Learning from the past: Training for a sustainable future of the tourist sector in the Coastal Atacama Desert

Whitman, Christopher J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7779-6930, Gabriela, Armijo, Miguel, Garcia and Errazuriz, M. J. 2014. Learning from the past: Training for a sustainable future of the tourist sector in the Coastal Atacama Desert. Presented at: World Sustainable Building 2014, Barcelona, Spain, 28-30 October 2014.

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Abstract

The Atacama Desert in Northern Chile is one of the driest places on Earth. Where this desert meets the ocean, the cold waters of the Humboldt Current and the Pacific Anticyclone produce a climate of consistently cloudy mornings and high humidity, yet with almost non-existent rainfall and clear afternoons with harsh solar radiation. Since pre-Columbian times mankind has inhabited this thin stretch of land between the ocean and the desert. Today the regions beaches, flora and fauna, the phenomenon of the flowering desert, important paleontological remains and its more recent history, are beginning to generate an increase in tourism. At the same time the region is threatened by illegal occupation for holiday homes and the social and environmental impacts of the mining industry. This paper presents a study of the region’s vernacular and indigenous architecture, local materials and existing infrastructure, looking at how the past can suggest a sustainable future.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Date Type:	Completion
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Architecture
Funders:	Universidad Central de Chile, CORFO Chile
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	30 March 2016
Last Modified:	27 Oct 2022 10:19
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/69728

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