Cristián Boza Díaz ( Santiago de Chile , July 29, 1943 – Santiago de Chile, January 21, 2020 ) was a Chilean architect and teacher, known for designing the Parque Fluvial de la Familia , the Justice Center and the Universidad San Sebastian in Santiago de Chile .
Summary
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- 1 Biographical summary
- 2 published books
- 3 Death
- 4 Awards and accolades
- 5 Sources
biographical synthesis
Padre Renato Poblete River Park (in Santiago, Chile ).
Justice Center (in Santiago de Chile ).
Central House of the San Sebastián University , (in Recoleta).
The Golf 99 (in Las Condes ).
He studied at the Colegio del Verbo Divino and later entered the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile , where he graduated as an architect in 1968. Later, he did a postgraduate degree in urban design and planning at the University of Edinburgh in the Scottish capital .. There, he says, he became fascinated with the architecture of Britain’s James Stirling.
During an interview, answering the question of what had been his greatest daring, he recalled how he met Stirling personally: «I took advantage of the fact that he was 25 years old and that he was a third-world foreigner to call him on the phone in London, in order to tell him that I admired his work and that he wanted to meet him. I managed to get a personal interview with him that started one morning in his office and ended that afternoon, at lunch at his house drinking brandy until two in the afternoon».
He began his professional work in 1969 with the Boza-Lührs-Muzard Arquitectos office and 14 years later he founded Cristián Boza & Asociados Arquitectos (1985-2003). In 2012 he created Boza + Boza Arquitectos with his son, Cristián Boza Wilson.
He began working as an urban consultant for the Municipality of La Reina (1969-1970).
In 1985 he founded the Cristián Boza & Asociados Arquitectos office, from where he carried out various projects for housing, facilities and both public and private buildings.He participated as president of the Heritage Commission of the College of Architects of Chile (1989-1991), as vice president of the X Biennale of Architecture (1995), as advisor to the Minister of Housing and Urbanism Edmundo Hermosilla (1996-1997) and as director of the International Exhibition XIII Biennial Architecture Chile (1998-1999).
He was an urban advisor to the Municipality of La Reina (1969-1970), president of the Heritage Commission of the Chilean College of Architects (1989-1991), vice president of the X Biennale of Architecture (1995), advisor to the Minister of Housing and Urbanism Edmundo Hermosilla (1996-1997) and director of the International Exhibition XIII Biennial Architecture Chile (1998-1999).
He worked as a teacher at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile , at the Andrés Bello University , the Universidad del Desarrollo, and the San Sebastián University , where he was dean of the Faculty of Architecture between 2006 and 2012.
He married Diana Wilson, with whom he had four children: Max ( lawyer ), Camilo ( doctor ), Cristián ( architect ), and Antonia ( visual artist ).
After living 30 years in a house in La Reina, he moved to Las Condes, to a tenth floor of a building on Américo Vespucio Norte overlooking the Los Leones Golf Club and had a house, designed by himself, in Los Vilos. , which has a park with a collection of sculptures; he had another on Lake Caburgua, where he also built four houses for the political billionaire Sebastián Piñera , of whom he was a close friend.
He married Diana Wilson, with whom he had four children: Max (lawyer), Camilo (doctor), Cristián (architect) and Antonia (visual artist).
Among his works, he himself highlighted the Fundación tower (1980), in the center of Santiago, and his house in Los Vilos (2000).
Promoter of the navigable Mapocho, which was embodied in the Padre Renato Poblete river park (along with the architects José Macchi, Adrián Sebastián, and Javier and Marcelo Vila), he was also one of the authors of the project for the new Justice Center.
Other works of his are the Lo Castillo shopping center, buildings in Providencia, Vitacura and Las Condes; proposed to create a large greenhouse on the North South, “where 0.1 million cars pass per day and where 4 million tons of CO 2 per day are generated ” and in 2014, after the great fire in Valparaíso, he presented a model of housing solution for the victims.
In one of his last appearances, he inaugurated Drawings of Travel and Architecture at the La Sala art gallery: “A very special exhibition that synthesizes the energy, love, passion and great talent of this architect for public spaces, for the city, for its architecture and its monuments.
published books
- The architecture
- Traditional spas in Chile: their architecture
- Parks and private gardens in Chile
- Architecture, previous drawings
- The 100 Works of Latin American Architecture of the 20th Century.
Death
He died at the age of 76 on January 21, 2020 as a result of liver disease. [1] [2] [3]
The news was confirmed by Consuelo Valdés (Minister of Culture of Chile). [4]
Awards and honours
- Award from the Central House of the San Sebastian University
- Golf 99 Award, Las Condes
- Award for the Padre Renato Poblete River Park, Quinta Normal
- Santiago Justice Center Award
- 2005: Great Latin American Prize for Architecture (X Biennale of Architecture of Buenos Aires)
- 2013: Latin American Architecture Award at the Buenos AiresBiennial
- 2016: International Construction Trophy (Global Trade Leaders Club)
- 2016: European Awards for Best Practices, awarded by the European Society for Quality Research.
- 2018: He is named an honorary member of the AOA (Association of Offices of Architects). [5]
Fuentes
