This work reports the result of a research activity conducted in Bolivia in the year
2020, in synergy between Bolivian Polytechnic University School "Josè Maria Nunez
del Prado", University of Naples Federico II and Pegaso Telematic University. In
particular, the research had as its object the study of a housing unit suitable for
coping with the floods that frequently afflict some Bolivian peasant populations.
During the research, much attention was initially paid to the historical, political,
socio-economic aspects and to the cultural and traditional characteristics of the
ethnic groups that make up the population of Bolivia; subsequently, the
morphology and hydrography of the Bolivian territory were examined, as well as
the climate, the trend of rainfall and the El Niño and La Niña phenomena that often
cause floods with serious risks for the populations, especially rural ones.
Having completed these first two phases of the research, the authors moved on to
the study of the traditional construction characteristics of rural architecture, paying
particular attention to the basic construction materials used in the peasant areas
of Bolivia, in particular to raw earth and bamboo, as well as the principles and
rules that regulate the construction of rural housing in Bolivia.
For rural architecture, the traditional Pawichi house and the traditional dwellings
of the indigenous Chiquitana population were examined in detail.
Only after having acquired all these important aspects, the research became
interested in the design of a new rural house which, respecting Bolivian cultural
traditions, would be able to cope with floods and reduce the risks associated with
them.
In the design of this new emergency housing unit, the authors focused their
attention not only on the compositional and functional aspects of the housing unit,
but also on the constructive aspects by designing new structural elements such as
the pillars made with five bamboo canes suitably linked together. with knots of the
Andean construction tradition.
The composition of the housing unit proposed by the authors is governed by a
basic 4x4 module that can be full, or delimited by infill and window frames, or
empty, or without surrounding infill elements to allow the creation of the traditional
place for socialization, the Punilla.
Never as in this case have, I been particularly happy with the invitation formulated
by the authors, and in particular by the young researchers, Francesca Volpe and
Emanuele La Mantia, to present their work.
In fact, I was able to see the procedural quality of the research and the intelligent
design procedure that led to the definition of a housing prototype of great interest
for the Andean populations
