04/29/2026
I took these photos back in 2022, and I still want to design my forever home. These are some cool facts I learned about the Cholets:
1. “Cholet” combines “cholo” (a term referring to people of Indigenous heritage) and “chalet”. These are mansions built by and for the Aymara middle and upper class.
2. Centered in El Alto, Bolivia sitting 4,000m up on the altiplano.
3. Aymara architect Freddy Mamani Silvestre created and popularized the style starting in the mid-2000s.
4. They are called “Arquitectura Andina” or “Nueva Arquitectura Andina” to describe the visual language, which draws on Tiwanaku iconography, Andean textile patterns, and Aymara cosmology.
5. A typical Cholet has commercial space on the ground floor, an ornate event hall (salon de eventos) on the second floor used for weddings and parties, rental apartments above that, and a private chalet-style mansion for the owner on top.
6. Traditional architects and critics dismissed them as kitsch or “narco-architecture,” but they have since been celebrated internationally.
7. Beyond aesthetics, Cholets represent a deliberate rejection of European colonial architectural norms in favor of an unapologetically Aymara visual identity.
I believe Bolivia is one of the most underrated places to visit, but it has so many gems like this one ♥️
