Temporary dwelling for the high altitude andean region of Puno, Peru

Abstract

Peru is a seismic country. The impact of these events is significant in poor and rural regions, where people are most vulnerable and government emergency response takes time and reconstruction of housing and community buildings can take years. In addition to earthquakes, the high altitude areas of Puno, above 4000 meters above sea level, is inhabited by small rural communities with very poor living conditions, extreme cold weather, and few resources. There is a long tradition among the native families around the Titicaca Lake of working with “totora” to make mats and baskets; they even build islands on the lake where they live in their “totora” huts. The objective of this research is to design and evaluate the prototype of an appropriate temporary housing using “totora” as insulation material when disasters occur in these poor and harsh environments of southern Peru. Working with the Lake community of Chimu, a prototype of a temporary house made of “totora” panels was built in Puno. It was inhabited and monitored for three months to evaluate its thermal, structural and functional performance. Results showed that the prototype made of “totora” panels performed better than other temporary dwellings and typical houses of Andean high-altitude rural areas.