1931 - 2013

The Chilean architect and critic Christian De Groote studied at the Pontificia Universidad Católica, and thanks to a Fulbright scholarship he completed his training at the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1959. Back in Chile, and imbued with the international trends of the time, particularly the bold language of Louis Kahn, De Groote worked at the office of Emilio Duhart – one of the most important 20th century Chilean architects – with whom he would build the Carozzi Factory in Nos or the impressive brutalist building of the CEPAL (Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean), both in Santiago. In 1967 he set up his studio, launching a professional career marked at the beginning by the strength of its industrial language with works like the headquarters of the newspaper El Mercurio or of Acería Cronox, followed by some of his best buildings, like the Hotel Ralún of Reloncaví, the INACAP building of Apoquindo, or the Cóndor, Orrego and Fajnzylber houses, three of the most noteworthy among the one hundred built by a prolific architect who merited the National Architecture Prize in 1993.