The Transformers is just a Sci-Fi superhero craze for some, but some people are fanatic enough to bring this fiction to life. One such man, Santos Churata has been in love with Transformers ever since he was a kid. The 34-year-old has now become a licensed builder of Transformers-themed houses in the Bolivian city of El Alto. The design of the spectacular houses is inspired by the autobots and decepticons.
El Alto is a city famous for its architectural style that has become to be called “Chola architecture.” Also known as the psychedelic baroque, the architecture represents Andean culture, Chinese design, and the colors of the rainbow. The Bolivians, who have become newly rich, the architecture is meant to represent their social status in the light of Aymara heritage. The city of El Alto is home to 170 unique Chola houses that could form a marvelous tourist attraction.
The creator of the Chola architectural style, Freddy Mamani Silvestre, is behind the design of most of these houses. Santos Churata is a fairly new builder in the arena with a unique style. He has built 30 Chola houses so far, all around the city. Unlike all the other such houses in the city, his designs are inspired by comics. Four of his designs are inspired by the Transformers like Sentinel Prime and Optimus Prime. The designer is working on a $700,000 house based on an Iron Man theme.
Churata is not a professional architect, but he has learned all skills of building houses with intricate designs working with his father who is an actual architect. Santos has been working with his father since he was 16, and his passion for superhero and robot comics is depicted in his work. He builds the intricate comic designs for his wealthy customers who trust him enough to not care about his degree.
Santiago’s first design was a Sentinel Prime themed house in the Alentejo neighborhood with a Red facade, blue and silver reflective windows that were shaped like robotic faces. The doors of the house are shaped like the Autobot logo, and the same is also engraved in the floor. Apparently, his first customers were not very happy with it. “Even the interior work was done in the same style, everything was robotized, but the owners believed it was too childish and had everything repainted with warm colors,” Santiago explained.
He did not give up and moved on to designing another house at the Optimus Prime theme, in the Pamphasi neighborhood of La Paz. The house was covered in blue, red, white, and silver. The third of his robotic projects in the Avenida Litoral was titled “The Steel Giant” featuring an aluminum facade painted with gold and blue. Santos has been working on the Iron Man house project for two years, and the completion is planned by mid of 2017. It is a five-story building with a large iron man head painted in red and gold. The idea is to let passersby come face to face with Iron Man.
Santiago Churata’s amazing designs have no become popular all over Bolivia, and he is having customers asking to remodel houses, convention centers, galleries, and even shops. He attempts to come up with a unique idea for each of them because he “cannot do the same idea twice.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfllREJ0C4Q
Would you want to get a house built by Santos Churata? Not to forget that it costs a whole lot of money.
