Keeping To An Outdoor,

street art theme,

 I came across these fantastically painted buildings,

 the divisive architectural style is taking over the Bolivian city of El Alt,

 local architect Freddy Mamani, who has spent the last 18 years developing the signature style he calls “Nuevo Andino” (“New Andean”), felt that El Alto was too “monochrome.” 

 El Alto is a the second-largest city in Bolivia outside the capital city of La Paz, and one of its fastest-growing urban centers,

 as well as exteriors becoming bold and bright, 

 interiors are being given the same treatment,

 most of the city’s residents are Amerindian, identifying as Aymara, an indigenous nation in the Andes and Altiplano regions whose ancestors lived in the area long before becoming subjects of the Inca in the 15th century and later the Spanish in the 16th century,

 locally, the buildings he has erected – as well as those inspired by his work – are referred to as “cholets,” reclaiming a derisive word combining “chalet” and “cholo” often used to dismiss the indigenous population in Latin American countries,

 each of these “cholets” has commercial space on the ground floor for shops, restaurants and services, while the second floor hosts a gathering space, the third offers apartments and the fourth contains the residence of the building’s owner,

 they all feature exaggerated geometries, asymmetrical proportions and the lines and motifs found in the ruins of the ancient Aymara city of Tiwanaku, a UNESCO World Heritage Site located about 37 miles away,

Mamani has completed about 70 of these buildings in El Alto and 100 more across Bolivia, does the new style suit the city? well it is still up for debate, but the style has certainly got the city talked about! photography by Yuri Segalerba.