Vulnerability Assessment of Historic Villages in the Amazonas Region (Peru)

Abstract

Vernacular architecture represents the form of construction that identifies a locality and offers sustainable means of inhabiting spaces. The advance of globalised architectural models in historic villages represents a threat to this architecture. It is therefore necessary that we recognise the characteristics that define the vulnerability of these architectural models and establish tools to facilitate their management and conservation in risk situations.

This research aims to develop a methodology that allows for the evaluation of the factors that condition the vulnerability of the vernacular architecture of two historic villages with populations of 2,500 to 50,000 inhabitants within the Amazonas region (Peru): Leymebamba and Chachapoyas.

The analysed management model is based on the identification of preserved vernacular buildings and the recording of seven vulnerability variables (construction system, degree of conservation, heritage value, occupation, maintenance, fire vulnerability and structural modifications) according to building units and blocks.

The study carried out breaks down the variability presented in the buildings catalogued as vernacular within the evaluated vulnerability contexts. Based on the identified casuistry, a list of key factors is proposed in order to generate guidelines for an urban management plan that articulates the historic value of the buildings and the current needs of the population.