This is 99% Invisible. I'm Roman Mars.

There comes a time in the life of a modern city, where it begins to grow up.

Literally, ever since bridge frames were upended into soaring towers,

and elevators were equipped with reliable safety breaks,

if there are a lot of people in one place, it just makes sense for us to stack ourselves on top of each other.

Santiago, the capital of Chile, has been going through a tremendous growth spurts since its economic boom of the mid 1990s.

It happened fast. In just a few years, single-family homes all over the city were replaced with high rises.

It's Daniel Arcom. He's an award-winning author and host of Radio Amelante.

I have a friend in Santiago named Rodrigo Rojas.

Well, hello. My name is Rodrigo.

Rodrigo played a small part in Santiago's upward mobility,

which wouldn't be that remarkable if he were an engineer or a real estate developer or an architect or something like that, but he isn't.

Rodrigo Rojas is a poet. I'm a literary professor, a right poetry.

So, the thing about Chile is that everyone is a poet. I don't know if you've read Bolano, but it's like poets are Chile's superheroes.

So, do you write any poetry?

No, man, I'm Peruvian.

This is the story about Rojas' poetry, altered the physical shape of Santiago's rapidly changing skyline.

This is how it worked. A developer bought an old house, tore it down, had an architect drop plans for a high rise,

and then Rodrigo stepped in.

And my job consisted on a very simple thing. I had to give a name to the building.

He worked early in the mornings, and his job was like this. He had to get into people's heads.

I had to walk around a lot, know the different neighborhoods, and see what characteristics that neighborhood had,

...