Abstract

This research proposes the notion of ´typological stigma’ as a novel analytical category that allows us to resituate the discussion around stigmatisation in the architectural field. Specifically, we will focus on the field of housing. Using the tools of architectural theory and in dialogue with other disciplines, we build a theoretical framework from where it is possible to identify and characterise a particular mode of socio-symbolic stigmatisation: one that emerges from an architectural typology rather than from a territory or place. In order to assess this category, the article deals with the case of high-density tower blocks: an architectural typology that, in recent decades, has spread throughout Santiago and other Chilean cities. In general terms, the proposal seeks to contribute to the debate on the new forms of precarious housing in the contemporary city. In particular, we expect that the category ‘typological stigma’ can be extrapolated to other cases to highlight how architectural typology produces precariousness in material and socio-symbolic spheres.