ABSTRACT
Continental Chile stretches over approximately 4,300km from latitude 17.5° to 56° south, with a maximum width of 350km at its widest point. This thin sliver of geography has been inhabited since 12,800BC (UNESCO 2004) by a rich mix of indigenous tribes including the Chinchorros, Aymaras, Diaguitas, Atacameños, Kollas, Mapuches, Tehuelches, Alakalufes and Yaganes. Each of these tribes developed its own architectural expression; however the architecture of these original inhabitants receives little recognition in modern day Chile. Wainsberg (1978) in his book “En torno a la historia de la arquitectura Chilena” begins the history of Chilean architecture with the colonial architecture of the Spanish conquistadores, whilst Gross (1978) in “Arquitectura en Chile” dedicates only 6 pages to indigenous architecture. At the same time not only has indigenous architecture been ignored by contemporary Chilean society but in the context of supposed “development” the indigenous population has been rehoused in western style social housing which bears no correlation to their own
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Vernacular and Indigenous Architecture
The study of vernacular and indigenous architecture has changed over the centuries. In 19th century Europe vernacular architecture was studied in the search for a national style and identity. At the same time the study of oriental and southern hemisphere indigenous architecture was purely anthropological (Arboleda 2006). In 1968 the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) New York hosted the exhibition “Architecture without Architects” (Rudofsky 1968). The exhibition and the accompanying catalogue presented large scale photographs of vernacular and indigenous architecture focusing principally on their aesthetic qualities aiming to raise their value to that of fine art. A year later publications such as “Shelter and Society” (Oliver 1969) and “House Form and Culture” (Rapoport 1969) changed this focus, concentrating instead on cultural and social aspects. Since the 1990s the performance of these constructions has been studied in the hope of providing clues for a new sustainable low energy architecture (Cook 1996, Huang & Lui 2010, Foruzanmehr & Vellinga 2011). Indigenous architecture is now appreciated for its bioclimatic concepts and environmental principals. It is no longer studied as an historical document but rather as a potential model for sustainable development (Heal et al. 2006). However the sustainability
culture. Today this situation has to some extent been rectified by the publication by the Chilean Ministry of Public Works of three design guides for public projects relating to the two largest ethnics groups, the Mapuche and the Aymara, and the indigenous population of Easter Island the Rapa Nui (MOP 2003). These guides are however generally only consulted for projects specifically designed for the indigenous population and have little impact on contemporary architecture. According to the latest census 11% of the Chilean population identify themselves as pertaining to an indigenous tribe, of which 84% are Mapuche and 6% Aymara (INE 2013).
