Community and Identity

COMMUNITY AND INDENTITY

During the demolition and construction process of Quinta Monroy, the families were relocated to a

temporary camp. Located in Alto Hospacio, two families shared lots of 8.75 metres by 17.5 metres, with

a communal bathroom and kitchens. Fifty families were located within the emergency housing provisory camp, “six would be permanently relocating from Quinta Monroy, six would receive houses in another

SERVIU project, four would receive temporary housing in a SERVIU project, forty families would relocate on their own accord,” (Aravena, A. Iacobelli, A. 2016: 118). Breaking up the community and placing

families in an undesired situation away from their existing labour networks and schools within the city,

drew a sense of irony, as this was ultimately the type of displacement that Elemental wanted to avoid

in the beginning. The complexity of such a situation brought the idea of to involve the Chilean army to

help transfer belongings and materials from place to place. The rehousing period wasn’t as smooth as

anticipated. Whilst others moved to various locations, others stayed until threatened with police eviction. “The gradual dismemberment of the slum generated unforeseen tension and difficulties: one could not simply dismantle a house and leave others without electricity, water or access to septic tanks,” (Aravena, A. Iacobelli, A. 2016: 120). A sense of uncertainty grew between the residents and the authorities, not

only were the designs being compromised, but whilst they were absent, SERVIU would initially own their

property at Quinta Monroy. With their future homes lingering on promises, an assurance, which at this

point they didn’t trust

How Elemental measure the success of such schemes is via value appreciation, relying on the

incrementality and the beneficiary’s savings. The romanticism of such a proposition, ignores the fact that

the community don’t have the resources to purchase the envisioned materials of quality, in the terms of

longevity, performance and aesthetics. As signified with the intentions of conducting a façade workshop

for the community. When you look at the existing composition of materials of Quinta Monroy, they are basic, that are readily available. Effecting the overall performance of the dwelling. “We wanted to save

materials and parts of the original dwellings to create the transition camp and later the definitive house,” (Aravena, Iacobelli, 2016 p120).

Elemental note that they were to apply guidance through this phase, and to their credit they have no

immediate control on the individual family’s budget, but should have paid it more sympathy. For those

families that initiated the incremental phase immediately after handover, Elemental conducted a series of workshops to suggest what actions could be taken. Due to the standardised dimensions of the ‘voids’,

the materials they were advised on, seemed to be the logical option to employ. After these workshops

had been implemented, the immediate beneficiaries were asked to the exchange on knowledge they

received, to those that were about to embark on this phase. These community groups were created to

ensure that community interests were governed. Another responsibility of such socialisation was to also

create a committee regarding the inhabitants’ additions. Everyone was within their right to extend, as the

program encouraged. This order, present in neoliberalism, ensured is that community spaces weren’t

compromised, and the quality of materials are controlled subconsciously by Elemental. The combination

of styles in the incrementality phase evident in Quinta Monroy, begin to create an identity amongst the

communities. It wouldn’t be fair to assess the success of the project on simply the aesthetics. What you

start to identify, is the character of the development, the homogenous individuality that the scheme

lends itself to, presents how the proletariat has begun to encompass the bourgeoisie model, enhancing an appeal to an international scene. “This type of housing process celebrates a collage strategy of urban

development, and it lends itself to diversity in an outward appearance of housing. A colourful facade

of incremental houses juxtaposing different materials is the result of the dwellers’ efforts to turn the house’s structural frame into a liveable home,” (Marinovic, G. and Baek, J. 2016: 121).

CHAPTER

4

CONCLUSION