I Retraced The Streets Of El Alto, Bolivia, To Discover A Unique Style Of Architecture Called Cholet (22 Pics)

My name is Yuri Segalerba and I'm an Italian photographer who moved to Berlin 11 years ago, looking for a more vibrant and inspiring environment, caught by the fascination of abandoned industrial areas.

Some years ago, I went to El Alto, a satellite city of La Paz in the Andean Plateau, which is over 4000 meters high, and I found something you couldn't expect!

In this newborn city, where the architecture is characterized by strong use of exposed brick, Aymara natives, coming from the countryside, are now part of the new middle class and there is a new style of architecture to represent them, which introduced some color in the city of El Alto.

These extravagant and colorful Nuevo Andino (New Andean) style buildings are called Cholet, a mix between the words “chalet” and “cholo” - a dismissive racial epithet that is used in some Latin American countries to identify the indigenous population.

These buildings in El Alto became the representation of economic success.

I retraced the streets of El Alto to discover these colorful buildings and photograph them. I focused on the social and architectural contrast they represent, without ignoring the uniqueness of the geometry and chromaticity typical of this style.

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