New boat-shaped building sails over El Alto skyline

(11 Sep 2023)
BOLIVIA BUILDING

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS

RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

LENGTH: 3:02

ASSOCIATED PRESS
El Alto, Bolivia - 8 September 2023

1. Wide of boat shaped building, Crucero de los Andes
2. Mural on building where boat is located
3. Boat on Crucero de los Andes
4. Setup shot of architect Freddy Mamani
5. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Freddy Mamani, architect:
"This is a new phase in my line of work. A new stage that is dedicated to tourism, both local and foreign. Tourists have always visited in the Cholets. Foreigners have visited us to learn a little more about what we are doing and what we have innovated and in addition to what this type of architecture means."

6. Mamani posing on boat, El Alto neighborhood in background
7. Boat shaped building, Crucero de los Andes
8. Boat and anchor, Crucero de los Andes
9. Various of event hall
10. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Victor Choque, owner:
"We have opened the doors to the people who visit us not only to stay in the event hall, but they can go up higher, into the bowels of the building. In a traditional Cholet, the highest part is reserved for the enjoyment of the owners. The best place to see the sunset and the best views is the owner's. But in this case, we wanted to turn this around and give the opportunity to all the visitors to enjoy this wonderful view of this very comfortable place."

11. Wide of Cholet building, Crucero de los Andes
12. Ship bridge
13. Various of boat's wheel with phrase (Spanish): "Cruise of the Andes"
14. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Victor Choque, owner:
"I prefer not to touch the financial side, not to put my finger on the sore because it is often misinterpreted and distorted, which is the worst. So, we will leave this issue unknown, but it is clear that it is something (expensive). We cannot cover the sun with a finger."

15. Indigenous figures inside building
16. Various interior Decorations
18. Various of boat shaped building

LEADIN:

At almost 4,000 meters above sea level and in front of the snow-capped mountains of the Andes mountain range, a luxurious ship built with concrete seems to float on the clouds above a sea of ​​brick houses in El Alto.

Internet users have already baptized the ship built on the terrace of a small skyscraper as the “Titanic cholet”, although the name stands out on the bow: Cruise of the Andes.

STORYLINE:

It is a style of architecture that is almost unique to the Bolivian city of El Alto.

The city, which neighbours the capital, La Paz, is one of the highest populated areas in the world, lying at an altitude of 4,150 metres (13,615 feet) above sea level.

El Alto has created a unusual urban identity in colorful buildings that recreate symbols of the Tiwanaku and Inca cultures that flourished thousands of years ago on the high plateau.

"This is a new phase in my line of work. A new stage that is dedicated to tourism, both local and foreign," says architect Freddy Mamami, creator of those striking buildings popularly called cholets (a term that combines the words cholo and chalet).

The buildings have become mansions of a thriving Aymara bourgeoisie that made a fortune in informal commerce, the main economic activity of this city of one million inhabitants and neighbor of La Paz, but also with high levels of poverty and marginality.

"Tourists have always visited in the Cholets. Foreigners have visited us to learn a little more about what we are doing and what we have innovated and in addition to what this type of architecture means," explains Mamami.


Over time, the buildings have become ever more extravagant.












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