Bolivian architecture rescues the Tiwanaku buildings, built with large stone blocks carved with surprising junction and Inca constructions such as the palaces of Isla del Sol, Isla de la Luna and the military forts of Samaipata and Incallajta for example.
In the colonial period the religious buildings on mestizo baroque style of the XVII century combine mythological European and native elements. The Church of San Lorenzo de Carangas in Potosí (1548), the Basilica of San Francisco de La Paz (1548) and the churches of the Jesuit Missions (1691-1760) are representative works of this period.
After independence, new styles such as the neoclassical one with the Cathedral of Potosí of Manuel Sanahuja (1808) and the French academicism with the Palace of Government of Jose Nunez del Prado (1846) and the Metropolitan Cathedral basilica of San Lorenzo in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, de Felipe Bertres (1838). At the end of the 19th century, eclecticism is reflected in works such as the Palace of La Glorieta of Antonio Camponovo in Sucre that combines 14 architectural styles.
In the twentieth century arose styles such as the neotiahuanaco with the National Museum of Archeology of Arturo Posnasky; and the official academism with the Legislative Palace of Camponovo. Emilio Villanueva, who is considered the most important Bolivian architect of the century by works such as the buildings of Alcaldia de La Paz (1925), the Central Bank of Bolivia (1926) and the complex of the Universidad Mayor de San Andres (1941-1948).
The “cholet”, style of the XXI century – term originated by the combination of the words “cholo”
and “chalet”-is a construction with the characteristics of a villa, on the upstairs floor of a building of 3 to 7 levels intended for commercial or residential uses. The cholet is generally inhabited by the owner of the property.
This type of construction began to appear in the south of La Paz, and in Cochabamba, becoming very frequent in the city of El Alto, many of them design by the architect Freddy Mamani
.
