CONTEMPORARY VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE AS CULTURAL EVIDENCE. REFLECTIONS FROM URBAN AYMARA HOUSING IN ARICA, CHILE

The following article addresses the reality of urban Aymara living in the city of Arica in the extreme north of Chile. These cases of housing delivered by state agencies and expanded through self-construction by migrant families of the Aymara ethnic group are investigated in complexes built from 1990 to 2020, in search of changing the idea of cultural relevance in social housing policies in Chile. These will be used as triggers to think about how to address the cultural reality of the different peoples and ethnic groups that coexist in our cities, seeking to call for a broader reflection on concepts such as culture, hybridization or symbolism, which arise from self-built homes, now understood not only as a material element but as constructed cultural evidence.