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Enrique Browne, Chile
Enrique Browne is a Chilean architect and author, principal in Enrique Browne & Associates with offices in Chile. Browne’s work applies traditionalist perspectives to designs that are strikingly modern, ecological and energy efficient but characterized by age-old cultural influences and building styles.
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One example is Browne’s use of greenery, which revives the Hispanic tradition of the use of plant-covered pergolas to diffuse light, soften elevations and create shade. In Santiago's intensely hot, dry climate, for instance, the plants add a cooling layer of lush visual and physical texture to his buildings.
This can be seen in one of Browne’s best known projects - the offices of the insurance company Consorcio-Vida in Santiago. The westerly facades of the building are covered by an outer screen of planted trellises to protect against solar gain and overheating in the brutal Santiago sun. The trellises have cut solar gain in the building in half and provided a beautiful exterior. Indoors, offices are permeated with light magically filtered through the greenery. Because of the use of plants, the building is constantly evolving, changing shape and colour with the seasons and giving cause for some to call it Santiago’s version of the hanging gardens of Babylon.
Browne has a Master’s Degree in Urban Planning from the “Universidad Católica de Chile” and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston. In addition, he has studied in Great Britain and Japan and received funds from the Ford Foundation (1969 - 71), the Social Science Research Council (1975) and the J.S.Guggenheim Foundation (1983) to research and complete his works.
Enrique Browne has received more than 30 prizes and honours from around the world. He has taught 42 national and international courses in architecture and art, is the author of three books, has made 235 publications and had 32 expositions.
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