Dear all, I live in Oaxaca, Mexico, where we had a very strong earthquake the 7th of this month. The government has been doing surveys of the damages, and several persons and NGOs have started to think about how to help with the reconstruction. The response of the government after other natural disasters has been to build standard housing that has not worked for the climate and living traditions of the areas. The istmo de Tehuantepec, which is the area most affected on september 7th, does not have many important historic monuments, but it does have vernacular architecture and a distinctive architectural landscape worth preserving. Something that may be worth mentioning is that there are old adobe and bajareque houses that standed well the earthquake. I think that this tragedy can become a chance to improve the earthquake resistance of the vernacular architecture. I also think that promoting a participative design of the reconstruction is important, however I do not know if it is something doable when starting reconstruction is urgent (many people live on the streets, even if their houses still stand, they are afraid because so far the aftershocks have been more than three thousand!).
My question for you is if anyone can tell me abut their experience with recovery after disasters and/or share with me some bibliography. I would like to insert the conservators perspective in the decision making (if that is possible, I don’t know) and the practical experiences of others would help me a lot. Thanks in advance, Vera De La Cruz . ****** Unsubscribe by sending a message to [email protected] Searchable archives: http://cool.conservation-us.org/byform/mailing-lists/cdl/
