Falafel Tacos. Latin American architects working in the Middle East, an unsuspected global connection

Abstract

Several historians explain Niemeyer´s works based on what he learned from Le Corbusier. Others understand his use of curves as an interpretation of the exuberant Brazilian geography. But we know almost nothing about his work in Lebanon or his projects for Israel. This is because colonial historiography always looks north, supposing all explanations come from there, and, faced with this, nationalist narratives propose to look inward in search of local issues. But both positions, like any singular point of view, imply a limited field of vision and can only give partial answers. The problem comes when we assume that those answers are the only or the main ones, then they inevitably become fallacious and lead to blind or subalternate multiple facets of history. We will develop one of those forgotten histories. Several Latin American architects have worked in the Middle East, and valuable information can be obtained from this unsuspected connection to fill gaps in the architectural history of both regions. Contemporary crises show that colonial approaches, as well as nationalist ones, bring more problems than solutions. This work aspires to be one more brick in the construction of a decolonized architectural history focused on regional, transregional, and global processes.