David Jolly: The teaching legacy of the Open City movement

David Jolly: The intellectual and teaching legacy of the Open City movement

The passing of David Jolly, architect and Professor at the Universidad EAD PUCV in Valparaíso, Chile, marks an immense loss. As the last guardian of the legacy of the Open City movement, his ethical and intellectual stance, his remarkable body of work, and his research in the Ciudad Abierta in Chile deeply inspired students of EPFL.

More than 100 students from Switzerland's three main schools - EPFL Lausanne, ETHZ Zurich and USI Mendrisio - architects, civil engineers and environmental engineers have had the unique opportunity to contribute to the Open City thanks to a collaborative platform that we built together between 2013 and 2020. The Open City Research Platform, which began as a spontaneous initiative, has gradually gained the support of Swiss institutions. At the Pórtico de los Huéspedes (located just a few metres from the Casa de la Música), it has led to the creation of an evolving and experimental work that addresses profoundly contemporary and innovative issues, both in terms of construction and pedagogy.

Passionate about drawing as an observational tool and driven by a love of craftsmanship, David Jolly established himself as a major figure in the last era of the Ead PUCV. His influence on new generations was unparalleled. Many students, drawn to the experimentation of concepts through action, traveled to Chile to discover a teaching method that was free of traditional frameworks. With him, learning took place outside the classroom, at the heart of life itself.

David has left us, but his spirit lives on. Always working, always available, he taught us a precious lesson: to work progressively, weaving an unbreakable bond between design and construction. For him, action was an act of resistance. Designing and building were harmoniously interwoven, and all this was rooted in a profoundly human approach. What mattered most to David was life.

Every year, during our visits to the Open City, he would show us the progress made with his students. According to him, we operated like a jazz band: everyone mastered their instrument, and this individual freedom made rigid organisation unnecessary. His relationship with us was free of hierarchy or authority; it was based on generosity and welcome. Every time we crossed the threshold of his house, we felt that it belonged to us.

He taught us that freedom is our greatest asset, a concrete and active freedom. His ideas were not born of conceptual reflections, but of the careful observation of everyday life, always imbued with poetry.

The Pórtico de los Huéspedes embodies the final chapter of his life, in which he devoted himself fully to his passion: being an architect, free of all constraints, designing, building, manufacturing, experimenting and sharing his knowledge.

Always open to dialogue, respectful and steadfast, he collaborated with exceptional devotion, involving us in a truly collective project. Together, we were better than alone.

Thanks to him, we learnt to reinvent our relationship with time: living it without filling it up, making it porous to better welcome the present moment. His hospitality was a rare gift, enveloping us in a sense of belonging in the middle of the dunes.

Thank you, David. With every misty sunset, we feel your presence.

Tribute by Patricia Guaita, with contributions from architects who participated in the Summer workshops as students or student assistants: Romain Dubuis, Mathis Pante, and Antoine Iweins.

Archives
Open City Research Platform - ENAC Summer Workshop, 2014-2019, EPFL
“The Observación” Exhibition , 2019, EPFL, Archizoom
“OPEN CITY, Thinking while building” Exhibition, 2013, EPFL, Archizoom