación ... more Colección que compila la investigación aplicada desarrollada para la primera fase de formulación del instrumento de planeación y gestión, PEMP para el Centro Histórico de Manizales, con el objeto de identificar las acciones necesarias con el propósito de garantizar la protección, conservación y sostenibilidad de los patrimonios culturales de Colombia. Ello, en cumplimiento al contrato interadministrativo Nº 1906260542, del 26 de junio de 2019, entre la Secretaría de Planeación de la Alcaldía de Manizales, y la Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Sede Manizales, para la “La fase uno de la formulación del Plan Especial de Manejo y Protección del conjunto de inmuebles de arquitectura republicana en el Centro Histórico de Manizales”
Fase 1 PEMP Centro Histórico de Manizales, 2020
Colección que compila la investigación aplicada desarrollada para la primera fase de formulación ... more Colección que compila la investigación aplicada desarrollada para la primera fase de formulación del instrumento de planeación y gestión, PEMP para el Centro Histórico de Manizales, con el objeto de identificar las acciones necesarias con el propósito de garantizar la protección, conservación y sostenibilidad de los patrimonios culturales de Colombia. Ello, en cumplimiento al contrato interadministrativo Nº 1906260542, del 26 de junio de 2019, entre la Secretaría de Planeación de la Alcaldía de Manizales, y la Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Sede Manizales, para la “La fase uno de la formulación del Plan Especial de Manejo y Protección del conjunto de inmuebles de arquitectura republicana en el Centro Histórico de Manizales”
Fase 1 PEMP Centro Histórico de Manizales - Diagnóstico Tomo 1 , 2020
Colección que compila la investigación aplicada desarrollada para la primera fase de formulación ... more Colección que compila la investigación aplicada desarrollada para la primera fase de formulación del instrumento de planeación y gestión, PEMP para el Centro Histórico de Manizales, con el objeto de identificar las acciones necesarias con el propósito de garantizar la protección, conservación y sostenibilidad de los patrimonios culturales de Colombia. Ello, en cumplimiento al contrato interadministrativo Nº 1906260542, del 26 de junio de 2019, entre la Secretaría de Planeación de la Alcaldía de Manizales, y la Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Sede Manizales, para la “La fase uno de la formulación del Plan Especial de Manejo y Protección del conjunto de inmuebles de arquitectura republicana en el Centro Histórico de Manizales”
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Papers by María del Pilar Sanchez-Beltran
The dichotomy between the reality and the representation of these projects embodies the tension between national and international agendas. The analysis of primary sources, including recently declassified official reports, media records, and raw blueprints, sheds a new light on the instrumentalization of architecture as a political project. Strategies in use, including the equivocal representation of the built environment policy -whether it was made via soft power and camouflaging strategies- have been defining in the understanding and appraisal of modern architecture and urbanism. Thus, the cultural disdain and silence about them in the canon of studies have reinforced the aim of original registers generating long lasting effects. One can appreciate that what was said about these projects has been stronger than them. That is to say, words have proved a greater impact than their material construction.
The emphasis of this presentation will be the critical and parallel reading of records about a selection of projects of infrastructure the regime developed within its ‘National Policy of Public Works’. This contributes to the revision of the historiography about the modern state

architecture from a different perspective. Questioning the convergence of different agendas in the representation, materialization, and reception of modern architecture. Which indeed can be seen in the context of other developing countries of Latin America at the time.
Key words
Colombia; Architecture; Urban development; Politics; Cold War; State; Modern; Representation; Media; Declassified archives
Based on archival material, recently declassified official reports, raw blueprints, and oral history, my contention is that this phenomenon can be traced on different scales. For instance, the canon of studies about the urban development of Bogotá (Colombia's capital city) has overlooked the material outcomes of the period, which in turn reinforces the camouflage strategy implemented by the regime at the time. In other words, the production of these spaces was heavily shaped by the representation of them, and this has influenced the reception of these state projects.
The Colombian case results therefore in a salient example of different effects of the political instrumentalization of architecture, the mediation of modern architecture, and its influence in the de-construction of identity.
During the 1950s, Latin American countries underwent a rapid urbanization process, which has so far been discussed as the result of different ideas of modernization in the region. My PhD research addresses yet another aspect of this process of rapid urbanization and modernization, namely the role of the military government in promoting a considerable number of government-related buildings throughout the entire country as part of a ‘National Policy of Public Works’. Interestingly, this policy was not accompanied by any official document to explain what its contents and objectives were. Findings in original archival sources, oral histories and recently declassified official reports raise critical issues about the actual use of modern architecture in Colombia as a materialization of welfare discourse on the national scene, but also raise questions about its use as an instrument in the Cold War on the international stage.
This paper is structured in two parts. In the first one, drawing on Neil Leach and Jean Louis Cohen’s approaches to camouflage and architecture, I will introduce the idea of external camouflage. In the second part, I will present what I have identified as the three main tactics of camouflage used by Colombian state architecture during the dictatorship of 1950s as part of the Mutual Security Act. These conceptual discussions on the double truth strategy of architecture and urban projects in the Western Hemisphere will open questions that can be extrapolated to other regions in future studies.
El presente artículo da cuenta del avance de la investigación académica en curso, sobre las obras arquitectónicas estatales promovidas por el Gobierno de Rojas Pinilla en la década de 1950, que toma como caso de referencia el proyecto original de la Escuela Naval de 1955, a fin de contribuir no sólo a la historia de la arquitectura moderna colombiana, sino a la memoria de la Armada Nacional.
This analysis challenges the current canon of study of modern architecture in Colombia, by situating it within the international politics of the period. Using original sources, including historical archives, oral history, declassified official reports, and raw blueprints, this research analyses the relation between architecture and power in light of the concept of agency; where rather than having a specific function, architectural objects might pursue different purposes, to suggest that behind the nationalist discourse of the welfare-state, the consolidation of the modern architecture nationwide was a camouflaged instrument of the Cold War.
The paper first introduces the discourse of the construction of a new state and traces how this was influenced by US foreign policies and cooperation agreements in Latin America. It follows by giving an overview of the dictator’s plan for the network of airports in Colombia as a materialization of both, national, and international policies. The final section presents how the new state-architecture aimed to catalyse collective memory representing the ideals of the modern movement. Rather than a synthesis of on-going work, what is articulated here are critical thoughts on the “double-truth” of the necessary infrastructure, questioning how this has influenced what I might refer to as a ‘conflictive identity’ in the region.
Key words
Colombia; Architecture; Politics; State; Modern; Representation
En este sentido se busca señalar los criterios de dignificación e intereses de la Iglesia Católica en sectores urbanos marginales o deprimidos en esta época y su manifestación en los elementos arquitectónicos, que contribuyen a la realización del Templo Parroquial de Nuestra Señora del Carmen del Barrio Las Cruces; en el cual confluyen diversos aspectos de interés religioso y político, junto con el desarrollo de la arquitectura (especialmente la sacra, históricamente definida como patrimonial) como símbolo de progreso para las nuevas clases sociales en formación a principios del siglo XX.
Soportado en fuentes primarias se desarrollan aspectos del: contexto histórico y urbano entre 1886 y 1936, la Iglesia Católica como institución civilizadora, la arquitectura eclesiástica como símbolo y cultura material, el papel de la Iglesia en el crecimiento urbano de Bogotá
Books by María del Pilar Sanchez-Beltran
The dichotomy between the reality and the representation of these projects embodies the tension between national and international agendas. The analysis of primary sources, including recently declassified official reports, media records, and raw blueprints, sheds a new light on the instrumentalization of architecture as a political project. Strategies in use, including the equivocal representation of the built environment policy -whether it was made via soft power and camouflaging strategies- have been defining in the understanding and appraisal of modern architecture and urbanism. Thus, the cultural disdain and silence about them in the canon of studies have reinforced the aim of original registers generating long lasting effects. One can appreciate that what was said about these projects has been stronger than them. That is to say, words have proved a greater impact than their material construction.
The emphasis of this presentation will be the critical and parallel reading of records about a selection of projects of infrastructure the regime developed within its ‘National Policy of Public Works’. This contributes to the revision of the historiography about the modern state

architecture from a different perspective. Questioning the convergence of different agendas in the representation, materialization, and reception of modern architecture. Which indeed can be seen in the context of other developing countries of Latin America at the time.
Key words
Colombia; Architecture; Urban development; Politics; Cold War; State; Modern; Representation; Media; Declassified archives
Based on archival material, recently declassified official reports, raw blueprints, and oral history, my contention is that this phenomenon can be traced on different scales. For instance, the canon of studies about the urban development of Bogotá (Colombia's capital city) has overlooked the material outcomes of the period, which in turn reinforces the camouflage strategy implemented by the regime at the time. In other words, the production of these spaces was heavily shaped by the representation of them, and this has influenced the reception of these state projects.
The Colombian case results therefore in a salient example of different effects of the political instrumentalization of architecture, the mediation of modern architecture, and its influence in the de-construction of identity.
During the 1950s, Latin American countries underwent a rapid urbanization process, which has so far been discussed as the result of different ideas of modernization in the region. My PhD research addresses yet another aspect of this process of rapid urbanization and modernization, namely the role of the military government in promoting a considerable number of government-related buildings throughout the entire country as part of a ‘National Policy of Public Works’. Interestingly, this policy was not accompanied by any official document to explain what its contents and objectives were. Findings in original archival sources, oral histories and recently declassified official reports raise critical issues about the actual use of modern architecture in Colombia as a materialization of welfare discourse on the national scene, but also raise questions about its use as an instrument in the Cold War on the international stage.
This paper is structured in two parts. In the first one, drawing on Neil Leach and Jean Louis Cohen’s approaches to camouflage and architecture, I will introduce the idea of external camouflage. In the second part, I will present what I have identified as the three main tactics of camouflage used by Colombian state architecture during the dictatorship of 1950s as part of the Mutual Security Act. These conceptual discussions on the double truth strategy of architecture and urban projects in the Western Hemisphere will open questions that can be extrapolated to other regions in future studies.
El presente artículo da cuenta del avance de la investigación académica en curso, sobre las obras arquitectónicas estatales promovidas por el Gobierno de Rojas Pinilla en la década de 1950, que toma como caso de referencia el proyecto original de la Escuela Naval de 1955, a fin de contribuir no sólo a la historia de la arquitectura moderna colombiana, sino a la memoria de la Armada Nacional.
This analysis challenges the current canon of study of modern architecture in Colombia, by situating it within the international politics of the period. Using original sources, including historical archives, oral history, declassified official reports, and raw blueprints, this research analyses the relation between architecture and power in light of the concept of agency; where rather than having a specific function, architectural objects might pursue different purposes, to suggest that behind the nationalist discourse of the welfare-state, the consolidation of the modern architecture nationwide was a camouflaged instrument of the Cold War.
The paper first introduces the discourse of the construction of a new state and traces how this was influenced by US foreign policies and cooperation agreements in Latin America. It follows by giving an overview of the dictator’s plan for the network of airports in Colombia as a materialization of both, national, and international policies. The final section presents how the new state-architecture aimed to catalyse collective memory representing the ideals of the modern movement. Rather than a synthesis of on-going work, what is articulated here are critical thoughts on the “double-truth” of the necessary infrastructure, questioning how this has influenced what I might refer to as a ‘conflictive identity’ in the region.
Key words
Colombia; Architecture; Politics; State; Modern; Representation
En este sentido se busca señalar los criterios de dignificación e intereses de la Iglesia Católica en sectores urbanos marginales o deprimidos en esta época y su manifestación en los elementos arquitectónicos, que contribuyen a la realización del Templo Parroquial de Nuestra Señora del Carmen del Barrio Las Cruces; en el cual confluyen diversos aspectos de interés religioso y político, junto con el desarrollo de la arquitectura (especialmente la sacra, históricamente definida como patrimonial) como símbolo de progreso para las nuevas clases sociales en formación a principios del siglo XX.
Soportado en fuentes primarias se desarrollan aspectos del: contexto histórico y urbano entre 1886 y 1936, la Iglesia Católica como institución civilizadora, la arquitectura eclesiástica como símbolo y cultura material, el papel de la Iglesia en el crecimiento urbano de Bogotá