6. Malecón Palace Hotel, Iquitos, 1925.
In 1850, Loreto’s capital, Iquitos, was a sleepy hamlet with 352 inhabitants. In 1914, at the end of the rubber boom, its population had increased to 12,500. Until 1905, Iquitos was an ugly, dirty and chaotic city. Thanks to increasing custom revenues, however, during the following decade the local government was able to invest in basic infrastructures, including running water, sewage, electricity and paving. By 1913, Iquitos had undergone radical change, acquiring all the comforts of any small modern city of the time. With its tiled façade, the Malecón Palace Hotel was one of the city’s most beautiful buildings and a symbol of modernity.