The Significance of Local Earthen Heritage: An Interdisciplinary Intervention in Northern Argentina

RIVET, M. CAROLINA; BARADA, JULIETA

APT Bulletin

Mount Ida Press

Lugar: Albany; Año: 2016 vol. 47 p. 45 - 55

0044-9466

In this paper we present the rehabilitationof a historic house, and the enhancement of building techniques in earth,through a joint intervention with indigenous communities in the highlands ofnorthern Argentina. This building, over 100 years, condenses the materialhistory of the town of Coranzulí having been there, among other things, hisfirst school. This small village of 330 inhabitants, lies at 4000 meters abovesea level in an environment characterized by aridity. Its inhabitants, from the indigenous community atacama, are mainly pastoralists of camelids (llamas).This house was, at the time of our arrival, one of the few that were preservedas evidence of the building tradition of the area, which has been changingsignificantly in recent decades.This intervention has been carried out froma specific request of the native community, which on the one hand intended torevalue the local constructive heritage, and on the other hoped to have a spaceto recover the culture of the town. This house presented severe pathologies anda state of destruction of its roofs. In fact, having been for many yearsroofless the walls were affected by various environmental agents. However,despite this state of disrepair, its interior walls still retained somegraffiti corresponding to different historical epochs.The rehabilitation work was performed withan interdisciplinary approach, involving archaeologists and architects. Theethnographic perspective allowed us to recognize the native points of viewabout the senses involved in this construction and its earth buildingtechniques. At first we proceeded to record the condition of the house, basedon photographs, drawings and technical data sheets developed jointly with thecommunity. In a second stage we proceeded to lift the wooden structure of theroof to assess the structural condition of the building, and introduced varioustechnological innovations and structural elements to minimize the potentialseismic risk. These procedures have been done through a technical proposal inaccordance with local knowledge and trying not to alter the originalconstruction system. In the third stage the roof of the house was restored,with a meticulous work of recovery of the traditional roofing techniques ofstraw and earth (guayado). Along this procedure several participatory workshopshave been performed with the community towards the recovery of ancestralmemories and local architectural practices, achieving an effective joint work.We believe that this experience is relevant to discuss not only the technical aspects of building with earth in thisintervention, but also methodological aspects that are involved in working withcommunities that give meaning to that heritage. An approach of this kind allowsthe recognition of the diversity of building knowledge in our countries.