AFFORDABLE

HOUSING
RUCA DWELLINGS ,
HUECHURABA, CHILE
How can architecture enhance the sense of belonging of an indigenous community, in a context where
cultural identity and tradition are increasingly challenged by the process of rapid urbanization?

"The challenge we have as a

society is to reconcile those
aspects in which globalization
has brought progress for
humanity with the values ​of the
cultures that preceded us and
that now struggle to keep their
identity alive.", said 
Undurraga Devés Arquitectos
.
INTRODUCTION
Indigenous peoples in Latin America have always been attached to their
territories; their lands have been their nurture and them its custodians.
However, in the last century, urbanization became worldwide and cities had to
accommodate large numbers of newcomers often from rural areas. It is worth
noting that discrimination against indigenous peoples started with the arrival
of the first colonizers to the continent, and has been perpetuated since
then.They leave their lands and start new lives in the city where more often
than not, they face deprived conditions.

The city of Santiago and the Mapuche people are not strange to these
dynamics; in fact, a quarter of the Chilean Mapuches live in Santiago. The
urbanization of this group and the enclaves they have formed have made them
more visible forcing the government to address their demands. The
municipalities have created Oficinas de Asuntos Indígenas (Bureaus of
Indigenous Affairs) in order to respond with specific cultural and social
services and to preserve indigenous traditions in urban contexts.
 MATERIALS AND BUILDING
TECHNIQUES 
In the language of the Mapuches, the word for door simultaneously means ´where the man enters and exits and
´where the sun enters´; therefore, it was fundamental to situate the houses facing east to the rising sun. The
facades present a particular scheme combining the traditional use of concrete and brick with the natural fibers
that shape a ruka. While the diagonal beam strengthens the structure, it also symbolizes the link between the
universe and the Mapuche world. The screen of coligüe -a type of cane- provides the shaded atmosphere of a
traditional ruka where the inside should be isolated from the outside, allowing a perception of a time in the
house that is different of that in the city.

The housing units have 61square meters distributed in two floor plans. The main space in the ground floor is
devoted to the kitchen, as it is to the fogón (stove) in the rukas. The upper floor allocates sleeping rooms
allowing the headboards to be oriented to the north, and the bathroom, which had to be as far as possible from
the kitchen. In the traditional ruka the bathroom areas are outside of it.

In form and materiality, this project integrates modern and ancestral building techniques; however, it also posed
a challenge to strict institutionalized social housing regulations often blind to cultural singularities. Beyond any
shortcomings the project may have in terms of aesthetics or scale or location; the 25 Ruca dwellings are an
opportunity to revalue traditional local knowledge and to contest the homogenization of our cities.
PLANS

GROUND FLOOR PLAN SECOND FLOOR PLAN

 ELEVATIONS

FRONT ELEVATION
REAR ELEVATION
SECTIONS
CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATION
Chile’s housing policy has been considered successful as it effectively
reduced the accumulated deficit. It also enables the involvement of
non-government organizations in the development of low-income
housing projects.

In the context of increasing urbanization in the Philippines, UN-Habitat

encourages addressing housing issues focusing on housing quality,
eliminating slums and the development of market-based approaches to
increase affordability and accessibility for low-income households.