Ephemeral Landscapes:  Organic Architecture as Locus for Environmental Interaction and Cultural Continuity in the 18th Century

Traditional architecture reflects use of local resources. The Inca and then the Spanish left evidence throughout the countryside of their two conquests architecturally as well as their physical and psychological impact on the inhabitants in the Andes. Both conquests moved across a landscape that was densely inhabited with long traditions, thus creating a layered history of impact that is unveiled through detailed study. Long-term work at Chinchero by Nair has encountered traditionally built structures in the town. Studying this house in 2011 Nair and Hastorf gathered organic and architectural data. We learned about the style of construction, the building date and the resource use zones visited to build the structure. The house construction style and its components display how the Colonial residents continued their building tradition from the pre-Colombian Inka era, as well as their knowledge and use of the resources within their landscape, based on wood identification by Archila.