Editorial RM presents Pyramid of the sun by Sebastián Thomas. Pyramid of the Sun explores the utopian vision of an architect who, in the late 1970s, set out to bring the ancient Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacán, Mexico, to the heart of Santiago de Chile, transforming it into a visionary shopping centre. Built in 1979, the building is part of a distinctive type of commercial architecture known as the “caracoles comerciales”, named for their characteristic spiral design. For decades, Pyramid of the Sun stood as a bold architectural landmark, embodying an era defined by experimentation and a belief in new ways of shaping the city.
Today, the building remains standing as retail models change and the city becomes increasingly homogeneous, threatening to erase its distinctive character. Between 2022 and 2023, Sebastián Thomas walked its spiral corridors, photographing the shopkeepers and workers who continue to occupy the building and keep it alive. Shot in black and white on a medium-format analogue camera, the project approaches the building not simply as a work of architecture, but as a lived space where forms, memories and everyday life converge.
Pyramid of the Sun is a tribute to a radical architectural experiment and to those who continue to sustain it. Through his photographs, Sebastián Thomas restores the presence of this singular building and explores the relationship between architecture, memory and the lives that, over time, come to give a place its meaning.
Sebastián Thomas : Pyramid of the sun
Editorial RM
Format: 16 × 24 cm
Binding: Softcover
Pages: 128
Images: 72
Language: Bilingual edition (Spanish–English)
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