Here, the ARKRIT Collective presents three hypotheses that stabilize and support the potential liberal logic behind the Quinta Monroy project by the firm ELEMENTAL, in light of the current reality of this social housing complex fifteen years after its construction—a reality that begs the question: did this project succeed in addressing inequality in Chile?
‘A land of contrasts’—or so, at least, goes the popular saying among Chileans. A country where income inequality is among the highest in the OECD; where there are municipalities (comunas) with over a million inhabitants that lack a hospital; where pharmacy chains collude to rig prices; where the square footage of shopping malls per capita is the highest in Latin America; and where a sitting president declares that “education is a consumer good”—higher education with some of the steepest tuition rates in the OECD, to the point that even the Managing Director of the IMF has admitted the need for reforms to foster greater inclusion, equity, and cohesion in a social fabric deeply eroded by consumerism, classism, and countless other ills.
