The transformations of Andean vernacular housing in the arid north of Chile
Natalia JORQUERA SILVA, Tomás SEPÚLVEDA SCHWEMBER
Abstract. This article presents the transformations undergone in recent decades by the vernacular Andean housing of the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. This architectural typology is a product of the Andean worldview, where architecture and materials (stone or adobe walls and vegetation-based roofs) respond both to the adverse desert climate of this part of the Andes Mountain and the intense Chilean seismic activity. The characteristics of this housing, which had been preserved for around five centuries, have rapidly transformed in just a few decades due to global economic, political, and social processes that rebound in local transformations in the desert, especially based on intense mining activity and mobility of the labor force. These changes have encouraged the use of industrialized materials from urban areas, which have gradually replaced the natural materials traditionally used in vernacular housing. This shift has altered not only the appearance and harmonious relationship with the surrounding landscape and impacted community-building practices but also the thermal-acoustic performance and structural capacity to withstand the frequent earthquakes that affect the area. Based on years of architectural and ethnographic research on fieldwork, a comparative analysis will be presented between the characteristics of vernacular Andean housing and new houses built with industrial materials, with an emphasis on seismic and climatic performance, as both are major conditions in the Atacama territory.
Keywords
Andean Architecture, Vernacular Building Culture, Seismic Risk, Climate Resilience
Published online 1/10/2025, 10 pages
Copyright © 2025 by the author(s)
Published under license by Materials Research Forum LLC., Millersville PA, USA
Citation: Natalia JORQUERA SILVA, Tomás SEPÚLVEDA SCHWEMBER, The transformations of Andean vernacular housing in the arid north of Chile, Materials Research Proceedings, Vol. 47, pp 258-267, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644903391-30
The article was published as article 30 of the book Vernacular Architecture
Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
References
[1] B. H. Zenteno, Acercamiento a la visión cósmica del mundo Andino. Punto Cero, 14(2009), 83–89, http://www.scielo.org.bo/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1815-02762009000100010
[2] M. Harris, El materialismo cultural, first ed., Alianza Universidad, Madrid, 1982.
[3] M. Harris, El desarrollo de la teoría antropológica. Historia de las teorías de la cultura. Siglo XXI editores, Mexico, 1996
[4] J. Murra, El Mundo Andino. Población, medio ambiente y economía, Instituto de Estudios Peruanos, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, 2002. https://doi.org/10.18800/9972510727
[5] C. Villagrán, V. Castro, G. Sánchez and M. Romo, La tradición surandina del desierto: Etnobotánica del área del Salar de Atacama (Provincia de El Loa, Región de Antofagasta, Chile), Estudios Atacameños. Arqueología y antropología surandinas, 16 (1998), 7–105. https://doi.org/10.22199/S07181043.1998.0016.00002
[6] N. Jorquera, S. Cornibert, S. and Y. Díaz, Estado actual y transformaciones de la arquitectura de la vivienda tradicional Likan-antai: Los casos de Ayquina, Caspana y Toconce, Chile, Estudios Atacameños vol 67 (2021) e3747, http://dx.doi.org/10.22199/issn.0718-1043-2021-0016.
[7] V. Šolc, Casa Aymara en Enquelga, Chungará 43((2011) 89-111. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0717-73562011000100006
[8] H. Van den Berg, Capítulo 5: Cristianización del mundo aymara y aymarización del cristianismo. Ciencia Y Cultura 21 (2008), 181–244, http://www.scielo.org.bo/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2077-33232005000100006&lng=es&nrm=iso>
[9] J. Tillería, La arquitectura sin arquitectos, algunas reflexiones sobre arquitectura vernácula. Revista AUS, 8 (2010), 12-15, https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/2817/281722857004.pdf.
[10] N. Jorquera, El patrimonio vernacular, fuente de saberes tecnológicos y de sostenibilidad, in: Cordero, (Eds.), Taller [Sur], Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile, 2012, 175-185.
[11] P. Lourenço, N. Mendes, L. Ramos, and D. Oliveira.Analysis of masonry structures without box behaviour. International Journal of Architectural Heritage 5 (2011):369–82. https://doi.org/10.1080/15583058.2010.528824
[12] Jorquera, N., Vargas, J., Lobos, M. & Cortez, D. (2016). Revealing Earthquake-Resistant Geometrical Features in Heritage Masonry Architecture in Santiago, Chile. En revista International Journal of Architectural Heritage 11(4): 519-538. https://doi.org/10.1080/15583058.2016.1266414
[13] C. Arnold and R. Reithermann, Influencia de la configuración sobre el comportamiento sísmico, Limusa, México, 1991.
[14] E. Cruz, E. Importancia de la configuración estructural. In IX Congreso Nacional de Ingeniería Estructural, Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, 280–87. Mexico, 1995.
[15] R. Meli, Structural engineering of historical buildings, ICA Foundation, Mexico, 1998.
[16] L. Dipasquale, N. Jorquera, G. Giuffrida, R. Pulselli, L. Mannucci, R. Caponetto. Evaluación de los beneficios ambientales de una cabaña construida en tierra en el valle del Elqui, Chile. Actas del 22º Congreso SIACOT, La Serena, 2024.
[17] G. Giuffrida, L. Dipasquale, R. Pulselli, R. Caponetto, R. Compared Environmental Lifecycle Performances of Earth-Based Walls to Drive Building Envelope Design. Sustainability 16 (2024), 1367. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16041367
