La Paz lies in a valley, surrounded by mighty mountains, at times reaching over 6000m. But of course this means there is limited space for building, especially since some of the mountainsides are very steep. As more and more people came to the city in search of a better life, La Paz just wasn’t big enough. Yet on top of the cliffs above La Paz are the high altitude plains, over 4000m high. It’s a big flat area that people found perfect for building a new city: El Alto. El Alto and La Paz are pretty much grown together, with the La Paz airport really being in El Alto, but there is a clear natural boundary due to the cliffs. There is even a bit of a cultural difference between the two.
Since a lot of farmers came to El Alto, the city dwellers don’t always have the best opinion of El Alto. There is also much poverty as people try to make a living from something that is not farming. On a tour of El Alto I learned that most people end up selling things. They may start small, earn money and expand and this way end up being in wholesale. Or they start driving a taxi, buying a van, getting employees, doing transportation of goods, etc. The people in El Alto live in blocks that often come from the same community. Yet some of them may have had more success than others and this is reflected in the buildings. You can see a big mansion next to a plot with a simple house. Many of the country people also have stronger beliefs in ancient rituals and deities. They seek advice from witch doctors to make life decisions and get a blessing of Pachamama (mother nature) for building a house for example. The witch doctors have little offices in specific streets, where you can see the fires outside, which are used for the rituals. Closeby are shops where you can buy anything you need for the rituals, from fake money to herbs and llama fetuses.
As a relatively new city, it’s rapidly expanding and filling the plains. Hundreds of minibuses take people across the city and it houses the biggest market of the country. Especially Thursday and Sunday are huge. The cable cars fill with city people heading to El Alto to do their shopping. You can find fresh produce or clothes, but also anything you need for your house, car or hobby. There are stands selling breakfast, lunch and dinner. People walk around selling eye pencils. I see a sweater for sale from a coffee shop in Amsterdam. You have to push through the the crowded streets and, especially as a foreigner, watch your things and put anything valuable deep inside your bag. A phone sitting a bit too obviously in your pant pocket will be taken with a convenient distraction, such as blowing dust in your face or dropping something itchy in your neck.
El Alto is very interesting and I appreciate it more, the more I learn about it. On my last day in La Paz I took a tour to learn more about a new architectural movement: the cholets, or neo-Andean architecture. As people gained wealth, they wanted to show this somehow. Despite racism they wanted to express parts of their heritage, perhaps an homage to their roots. Freddy Mamani was a young construction worker with ambitions to be an architect. He came with an idea that would change the look of the city. By now, many of his cholets, a combination of the words cholo (a mostly derogatory word used to describe indigenous people) and chalet, have popped up around the city. There are even copycats and architects that have given their own spin on the cholet, like the futuristic transformer mansions. The style was much criticized by other architects, but loved by the people. Cholets have some common elements, but each one is unique and the family decides exactly what they want.
A cholet is a tall building with the main cottage on top. Mostly the top has this little building and an outdoor terrace. Furthermore one of the floors has an event space, which is mostly also rented out to others to generate income. At the bottom floor is space for shops. The outside and inside are grand! They are bold! They draw attention. There are shiny, reflecting windows. There are colors and lots of relief. Upon closer inspection you can find details and meaning. Certain shapes or patterns represent the Bolivian culture. For example, lots of cholets have elements of the Andean Cross. It represents the three worlds: the underworld of the death, the world we live in and the world of the gods. It’s even inspired the way cholets are structured. For some their spiritual beliefs are important and therefore strongly represented in the house, others prefer to honor something different. For example, we passed a cholet that looks surprisingly Chinese. It wasn’t Chinese owned though, but the owners made their money importing from China.
I thought it couldn’t get bolder or more expressive. I was wrong. A newer line of cholets is futuristic. In the end the cholet is a family heritage. It’s built to house an entire family, with rooms available for the children and their spouses. Eventually it gets passed on to the next generation. So some people started asking their children for input as to what the cholet should look like. Someone wanted a transformer cholet. Santos Churata took on the challenge and has now built a whole range of futuristic cholets and founded a side stream of Mamani’s original structures. Unfortunately I couldn’t visit any on the inside. They are generally private houses and although my tour guide had a connection, the family was still away from the long weekend celebrations. People work hard and make long hours, but celebrations are done well! Freddy Mamani doesn’t want to build cholets anywhere else since it’s meant for the indigenous people of El Alto and perhaps Bolivia. But with more and more exposure and imitations, I’m curious where this movement is heading. So, what do you think? A bold, unique style? Or rather horrendous?
