Abstract

ARIZA PICON, Ramiro. ARCHITECTURE AND POWER: PLANNING, CONSTRUCTION, AND AN EXERCISE OF "READING" THE CENTRO ADMINISTRATIVO NACIONAL IN THE MILITARY GOVERNMENT OF GUSTAVO ROJAS PINILLA (1953-1957). anal.polit. [online]. 2015, vol.28, n.84, pp.135-154. ISSN 0121-4705.  https://doi.org/10.15446/anpol.v28n84.54643.

In December 1954, the government of General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla (1900-1975) began construction of the Centro Administrativo Nacional (National Administrative Center) or CAN, organized around a presidential palace. From the founding of the Republic until that time, national bureaucracy was dispersed throughout the historical center of Bogotá. Its offices, including the Executive Mansion, were not the most appropriate for public functions. An architectural design was commissioned including symbolism in accordance with the nature of the military government and the disposition of its leader. The regime’s fall in 1957 led to the demolition of the palace’s foundations and paralyzed the rest of the construction. However, in the mid-1960s, the project was continued, though stripped of its original symbolism.

Keywords : Architecture; Urban Planning; Bureaucracy; Gustavo Rojas Pinilla; Dictatorship; Political Power.

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