Rebuilding continues in Constitución

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    The design included the reconstruction and modernisation of the civic centre and main square. Photo: Cristian Martinez / ELEMENTAL.

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    Project update 2014 - The architects designed the social housing units as half of a good house instead of a complete but small one. Photo: Cristian Martinez / ELEMENTAL.

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    Project update October 2014 – Sustainable post-tsunami reconstruction master plan, Constitución, Chile

    The architects designed the social housing units as half of a good house instead of a complete but small one. Photo: Cristian Martinez / ELEMENTAL.

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    Project update 2014 - Next to each built section of the row house is an open space of the same size into which residents can expand their house. Photo: Cristian Martinez / ELEMENTAL.

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    Project update October 2014 – Sustainable post-tsunami reconstruction master plan, Constitución, Chile

    The approach builds-in the possibility for residents to double the floor area of the house to 80 square meters. Photo: Cristian Martinez / ELEMENTAL.

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    Project update October 2014 – Sustainable post-tsunami reconstruction master plan, Constitución, Chile

    Villa Verde is the largest project in the reconstruction of the city of Constitución. Photo: Cristian Martinez / ELEMENTAL.

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    Project update October 2014 – Sustainable post-tsunami reconstruction master plan, Constitución, Chile

    The project advocates a long-term strategy to upgrade the built environment rather than implementing an ad hoc action plan to reconstruct the part of the city that was destroyed by the tsunami and earthquake. Photo: Cristian Martinez / ELEMENTAL.

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    Their master plan for the reconstruction of the Chilean port of Constitución after it was destroyed by a tsunami produces not only a new, but also an enhanced urban space. Photo: Cristian Martinez / ELEMENTAL.

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    The completion of the project has enabled displaced residents to return to the area, following accommodation in temporary dwellings or living with extended family. Photo: Cristian Martinez / ELEMENTAL.

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    The "Villa Verde" housing project is part of the strategy for the local community and for families affected by the earthquake and tsunami. Photo: Cristian Martinez / ELEMENTAL.

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    Construction of 484 dwellings in Villa Verde has been completed, with additional reconstruction works and riverside forest/park zones. Photo: Cristian Martinez / ELEMENTAL.

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    "Villa Verde" is the largest project in the reconstruction of the city of Constitución. Photo: Cristian Martinez / ELEMENTAL.

Construction of 484 dwellings as part of this Holcim Awards Silver 2011 project in the housing complexes Villa Verde I-V began in March 2012 with USD 13 million in funding from the Chilean Ministry for Housing & Planning. Designed by ELEMENTAL SA led by prominent Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena, the houses are now complete and include a kitchen, lounge, bathroom, laundry (ground floor) and two bedrooms (upper floor), are two-storey and are designed to be extendable. The neighborhood contains three social centers, one multi-purpose court and green areas.

Last updated: February 19, 2014 Constitución, Chile

Construction of 484 dwellings in the housing complexes Villa Verde I-V began in March 2012 with USD 13 million in funding from the Chilean Ministry for Housing & Planning. The houses are now complete and include a kitchen, lounge, bathroom, laundry (ground floor) and two bedrooms (upper floor), are two-storey and are designed to be extendable. The neighborhood contains three social centers, one multi-purpose court and green areas.

Villa Verde is the largest project in the reconstruction of the city of Constitución. The completion of the project has enabled displaced residents to return to the area, following accommodation in temporary dwellings or living with extended family.

The government expropriated the worst-hit areas of the city - Orrego Island at the mouth of the Maule River and Maule’s riverside - to build a buffer-zone park to avoid destruction in case of a new tsunami. Some USD 95 million was allocated for housing, out of a total reconstruction budget of USD 150 million for the city. The remainder was allocated to the park and streets near the river that will serve as evacuation routes.

Half a good house is better than one small one

Elemental proposed combining the funds available for temporary emergency shelters and social housing to provide better-quality shelters with a higher initial cost that could then be dismantled and reused in an incremental social-housing scheme. The architects designed the social housing units as half of a good house instead of a complete, but small one: building-in the possibility for residents to double the floor area of the house to 80 square meters. Next to each built section of the row house is an open space of the same size into which residents can expand their house. Higher quality social housing eventually increases in value and provides families with capital growth where the collateral can be used to guarantee a loan for a small business, or pay for higher education for children.

Innovation in the built environment in this project did not come from new materials, new techniques or new systems: it came from having the courage to follow common sense ideas, to understand the needs of the people of Constitución, and by viewing the problem in terms of both the micro- and macro-environments.