Yolanda Salazar

El Alto, Bolivia, Dec 8 (EFE).- Transformers, ships, UFOs and soon Lionel Messi’s Argentina jersey are some of the designs that adorn the strange facades of the “cholets,” extravagant buildings in the Bolivian city of El Alto.

Located next to the capital La Paz at 4,000 meters above sea level, the landscape of El Alto is orange because of the mostly modest bare brick buildings, among which the “cholets” stand out.

The word “cholet” comes from a combination of the word “chalet” for a large and comfortable house, and the word “cholo,” a somewhat derogatory term for people of indigenous descent, and are representative of a growing Indigenous Aymara bourgeoisie.

Many of the new constructions have evolved from the original psychedelic geometric motifs created by Freddy Mamani, the precursor of “cholet” architecture, to include large statues of movie characters on their facades in an attempt to differentiate themselves.

“The initial idea was to do something different, something that hasn’t been done before, and I think the boat was the way to do it,” Víctor Choque told EFE.

Choque is the owner of the “Crucero de Los Andes,” also known as the “Andean Titanic,” a seven-story building with a large four-story ship that overlooks the city of El Alto as if the building itself were sailing above the city.

The imposing building has a party room that uses a combination of green, orange and red LED lights. The top floors will soon house a hotel with elements of the pre-Hispanic culture of Tiahuanaco.

The ship also has a gym and a restaurant.

The owner, a businessman, said he was “proud” of his building, which “breaks paradigms” and in some way contributes to the uniqueness of the architecture of the city of El Alto.

Walking through the streets of this city, you can see houses with large statues of Transformers characters like the villain Megatron or the hero Bumblebee, made of fiberglass and measuring about eight meters.

Half of a Statue of Liberty also adorns one facade, while in another construction, a UFO imitates a crash on the top floor of the building.

Ramiro Sirpa is in charge of making most of these statues and told EFE that he is now making a 12-meter Christ the Redeemer, a nearly four-meter “Egyptian God” and a seven-meter Virgin Mary for other “cholets.”

Messi’s cholet Creativity knows no bounds in El Alto, as evidenced by the project of Bolivian architect Iván Ferrer, who is working on a 10-story building that will have a 30-meter-high Argentine national team jersey with Lionel Messi’s name and number made of aluminum composite and glass on its facade.

Ferrer told EFE that he will also take the hexagonal shapes of the soccer ball to replicate them at the top of the facade, where there will be a World Cup about eight meters high made of fiberglass and aluminum.

The owners of the building are “fans” of the “Scaloneta” team and, together with Ferrer, decided that this was a good way to honor the world champions.

Ferrer pointed out that the building will have a party room whose theme will be the best “ten” of Latin America, such as Argentine Diego Armando Maradona, Colombian Carlos el Pibe Valderrama, among others, it will also have a restaurant and a soccer field with artificial grass.

“There are already people who want to make reservations for the new soccer party hall. There are a lot of expectations,” said Ferrer.

Work has already begun and it is expected to be ready for inauguration in a couple of years. Some fans want to donate jerseys and other items to be part of the “Ten” building. EFE

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