ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I present three case studies in Chile used as a laboratory to study the aspects covered previously since they are at continuous risk of destruction due to earthquakes. Focusing on the earthquakes of 2005 and 2010, I aim to discover whether the case studies have changed following the reconstruction processes that followed. For this, I look into their situation before those earthquakes. I cover general aspects of heritage perception, record, and protection to establish underlying issues that are not purely related to damage and destruction. I then move on to the case studies’ specificities concerning history, configuration, and spatial morphology.
I continue by introducing the reconstruction triggered by the earthquakes, which I examine from the perspective of housing and post-earthquake planning and surveying, to determine the issues that persist from the 2005 earthquake to the 2010 earthquake. By exploring the problems and challenges of governmental reconstruction approaches after these two seismic events, I aim to establish some key elements that could be improved in future disasters.
I focus on the critique of the superficial understanding of reconstruction as the replication of particular housing types, from an architectural design perspective in terms of heritage elements, building techniques, and inhabitants’ perceptions.
