Abstract

The paper aims to analyze the Chilean Building as a concept and practice in the structuralengineering field in Chile, its relationship with the architectural discipline and its practice, andthe seismic phenomena. The hypothesis suggests that the Ministry of Treasure building, locatedin Santiago de Chile and built between 1929 and 1933, represents an earlier and advancedexponent of the Chilean Building as it crystallized some of its main issues with architectural,structural and seismic resistant requirements. The opened-plan architectural design criterionis examined under the structural seismic-resistant principles based on rigidity, monolithic andshear walls’ huge presence on each story.