Abstract
Traditional accounts of the 1948. Bogotazo - the riot in Bogota, Colombia, sparked by the assassination of populist leader Jorge Eliccer Gaitan - have overlooked the urban context that explains the extent of the destruction. Preparing to host the 1948. IX Pan-American Conference, Bogota, had undergone aggressive urban reforms that financially burdened and dispossessed residents. More than just a political figure, Gaitan was recognised as an urban advocate for the marginalised. They responded to his death by destroying reform projects and symbols of political authority. Informed by architectural journals, legislation and periodicals, this article shows that Bogota's elite and dispossessed alike inscribed their political projects onto the urban landscape.