Traditional construction with mixed earth and wood system between southern Peru and northern Chile

Buildings made with earth and wood represent a sustainable and economic option that can offer a solution to the huge qualitative and quantitative housing deficit, while responding to anti-seismic and climatic needs. This paper analyzes the characteristics of this type of construction and in particular of those present in Chile and Peru, both countries subject to countless threats deriving both from the different geomorphological, environmental and climatic characteristics, and related to the continuous seismic stresses along the Andean cordillera. It is precisely these numerous and different concerns that have determined in the local history the use of materials and building techniques capable of counteracting them. Traditional earth and wood techniques, made with easily available and abundant materials, offer the opportunity to build quickly accommodations that are both comfortable from a climatic point of view and safe in the event of an earthquake. This contribution describes in detail some of the most frequent traditional construction techniques typical of southern Peru and northern Chile that employ for the structure earth and wood.