How to Cite: Mondragón López, Hugo and Camila Osorio Scardelato. "A School, a Palace, a Nation: Symbolic Representation in the Architecture of the Pedro Montt Lyceum in Valparaíso. Chile, 1918–1919". Dearq no. 43 (2025): 24-39. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18389/dearq43.2025.04
Hugo Mondragón López
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
Camila Osorio Scardelato
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
Received: September 3, 2024 | Accepted: May 21, 2025
This article offers a micro-historical and archaeological reading of the Pedro Montt Lyceum building in Valparaíso, Chile. Beginning with a formal analysis of the school's architecture, it reconstructs the historical conditions of the building's production and presents an analytical interpretation that uncovers the material traces of political, social, and cultural modernization projects embedded within it. The metaphor of the palace, coined by the citizens themselves, suggests that the lyceum was perceived as a school only in functional terms, while also signaling broader public awareness that the building carried a symbolic message. The article concludes that the lyceum serves as an allegorical representation of a civilizing and Europeanizing vision of modernity, as imagined by the local elite during the period of the Parliamentary Republic (1891–1920).
Keywords: Palace-schools, nation-state, symbolic representation, school architecture.
This article examines the Pedro Montt Lyceum in Valparaíso to explore how the building transcends its practical function and takes on symbolic meaning. It asks: in what ways does the Pedro Montt Lyceum operate as a symbol? This study contributes to the institutional history of the lyceum while shedding light on a little-explored period in Chilean school architecture, during which the young republic sought to project an image of modernity through its educational buildings.
The lyceum is part of a group of school buildings constructed under the provisions of Law 3096 of 1916 (Ministerio de Instrucción Pública 1916), commonly referred to as "palace-schools" due to their monumentality, strategic urban locations, and solemn formal expression. Scholars such as Claudia Shmidt (Grementieri and Shmidt 2010) and Daniela Cattaneo (2012) in Argentina, and Carlos Ortega Ibarra (2019) in Mexico, have examined the historical processes that led to the construction of these "palace-schools" in their respective countries. By contrast, no comparable studies have been found that explain this phenomenon in Chile. This article, therefore, seeks to help bridge this knowledge gap.
The methodology combines microhistory (Ginzburg 2010) and archaeology (Foucault 2002). The former, which places the building at the center of the historical narrative, enables the reconstruction—through its morphological analysis—of the constellation of political, social, economic, and cultural factors that shaped it. The latter approaches the building as a repository of material traces of political discourses, knowledge systems, and intersubjective practices. The research involved consulting historical documents (photographs, architectural plans, legal records) and producing a new document consisting of redrawn plans of the building.
In Chile, the existence of "palace-schools" is documented in sources that also provide insight into the production context of the Pedro Montt Lyceum. According to José M. Muñoz (1918), Chilean schools operated under precarious conditions in the mid-19th century. In 1854, the Chilean state began to plan school buildings when the administration of Manuel Montt (1851–1861) commissioned architectural designs and distributed lithographic copies to the provinces, offering to cover half of the construction costs if the proposed plans were followed.
As the 19th century progressed, the need for well-constructed school buildings to strengthen the national educational system became increasingly apparent, according to Muñoz (1918). In 1883, the government of Domingo Santa María (1881-1886) allocated funds to build schools for boys and girls in provincial capitals. These buildings were to follow the nine standardized designs approved in 1881, which, according to Muñoz, were "[...] among the most common in North America [and which he identified as responsible for] the few good school buildings with which primary education has been endowed until today [1918]" (1918, 188).
Of the nine school building designs mentioned by Muñoz (1918), four were wooden structures and five were made of "solid materials." Muñoz notes that the latter were referred to as "palace-schools" due to their monumentality and construction in brick and stone. Similarly, in Historia de la educación en Chile (1810—1910), Sol Serrano, Macarena Ponce de León, and Francisca Rengifo (2012) also discuss "palace-schools." According to their account, between 1892 and 1927, the Chilean state prioritized the construction of "model" schools in provincial capitals, emphasizing their role in "making the State visible and representing a process of institutionalization [...]." The most prominent examples of this vision were the "palace-schools," built in Santiago and Valparaíso between 1919 and 1927 (Serrano, Ponce de León, and Rengifo 2012, 204). The national character of these institutions was further reinforced by naming them after historical figures.
Historian Jorge Rojas Flores (2016) also notes that, beginning in the 1880s, the Chilean state showed special concern for school infrastructure. According to Rojas, the administrations of Domingo Santa María (1881-1886) and José Manuel Balmaceda (1886-1891) allocated substantial resources to the construction of public schools—some so "sumptuous" that they came to be known by the public as "palace-schools." Rojas (2016) cites the Federico Errázuriz School, inaugurated in Santiago in 1918—just one year before the Pedro Montt Lyceum—as a prime example.
Figure 1_ Einar Altschwager, Main façade of the Pedro Montt Lyceum, ca. 1930. Photograph negative on glass. Source: Museo Histórico Nacional.
The Pedro Montt Lyceum in Valparaíso is classified as a "palace-school." Its design and construction align with the period identified by historians as the peak of this architectural model. Named after a former president of the republic, the building was constructed with solid materials, features monumental dimensions, occupies a strategic urban location, and exhibits a solemn architectural expression (fig. 1).
The Pedro Montt Lyceum shares formal characteristics with other contemporary school buildings considered to be "palace-schools," such as the Neandro Schilling Lyceum (San Fernando, 1901), the "Liceo de Aplicación" (Santiago, 1911), the Germán Riesco Lyceum (La Serena, 1912), the Aníbal Pinto Lyceum (Santiago, 1917), the Federico Errázuriz Lyceum (Santiago, 1918), the Salvador Sanfuentes Lyceum (Santiago, 1920), the Manuel Bulnes Lyceum (Concepción, 1921), the Bernardo O'Higgins Lyceum (Viña del Mar, 1921), the Girls' Lyceum (Talca, 1924), the República de Venezuela School (Santiago, 1929) (fig. 2).
Figure 2_ Façades of palace-schools built in the early 20th century in Chile. In color, the main façade of the Pedro Montt Lyceum. Drawn by: Josefina Caram, Rocío Marin, Camila Osorio, and Antonia Vargas.
The Pedro Montt Men's Higher School No. 98 was built between 1918 and 1919 by the Ministry of Industry, Public Works, and Railways as part of the Building Plan established by Law No. 30691of 1916 (Ministry of Public Instruction). Following the 1906 earthquake2, the site designated for the Pedro Montt Lyceum was configured as a trapezoidal block of 4,300 m2, bordered by Carlos Lyon Street to the southeast, Caupolicán Street to the southwest, Plaza von Bismark to the northeast, and Alemania Avenue to the northwest (fig. 3).
Figure 3_ Nolli plan illustrating the uniqueness of the Pedro Montt Lyceum as a courtyard-block building. Drawn by: Antonia Vargas.
The lyceum is located at the summit of Cerro Cárcel in Valparaíso, on the grounds of a former property known as the Picadero Alemán. The site is notable for its steep slope and its views of key urban landmarks in the city of Valparaíso (fig. 4).
Figure 4_ Nolli plan showing the Pedro Montt Lyceum's location in the hills of Valparaíso, courtesy of Fabiola Solari, Giselle Cabello and Elisa Estrada. Editing: Hugo Mondragón, Camila Osorio and Antonia Vargas.
The lyceum is situated on a terraced block, leveled by a 5.5-meter retaining wall built along the front facing Plaza von Bismarck. Three structures on the site enclose a central courtyard. The main building contains classrooms, workshops, and offices, while the secondary structures house sanitary facilities and a gymnasium (figs. 7 and 8).
Figure 5_ Axonometry of the Pedro Montt Lyceum. Drawn by: Josefina Caram.
Figure 6_ This axonometric view shows how two of the four sides of the central courtyard are occupied by programs related to hygiene (bathrooms) and physical education (gymnasium), both central elements of the school curriculum and the building's design. Drawn by: Antonia Vargas and Josefina Caram.
Access to the lyceum is through the structure facing Alemania Avenue, via a double staircase set within a 3-meter-wide front garden that contrasts with the building's monumental scale. The orientation of the staircase compels visitors to look out toward the sea or the hills before entering the building.
On the first floor of the main structure, adjacent to the entrance vestibule, are the director's office, a waiting room, and two rooms at the rear. Workshop rooms are located at the northern and southern ends of the building, with a third positioned to the northeast. These rectangular rooms—each measuring 160 m² in size and accommodating up to 133 students—were used as laboratories or classrooms for singing and linear drawing (Serrano, Ponce de León, and Rengifo 2012) (fig. 7).
Figure 7_ Top: east elevation, Av. Alemania. Center: first floor plan. Bottom: north elevation, Av. Alemania. The drawings identify the Pedro Montt Lyceum rooms and architectural features. Source: plans based on floor plans from Archivo Fotográfico de la Dirección de Arquitectura, Ministerio de Obras Públicas, Santiago de Chile. Drawn by: Josefina Caram.
Figure 8_ Top: section A-A'. Center: second floor plan. Bottom: section B-B'. The drawings identify the Pedro Montt Lyceum rooms and architectural features. Source: plans based on floor plans from Archivo Fotográfico de la Dirección de Arquitectura, Ministerio de Obras Públicas, Santiago de Chile. Drawn by: Josefina Caram.
On the second floor, ten classrooms, a teachers' room, a utility room, a savings bank, and a bathroom were arranged along a central corridor (fig. 8). Each classroom accommodated 40 students, seated in pairs facing the teacher and the blackboard (Serrano, Ponce de León, and Rengifo 2012). At the time of the lyceum's inauguration, it is likely that subjects such as Spanish grammar, Christian doctrine and morals, arithmetic, the legal system of weights and measures, linear drawing, geography, and a compendium of the Chilean history and the Political Constitution of the State were taught there (Serrano, Ponce de León, and Rengifo 2012).
Figure 9_ Axonometric and façade. The analytical drawing highlights the axis of symmetry that organizes the layout of the volume where the lyceum's main façade is located. Drawn by: Antonia Vargas and Josefina Caram.
The distinctiveness of the entrance is expressed through a symmetrical façade centered on the main door, which is accentuated by decorative elements beneath the cornice and two unique, more slender windows. A 70 cm plinth with simple ornamentation supports a series of rectangular windows, each crowned by semicircular or flattened arches (fig. 9).
The lyceum's façade facing Plaza von Bismarck, which closely resembles the main entrance façade in its expression, maintains the relationship between room function and window type. A counterpoint is introduced by two vertical windows at either end, which illuminate the staircases and create a direct visual connection between the school's interior, the plaza, and the surrounding geographical and urban landscape (fig. 10).
Figure 10_ Original northeast elevation of the Pedro Montt Lyceum, 1917. Source: Archivo Fotográfico de la Dirección de Arquitectura, Ministerio de Obras Públicas, Santiago de Chile.
In summary, the form and expression of the Pedro Montt Lyceum highlight the building's monumentality. On one hand, classrooms of up to 160 m², with ceiling heights exceeding 3 meters and windows nearly 2.8 meters tall, reflect an architectural scale that surpasses the practical needs of a school designed for children. On the other hand, the expression of the main façades reinforces the building's palatial character. These façades carefully regulate the relationship between interior and exterior—most notably through the rhythmic arrangement of windows along the main body, which transforms the structure into a kind of viewpoint overlooking the landscape. Furthermore, the placement of the lyceum on a monumental plinth (fig. 11) enhances its urban presence within a context of low-rise housing. The building is thus elevated to the status of a symbol—an urban monument. Its palatial quality is architecturally constructed through this dual condition of being both a monument and viewpoint (fig. 12).3
Figure 11_ Section illustrating the natural slope of the terrain and the placement of the school building on a monumentally scaled plinth. Drawn by: Antonia Vargas y Josefina Caram.
Figure 12_ Einar Altschwager, Photography of Conjunto de viviendas en los cerros de Valparaíso, ca. 1930. Source: Museo Histórico Nacional.
The Pedro Montt Lyceum in Valparaíso is a school building—but it is also a palace. The metaphor of the palace-school reveals the building's communicative power. Its function went beyond mere public utility; it sought to symbolize something. But what, exactly?
The use of linguistic figures positions architecture within the domain of language and communication. Allegory, for instance, conveys complex ideas through symbols that bridge the literal and the allegorical. As Angus Fletcher notes, an allegory "says one thing and means another" (2012, 11), thereby subverting the expectation that words mean precisely what they express.
Allegory, a rhetorical device employed across various arts—including architecture—serves to convey complex messages. In the Baroque period, for example, architectural elements were designed to invite polysemic interpretation. As Hans Sedlmayr (1996) observes, Baroque allegories, when read literally, represent concrete objects or functions, but symbolically, they evoke abstract ideas or concepts.
According to Fletcher (2012), recognizing an allegory does not require an exegetical analysis. It is sufficient for a building to suggest a meaning that goes beyond the literal, such as the metaphor of the palace in the case of the Pedro Montt Lyceum. Fletcher (2012) cites Coleridge, who uses the terms "disguise" and "mask" to describe the nature of allegory.
Dalibor Vesely (2004) argues that, since the Baroque period, architecture has oscillated between instrumental and symbolic representation—the former viewing architecture as a practical tool, the latter as a vehicle for conveying ideas and values. Vesely (2004) illustrates this tension by noting how Guarini employed triangular geometric figures in the Chapel of the Holy Shroud in Turin (1668) to evoke the mystery of the Trinity, and how seashell motifs in the Benedictine monastery of Zwiefalten allude to the virginity of Mary, who, like the shell that produces a pearl without external intervention, conceived without physical contact.
By being conceived as a "palace-school," the Pedro Montt Lyceum transcends its instrumental function as a school building and assumes a symbolic dimension. Its strategic location transforms it into a palace that draws the public gaze and communicates the value that a centuries-old nation places on public education.
The Enlightenment, the intellectual movement that flourished in Europe during the 18th century, transformed prevailing conceptions of power, society, and the individual. Its emphasis on reason, science, and individual autonomy not only challenged the existing order but also laid the groundwork for the rise of the modern nation-state—and, with it, the imperative of universal public education.
The interrelations among these three concepts are explored below to examine how the Enlightenment influenced the formation of nation-states and how public education emerged as a foundational pillar for their consolidation and development. The aim is to demonstrate that the Pedro Montt Lyceum in Valparaíso, as a product of the Chilean public education system, represents a local expression of enlightened modernity.
The Enlightenment was marked by a profound critique of traditional power structures. Philosophers such as Rousseau challenged the legitimacy of these regimes, asserting that sovereignty resides with the people. In The Social Contract, Rousseau (2017 [1762]) conceived the nation as a collective entity, a "moral and collective body" that possesses a general will, which serves as the source of political power. This concept of popular sovereignty was fundamental to legitimizing the idea of the nation as the foundation of the State.
Kant, for his part, contributed to the conception of the nation-state by emphasizing the importance of a republican constitution. In the Critique of Practical Reason (Kant 2020 [1788]), he envisioned a state governed by laws derived from reason—laws that ensure the freedom and equality of all citizens. This notion of a constitutional state, embodying the rational will of the people, is closely tied to the idea of a political nation: a community unified by a shared legal framework and common institutions.
By undermining the legitimacy of the Ancien Régime, the ideas of the Enlightenment created a power vacuum that was filled by the emerging concept of the nation. The French Revolution marked a pivotal moment in this transformation by proclaiming national sovereignty and abolishing estate-based privileges. In What Is the Third Estate?, Sieyès (1973 [1789]) argued that the nation—understood as the totality of its citizens—is the sole legitimate source of political power. This principle, which laid the foundations of the modern nation-state, later spread throughout Latin America through the independence movements.
The nation-state is defined by the centralization of power, the establishment of standardized institutions, the clear delineation of territorial borders, and the pursuit of a homogeneous political community united by a shared national identity. This identity is constructed around common elements such as language, culture, history, and a sense of belonging.
The consolidation of the nation-state brought with it the challenge of forging a strong and cohesive collective identity—one capable of overcoming internal divisions and ensuring citizens' loyalty to the new political order. In response, public education emerged as a fundamental tool for achieving this goal.
With its emphasis on reason and knowledge, the Enlightenment conceived of education as both a fundamental right and a responsibility of the State. Philosophers such as Locke (1986 [1690]; 2020 [1693]) and Rousseau (2017 [1762]) argued that education was essential for forming virtuous, rational citizens capable of engaging in active civic participation and contributing to the common good. This vision of education as a tool for individual and collective progress was central to the development of national educational systems, including that of Chile.
In order to consolidate and thrive, the Chilean nation-state required educated citizens who shared a common language and culture, understood their history and institutions, and identified as members of a broader political community. Public education became a crucial tool for transmitting national values.
If we momentarily return to the early days of the Republic, it becomes clear that its founders—deeply influenced by Enlightenment ideals—regarded state education as a cornerstone for nation-building. In 1811, Juan Egaña proposed "a great college of arts and sciences, and, above all, a civil and moral education" (Muñoz 1918, 85) aimed at shaping the national character. Camilo Henríquez, in turn, advocated for the creation of a National Institute to educate citizens who would both defend and lead the homeland (Muñoz 1918). As Chilean historian Sol Serrano (2018) has argued, drawing on Anderson (1993), "Education, in the long run, had an enormous impact [...] on the formation of an 'imagined community' where Chile was only an abstract concept" (Serrano 2018, 11).
First, Chilean public education played a crucial role in promoting linguistic and cultural homogenization. Through the establishment of a unified, state-funded educational system, Castilian was promoted as the common national language to facilitate communication among citizens. The teaching of a standardized national history contributed to the creation of a collective memory and the formation of a shared identity. Additionally, the transmission of civic and patriotic values through the school curriculum aimed to instill a sense of belonging and loyalty to the Chilean nation, thereby fostering the individual's identification with the nation-state.
Secondly, Chilean public education was conceived as a means of forming productive and rational citizens. Enlightenment thought firmly upheld the power of reason and knowledge to drive human progress. An accessible educational system was seen as essential for disseminating scientific knowledge and shaping individuals capable of contributing to Chile's economic and social development. Literacy and the acquisition of basic skills were considered vital for full participation in modern life and for the efficient functioning of the national economy.
Third, Chilean public education was established as a key instrument for legitimizing the nation-state. By offering an essential service to all Chileans—regardless of social or economic background—the nation-state positioned itself as a guarantor of collective well-being and a promoter of equal opportunity. The promise of education as a pathway to social mobility and civic participation reinforced the legitimacy of the emerging political order and encouraged citizens' identification with the national project. The construction of school buildings—such as the Pedro Montt Lyceum—the training of teachers, and the development of national curricula became tangible expressions of the Chilean state's commitment to progress and the public good.
Chilean historian Jorge Rojas Flores has described how, in the early 20th century, public school buildings functioned as stages for choreographed performances that celebrated the nation:
[…] street ritualism in honor of the Fathers of the Nation, such as parades and pilgrimages, became more frequent and massive [...] The cult of the homeland among schoolchildren became a social cohesion strategy, especially in times of crisis [...] May 21 became a symbolic date in schools [...] The obligatory raising of the flag was proposed as a mechanism for civic education (Rojas Flores 2016, 253).
This analysis has shown how the Enlightenment, the nation-state, and public education are deeply interconnected. Enlightenment thought provided the ideological foundation for the emergence of the Chilean nation-state, grounded in popular sovereignty and a shared collective identity. The consolidation of this new political order required the construction of a national identity, an effort in which public education played a central role. It became a key instrument for cultural and linguistic homogenization, the formation of productive and rational citizens, and the legitimation of the nation-state itself.
The nation-state, with its claim to represent and unify an imagined community, became the dominant form of political organization. Public education expanded into a nationwide system, present throughout the Chilean territory, with the goal of educating citizens and fostering economic and social development. As a product of this system, the Pedro Montt Lyceum—and its architecture—are firmly rooted in the project of enlightened modernity.
Historians generally agree that Chile's 20th century began in 1891, marked by the death of President José Manuel Balmaceda (1886-1891) and the onset of the Parliamentary Republic, which lasted until 1924. That year, Arturo Alessandri Palma was elected president and initiated a new constitutional process that replaced the 1833 Constitution.
According to established historical periodizations, the design and construction of the lyceum took place at a liminal moment—one in which the country's hegemonic sectors, represented by parliament, promoted a form of oligarchic modernization rooted in tradition and conservative values.
One year after the lyceum building was inaugurated, the Compulsory Primary Education Law (Ley de Instrucción Primaria Obligatoria, LEPO) was enacted (Falabella and García-Huidobro 2020), marking the culmination of a debate on universal education that had begun at the Pedagogical Congress of 1889. The span of the debate (1889-1920) coincides with the period of the Parliamentary Republic.
Although the passage of the LEPO could be seen as a liberal victory after thirty years of debate, its impact was limited. The law did not provide state support to ensure school attendance for poor children. Meanwhile, conservative forces succeeded in preserving religious instruction and maintaining private education under the administration of religious orders.4
As in the early days of the Republic, during the period addressed in this article, education remained central to the construction of the Chilean nation-state. According to statistical data compiled by Rojas Flores (2016), the country's student population quadrupled between 1890 and 1925, rising from one hundred thousand to four hundred thousand. This expansion was driven by the state education system promoted under parliamentarianism.
The central role of education in the construction of the nation-state makes it possible to link the political dynamics that led to the end of the Parliamentary Republic with the expansion of state education. Students and graduates of the lyceums played an active role in the collapse of parliamentarianism. In 1930, Domingo Amunátegui attributed the ruling class's defeat to the influence of public education, noting that "the continuous action of State education [...], the teachers of lyceums and the university had initiated in science and emancipated from old concerns thousands of young people who belonged neither to the aristocracy of blood nor to the aristocracy of money" (Serrano 2018, 30).
State education gave rise to a new social class—more educated and enlightened—which identified with the ideas of Arturo Alessandri Palma during the 1920 elections. Inadvertently, the oligarchy had promoted an educational modernization that fostered the emergence of a middle class which ultimately displaced it from political power.
Educational historiography maintains that the period from 1891 to 1920 began with a strong Eurocentric orientation, reflected in the exchange of educational experiences with European countries, including the recruitment of foreign teachers and the sending of Chilean educators abroad (Muñoz 1918; Serrano et al., 2012). Germany stood out in particular, as Chile adopted its concentric education system,5 implemented in most state schools by 1893 (Aedo-Richmond 2000).
Although the approach to adapting European models to local challenges evolved over time, it is important to emphasize that exchanges with European countries—aimed at modernizing education—were central to the discourse of 19th-century Latin American Enlightenment thinkers, who conceived modernization as a process of Europeanization (Subercaseaux 2004).
This attitude is also reflected in the architectural production of the period. Public buildings such as the National Museum of Fine Arts (1910), the Courts of Justice (1911), Pirque Station (1912), Mapocho Station (1912), and the Santiago Stock Exchange (1917)—all designed by architects who arrived from France around 18906 —bear a neoclassical imprint. Like the educational system, architectural modernity during this period was shaped by a distinctly Eurocentric vision.
However, toward the end of the period, the vision of educational modernization as a civilizing and Eurocentric project began to lose traction. As early as the 1912 National Congress of Secondary Education, critical voices emerged questioning the dominance of European ideas and educators, and calling instead for an educational system grounded in local knowledge and experience.
One of the central debates at the congress concerned the type of education to be offered in lyceums such as the Pedro Montt Lyceum in Valparaíso. Historian Francisco Antonio Encina advocated for technical-vocational training that would enable graduates to enter the workforce directly. In contrast, Enrique Molina defended a scientific-humanistic education aimed at preparing students for university and professional careers, dismissing technical-vocational training as suited to the "lower classes." Luis Galdames proposed a hybrid model that combined both approaches. Although the debate was not immediately resolved, it reflects the growing concern with defining a model of state secondary education appropriate to Chile's national context (Aedo-Richmond 2000).
In architecture, one of the most notable shifts occurred in the mid-1920s, when Araucanian fretwork and copihue motifs began to appear in plinths, cornices, and wrought iron details of certain buildings. These elements reflected a growing interest in developing a national architectural language, one that looked to indigenous and colonial traditions for inspiration. This movement challenged the dominance of architectural modernity as a Frenchified, Europeanizing project that had prevailed during the centennial celebrations.7
According to historian Bernardo Subercaseaux (2004), the celebrations of the Republic's Centenary in 1910 exposed a growing tension between an elite that saw itself as "cultured, enlightened, and European" (Subercaseaux 2004, 37), and emerging groups of intellectuals, artists, and middle-class students who initiated debates on issues such as moral crisis, political corruption, and the social question. The middle classes—educated in the state lyceum system—viewed the aristocracy as "an opulent plutocracy with a speculative mentality, enriched at the expense of saltpeter and speculation, holding the monopoly of economic and political power" (Subercaseaux 2004, 51).
The exhaustion of the political and cultural project of the Parliamentary Republic signaled the dawn of a new era. Between Alessandri's first election in 1920 and his second in 1932, the foundations were laid for a new modernizing project—one characterized by the promotion of industry, an entrepreneurial and warrior spirit, the valorization of the roto, the strengthening of the presidential regime, the rise of science, and a literature that embraced local and vernacular traditions (Subercaseaux, 2004).
This shift in era coincided while the local reception of modern pedagogical ideas. As a recent study has shown (Pérez-Navarro and Álvarez 2022), between 1929 and 1931, experimental schools were established in Chile that embraced the ideals of the New School8 movement. A parallel development occurred in the field of architecture, where, beginning in the 1930s, the first functionalist buildings9 began to appear in the local landscape.
Beginning in 1937, the largest wave of school construction was undertaken by the Sociedad Constructora de Establecimientos Educacionales (SCEE). From its inception, SCEE buildings (Torres, Valdivia, and Atria 2015) embraced the expressive goals of architectural functionalism, marking a departure from the neoclassical language and symbolic character of the earlier palace-schools.
The Pedro Montt Lyceum is, quite literally, a school building. This is evident in the names and functions of its spaces—classrooms, workshops, gymnasium, and offices—as well as in their spatial organization. Designed to accommodate the humanist curriculum of a Chilean secondary lyceum in 1918, the building includes both formal and informal instructional spaces, such as classrooms, laboratories, and a gymnasium.
The Pedro Montt Lyceum is also a cloister. In its courtyard, students are trained, parade, raise the flag, sing patriotic songs, receive physical instruction, and play. This central space—and the programs it supports—can be interpreted as the material expression of a modernizing project aimed at shaping obedient, loyal, and healthy subjects for the nation-state. Yet, as a space of formation and congregation, the lyceum courtyard was also where that imagined community called Chile was actively constructed.
The Pedro Montt Lyceum is also a fortress. Visible from afar, it asserts its presence within both the geography and the cityscape of Valparaíso (fig. 13). The lyceum exhibits the kind of frank visibility through which symbols of power are traditionally announced—here, the power of the nation-state, situated prominently among the hills of Valparaíso. And yet, a fortress on a hill is almost always also a viewpoint. Its placement atop a monumental plinth establishes a visual and symbolic relationship of dominance over its surroundings.
The Pedro Montt Lyceum is also a palace—a solemn monument that seeks to communicate the importance of education. Its serene neoclassical architecture stands in stark contrast to the modest porteño houses that surround it.
In sum, the symbolic function of the Pedro Montt Lyceum in Valparaíso transcends the metaphor of the palace. At once palace, cloister, fortress, viewpoint, and monument to both public education and the nation, the lyceum stands as an allegory of the civilizing and Europeanizing modernity envisioned by Chilean elites during the Parliamentary Republic.
Figure 13_ Einar Altschwager, Photograph of the Pedro Montt Lyceum in relation to the city of Valparaíso, its hills, and port, 1930. Source: Museo Histórico Nacional.
Annex 1_Original planimetry of the Pedro Montt High Lyceum, 1917. Source: Archivo Fotográfico de la Dirección de Arquitectura, Ministerio de Obras Públicas, Santiago de Chile.
* This article was made possible thanks to funding from ANID/FONDECYT Regular 2022, for research project No. 1220267, "Archeology of the school. Architecture, politics, and everyday aesthetics in the Chilean school building since 1900." Head researcher: Hugo Mondragón López.
1 This law allocated a total of ten million pesos for the construction of standard schools across the country. The standard plans developed under Law 3069 were subject to review and approval directly by the President of the Republic, Juan Luis Sanfuentes.
2 On August 16, 1906, at 7:55 PM, Valparaíso was struck by a powerful earthquake that caused significant damage in parts of the city.
3 A traveler in the early twentieth century, an eyewitness to the development of Valparaíso, left the following testimony, highlighting the urban distinctiveness of the lyceum at the time of its construction: "(An) important school-building work is now contracted for and under construction, including the district school Hipodromo Alemán, Valparaiso, for 400 pupils." (Ewing 1919).
4 The interpretation of the LEPO's promulgation as a conservative victory is drawn from the work of Jorge Rojas Flores (2016).
5 The concentric system is based on the progressive acquisition of knowledge, with subjects structured across different levels of education, from the most basic to the most advanced.
6 For more on French architects who arrived in Chile toward the end of the 19th century, see: Pérez Oyarzún, Fernando. 2016. Arquitectura en el Chile del siglo XX. Iniciando el nuevo siglo: 1890 1930. Santiago de Chile: Ediciones ARQ.
7 "Among us there has been an initiation of national art for about twenty years. Several of our architects have been enthusiastic precursors of this renovation movement. Ernesto Ried was one of them. He eagerly sought materials of beauty destined to last, because they constituted character and represented a genuine expression of Chilean identity, in architecture and in ornamental motifs; and harmoniously bringing together the signs and ornaments left in their utensils, textiles, and other artifacts by the old Araucanians and the indigenous descendants of the Incas, who originally populated our land, with the works built during the Colony […]" (I.C. de R. 1922, 146-147).
8 Specifically, experimental trials were conducted with schools based on the Montessori, Dalton, Fröebel, and Decroly methods.
9 For more on the concept of functional architecture, see: Behne, Adolf. 1994. La construcción funcional moderna. Barcelona: Ediciones del Serbal.