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| Mario Paredes Gaete 1936 – 2013 |
Our loving brother performed as the Company President after the passing away of our Founder and former President, Don Amado Paredes.
Mario was a prominent Chilean architect, who left behind several magnificent buildings in Santiago. He was also the Former President of the Guild of Chilean Architects and Vice President of the Panamerican Guild of Architects (FIA), and outstanding entrepreneur. Mario’s departure is a great loss for our family and also for our country.
Mario Arturo Paredes Gaete
He departed on his final voyage in February, the month of love and of festivals, perhaps because love and the joy of living were essential parts of his being. Mario Arturo, the eldest brother, the eldest son of Amado, the most complete one, the brightest, the one that looked just like his father, the Patriarch. But above all, and foremost, he was the kindest of all. An architect by profession, he changed the face of Santiago. He not only designed dozens of important and magnificent buildings, but also invaluable bridges of love and understanding between his family and friends. He clearly knew that his mission in life was to unite and to never divide. Despite his hectic and work-loaded life, he always had the time to invite us over to his home, to visit ours, to share that cup of coffee he enjoyed so much. Or even to simply call us from the distance to let us know he was thinking of us. A man of complex, prolific and artistic mind, he was deeply cultured and refined. A kind and generous soul, a curious and restless child living in the body of a man. An impressive figure, with a slow pace and unhurried speech, he narrated to us the most fun and meaningful family stories during our customary Sunday lunches. An intellectual, writer, visionary, and prognostic writer of computer books in the 1970s, he radiated innovation in his essence. Mario Paredes, the entrepreneur, one of the real ones, without gray zones, the kind that risks it all in pursue of a dream which later becomes true, the kind never intimidated by failure, that rare soul that does not accumulate needless wealth to himself, the kind that feeds on the pleasure of creating, by realizing his visions rather than seeking profit as his goal. A true leader in his field, he headed the Chilean Guild of Architects and became President of the Panamerican Federation of Architects (FIA). Citizen of the world, he created structures and spaces in Angola, Brazil, Miami and Buenos Aires and other places, a tireless world traveller, moving from place to place as if he was on a lifelong pilgrimage. A true Chilean, proud of his paternal roots in Chiloé, the magic islands of the Patagonia, and of his mother’s stock in the venerated Maule Region. Mario Arturo, the son that began his life constructing homes alongside his father, kept the family together after the passing of our cherished father. Our beloved brother now soars in freedom from the clay of the Earth. Nothing mundane can stop him now.
His brothers who love him and mourn his departure
Álvaro Paredes Legrand
Javier Paredes Legrand
Alejandro González Legrand
(English translation by Kelly Mackin)