by Matthew A. French
This very small building doubles as a home and workplace. The homeowner weaves products such as hats, clothes and mats for a living. The building functions as a showroom for her products by the day and as her house for rest at night. Three months before the site visit, the house was washed away by Hurricane Stan that hit the Central American region. Massive rainfall led to landslides in the Lago Antilian area, where the site is located. Her house was destroyed and this is the new one constructed. This case study is characteristic of new adobe construction in the Guatemala today. Timber dowels at the top brick course help to secure the ring beam or timber roof framing to the walls. For economic reasons, the roof is corrugated iron, but the long-term plan is to place clay tiles directly over top for their thermal and aesthetic properties. This case study is testament to the trying and tenuous living conditions which the occupants face. It demonstrates that even though un-reinforced adobe fails, many have no option but to replace it with structurally fragile adobe once more.
World Housing Encyclopedia
an EERI and IAEE project