Artists: Beatrice Di Girolamo (Chile)
Graphic Designer (Catholic University). She received the highest qualification for her graduation project “New Arts and Letters, supplement for the newspaper El Mercurio”. For 15 years she worked as graphic designer involved in various projects such as logos, CD covers; the graphic image of Chile’s Pavilion at the Expo 1998 Lisbon (with the architects Borja Huidobro and Roberto Benavente); and the artistic direction of virtualia.com, among others.
Since 2004 she works in her art projects exclusively, after attending painting lessons with local artists like Francisco Mendez, Eugenio Dittborn, Andres Vio and Eduardo Vilches. In 2007, Beatrice leaves the canvas behind and begins working with wood.
Artwork: Uprising II
We live surrounded by benches scattered throughout our city. But our usual pace is suddenly interrupted by one of these benches that shows a different manufacturing, a treatment far removed from the bench’s original context and function. This takes it to another level, beyond the square and any known utilitarian function. Starting from a traditional bench made of iron and wood, an unexpected artistic gesture causes the explosion and disintegration of that piece of furniture.
“I hope that the presence of this bench on this empty lot, will make people stop for a few seconds and wonder how it got there, why it is there and why the woodwork has become detached from the structure.”
Place: Sitio Eriazo- Barrio Yungay
Address: to the south la Alameda de las Delicias, to the east Avenida Brasil, to the north San Pablo Street and to the west Matucana, including the Quinta Normal Park, Universidad de Santiago and Villa Portales.
Type of Protection: Typical Zone
The Yungay neighborhood, founded on April 5, 1839, is the “first planned neighborhood of the city of Santiago,” and embodies an important part of the architectural heritage of the 19th and 20th century. The neighborhood, designed by Jacinto Cueto and Juan de la Cruz Sotomayor, is checkerboard in form, in line with the historical center of the colonial city, but as a complex separate from the rest of the city.
In the mid-19th century constructions were five-storied houses, with interior courtyards, built of adobe – material that had dried in Plaza Yungay itself. The neighborhood’s name brings to mind the victory of the battle of Yungay against the Peru – Bolivian Confederation; therefore, every January 20th this victory is commemorated with a public party.
In this sector there are six historical monuments as well as four typical and historic preservation zones totaling more than 180 hectares. The Yungay neighborhood is considered by many as a germinal point of urban and republican Chilean culture for hosting important figures, intellectuals, and domestic and foreign creators who made a contribution to the development of the country. Yungay is currently sheltering creators of all kinds, who day by day carry out cultural and social initiatives. In addition to those who have lived for generations in the district, today its streets and squares are nourished with the presence of Latin American immigrants who have given a new color to the neighborhood.