Cristóbal Molina Baeza

Cristóbal Molina Baeza is a Chilean architect, researcher and policymaker, currently serving as Head of the Architecture Unit at the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage of Chile and Visiting Professor at the Tulane School of Architecture and Built Environment. He co-directs, with Rubén García Rubio, the Atacama Desert Project, an interdisciplinary research initiative exploring the intersections of urban issues, water management, critical mineral extraction, renewable energy and cultural heritage in one of the world´s most extreme environments. 

Molina holds a Ph.D. from the Escola Tècnica Superior d’Arquitectura de Barcelona and B.Arch and M.Arch degrees from Tulane University. His career bridges architectural practice, cultural policy, research, and international projects, including the commissioning of Chile´s national pavilions at the Venice Architecture Biennale from 2012 to 2025 —where the 2014 pavilion received the Silver Lion Award— and the co-direction of the XXII Chilean Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism. He created the cultural funds for the promotion of architecture and urbanism in Chile, advanced the development of cultural buildings, served on juries for major architectural and urban design competitions, lectured internationally, and authored publications and exhibitions on Chilean modern and contemporary architecture.