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 spurt since its economic boom of the mid-90s.

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

That's Daniel Al-Arcon. He's an award-winning author and host of Raudio Amilante.

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 literature professor, I write poetry.

So the thing about Chile is that everyone is a poet.

I don't know if you ever read Bolanoi, but it's like poets are Chile's superheros.

So do you write any poetry?

No, man, I'm Peruvian.

This is the story of how 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 draw up plans for a high rise,

and then Rodrigo stepped in.

And my job consisted on a very simple thing.

...