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In this May 17, 2014 photo, an Aymara woman dances in a ballroom of one of the newfangled mini-mansions rising up in El Alto, Bolivia. They attest to a new class of indigenous nouveau riche, many of them merchants who converted street stalls into fortunes. Owners often sink a million dollars into the opulent edifices. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)![Bolivia_Mini_Mansions__3_]()
In this May 8, 2014 photo, shows a view of the interior of a newfangled mini-mansion in El Alto, Bolivia. Brash, baroque and steeped in native Andean symbols, the mini-mansions are a striking sight on the caked-dirt streets of El Alto, the inexorably expanding sister city of Bolivias capital. They attest to a new class of indigenous nouveau riche, many of them merchants who converted street stalls into fortunes. Owners often sink a million dollars into the opulent edifices. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)![Bolivia_Mini_Mansions__2_]()
In this May 8, 2014 photo, men work with plaster on the interior of a new mini-mansion in El Alto, Bolivia. The mini-mansions mesh modern and traditional architecture and flaunt, above all, two things: their owners wealth and their Aymara heritage. About 120 such buildings exist across Bolivia, most in El Alto, says architecture historian Elisabetta Andreoli, who calls their style neo-Andean. And many more are under construction. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)![Bolivia_Mini_Mansions__1_]()
In this May 17, 2014 photo, people dance in a ballroom part of one of the newfangled mini-mansions rising up in El Alto, Bolivia. They attest to a new class of indigenous nouveau riche, many of them merchants who converted street stalls into fortunes. Owners often sink a million dollars into the opulent edifices. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)![Bolivia_Mini_Mansions__4_]()
In this May 17, 2014 photo, shows a view of the newfangled minimansions rising up in El Alto, Bolivia. The mini-mansions mesh modern and traditional architecture and flaunt, above all, two things: their owners wealth and their Aymara heritage. About 120 such buildings exist across Bolivia, most in El Alto, says architecture historian Elisabetta Andreoli, who calls their style neo-Andean. And many more are under construction. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)![Bolivia_Mini_Mansions__5_]()
In this May 8, 2014 photo, a view of the new mini-mansions overlooking the Illimani Mountain, in El Alto Bolivia. The mini-mansions mesh modern and traditional architecture and flaunt, above all, two things: their owners wealth and their Aymara heritage. Most have been built since President Evo Morales, the countrys first indigenous leader and himself an Aymara, took office in 2006. Their emergence coincides with a modest economic boom coupled with a rise in Aymara pride. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)'Neo-Andean' Mini-Mansions Taking Over In Bolivia
Their emergence coincides with a modest economic boom coupled with a rise in Aymara pride. Bolivia's construction industry grew by 8.6 percent last year, double the economy's overall growth rate.
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- 'Neo-Andean' Mini-Mansions Taking Over In Bolivia
