He developed his project under the SCL-2110 program to mark Chile's 200th anniversary this year. As part of this program, architects, designers and artists were asked to develop projects for Chilean cities, both for the current moment and taking into account their development over the next 100 years.
Bernard Chumi addressed an important and unusual problem that exists in Santiago: due to the position of the city between the ocean and the Andes, it is covered with a layer of warm air from above, which does not allow the smog to dissipate. In this regard, the problem of air pollution is especially acute, which the architect proposes to solve with the help of regular thunderstorms. According to his plan, it is necessary to build on the ridge of Cerro San Cristobal, a hilly ridge that runs along Santiago from north to south, six huge "wind towers". They will create a cycle of air currents, breaking the air "cover" over the city, which will lead to daily thunderstorms that clear the air. It is also planned to install a "solar sail" on each of them, generating electricity.
Under each of the towers, a tunnel will be dug through Cerro San Cristobal, connected to it by a ventilation shaft. These six tunnels will provide better communication between the western, business and eastern, residential areas of Santiago.
In addition to pragmatic functions, these structures will become a symbol of the city, which is considered to be devoid of a vivid identity. The towers will be connected by a bridge, and the cables supporting them should also symbolize tense social relations between different areas of the metropolis (the Chilean capital has no mayor, it consists of many independent areas, which leads to administrative - bureaucratic - confusion).
Chumi sees the commercial and cultural role of his buildings in the use of separate tunnels as a shopping center, university building, museum of modern art, etc. Each of the towers will also include some function in its structure: a library, an observation deck or even a swimming pool.
