Guiding Architects, article: BIG in Chile: Eight Days of Experiencing Architecture with Guiding Architects (Fig. 1)

From 9 to 16 October 2026, Massantiago, the Chilean member of Guiding Architects, hosted 105 architects from the New York and Los Angeles offices of Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) on an eight-day trip through Chile’s architecture, landscapes and culture.

The trip began with a request almost a year earlier. Kai-Uwe Bergmann, Partner at the Copenhagen-founded firm, asked Massantiago to organise a study trip for BIG’s US offices. International study trips are a tradition at BIG, but they had been on hold since Covid.

Guiding Architects, article: BIG in Chile: Eight Days of Experiencing Architecture with Guiding Architects (Fig. 2)

Chile’s architecture has received growing international recognition in recent decades. While preparations were underway, in March 2026, Smiljan Radić was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize. He is the second Chilean architect to receive it, after Alejandro Aravena in 2016.

Party with Vikings

During one of the first planning meetings, Bergmann asked Diego Baloian, founder and director of Massantiago, an important question: “Are you ready to party with Vikings?”

What followed was nearly a year of close collaboration between the two teams. With 105 participants and a duration of eight days, it is one of the largest team-building trips a Guiding Architects member has hosted to date.

Guiding Architects, article: BIG in Chile: Eight Days of Experiencing Architecture with Guiding Architects (Fig. 3)

Visits and encounters

Massantiago designed the programme and guided the tours, but also organised encounters with Chilean architects, universities and cultural institutions. These gave BIG and the local architectural community the chance to exchange ideas.

Massantiago and BIG are now preparing a short documentary about the trip. In the meantime, see the slideshow below for more impressions of the eight days in Chile.

Guiding Architects, article: BIG in Chile: Eight Days of Experiencing Architecture with Guiding Architects (Fig. 4)
Guiding Architects, article: BIG in Chile: Eight Days of Experiencing Architecture with Guiding Architects (Fig. 5)
Guiding Architects, article: BIG in Chile: Eight Days of Experiencing Architecture with Guiding Architects (Fig. 6)
Guiding Architects, article: BIG in Chile: Eight Days of Experiencing Architecture with Guiding Architects (Fig. 7)
Guiding Architects, article: BIG in Chile: Eight Days of Experiencing Architecture with Guiding Architects (Fig. 8)
Guiding Architects, article: BIG in Chile: Eight Days of Experiencing Architecture with Guiding Architects (Fig. 9)
Guiding Architects, article: BIG in Chile: Eight Days of Experiencing Architecture with Guiding Architects (Fig. 10)
Guiding Architects, article: BIG in Chile: Eight Days of Experiencing Architecture with Guiding Architects (Fig. 11)
Guiding Architects, article: BIG in Chile: Eight Days of Experiencing Architecture with Guiding Architects (Fig. 12)
Guiding Architects, article: BIG in Chile: Eight Days of Experiencing Architecture with Guiding Architects (Fig. 13)
Guiding Architects, article: BIG in Chile: Eight Days of Experiencing Architecture with Guiding Architects (Fig. 14)