PLANTS USED AS CONSTRUCTION COMPONENTS OF VERNACULAR EARTHEN ARCHITECTURE, IN LA RIOJA PROVINCE, ARGENTINA

GUILLERMO ROLON; PABLO PICCA; SONIA ROSENFELDT

Lima

Conferencia; 11th International Conference on the Study and Conservation of Earthen Architectural Heritage; 2012

Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú

Building materials of plant origin are widely used in vernacular earthen architecture. Their significance is such that they can be found in a variety of applications, from auxiliary building components up to primary structural elements. The present paper identifies a variety of plant species, whose materials have been used in rural households in the province of La Rioja, Argentina. The study area is confined to the region of the province?s valleys, located within the botanical geographic region of Monte, where the shrub jarillas (creosote) (Larrea sp.) and the algarrobo (carob, mesquite) (Prosopis sp.) are the dominant vegetation types. The material collected from houses was later identified in the laboratory, which was compared with known samples. Further information provided by the villagers was also taken into account. The aims of the study were to draw up a list of plant species used, and to establish which of their parts and what qualities are exploited for the purposes that they were employed. Plant material was identified in: a) adobe and lattice filler material, b) ceilings, c) structures of lattice walls, d) woodwork, e) roofing systems and f) supporting structures in general. Plant materials tend to be present with more variety and quantity in the roofs. The use of plants responds to three types of specific functions, as primary or secondary structural elements, surface finishing, and stabilizer. More samples of wood from trees and/or shrubs were identified in the data collected than from any other type of material. The results confirm that plant species have significant involvement in the shaping of earthen architecture in rural areas of this region in the province.