Emergency housing adaptations: informal solutions to constructive precariousness, case of Las Algas camp, Talcahuano

Abstract

The article presents the results of research the main objective of which was to study thermal1 comfort in emergency housing, generally used as a short-term response by the state to situations of socio-natural disasters in Chile. The study was based on the mediaguas (informal dwellings) built by Fundación Techo, in the Las Algas settlement, in Talcahuano. The comparison was made through a document analyisis of the construction system of the original mediagua and field work, which allowed, through observation and survey, to collect data on the modified house. Once the results of the investigation were obtained, the different modifications created by the inhabitants of the mediaguas were compared with the housing standards of the National Emergency Office of the Ministry of the Interior (ONEMI), in order to identify the most suitable solutions favorable for adequate thermal comfort in the mediagua. The results obtained show that the most appropriate informal solutions to improve thermal comfort in the mediagua do approach the minimum requirements of the National Emergency Office of the Ministry of the Interior (ONEMI) house, demonstrating that the actions of its inhabitants can be taken into consideration, to enrich the quality of habitability in the mediagua, while waiting for a definitive solution from the state.