Beyond the pure function of a shelter

Being indigenous, is being intrinsically connected with nature, in balance with it. It is, perhaps, because they are in constant relation with it, as their symbionts. Hence, indigenous people are more-than-human beings, that enable them to perceive differently the world to the way other cultures do. When approaching indigenous cultures from an architectural perspective, it cannot be interpreted without a complete understanding of the context of being indigenous, being more-than-human, and their social practices such as the ritual of Ayawáskha. Only then, it would reveal that design spaces like the Maloka, the indigenous common house, are associated with the creation of connections between indigenous and nature, a design that influences the way of being.

The Malokas are wooden structures covered by leavesmade roof and woven walls, it provides protection from sun and rain as well as a retreat from the forest. Physically they are light, ephemeral and flimsy structures, however they have a great concentric symbolism that can be recognized from the air. It is the result of the convergence between the physical and unmaterial layers, in the sense of the indigenous being immersed in the wild environment, culture in nature, layers that continue within the Maloka. Inside, there is a further contrast between the periphery and the centre with the family compartments around the edge and the tallest-innermost-sacred space marked by four columns and encircled by the ritual dance path, the Maka.

The construction has further meanings, it is a social activity where all individuals collaborate as an act of unification of the community. It is built to mark the beginning for new families formed by young adults, generally the elder borders of different communities. The site is chosen in isolation but still close to other Maloka. They are built in relation of the river, principal landmarks as well as the main means of communication, it links the different Malokas to form a ramification a genealogical tree of the communities.

The Maloka is built facing the east towards the rise of the sun and the river meaning the face to the outside world. The chagra is cleared space around the Maloka for public exchange. It forms a bigger area at the main entrance as it is the side encountered by visitors. This external space has a great ritual significance at times of ritual purification, it comprehends protected for the beings to be.

The Maloka is understood as living being, as organism, as the womb of indigenous life. Generally associated with the wombs of the Pachamama, mother earth, giving them a special connection to their Maloka since they are born. It is not only associated with the female, during the night of rituals of the ritual it is associated to male to emphasize the importance of Taita. The space transforms as a place of creation of life, a creation of new beings, that is associated to the experience of death and birth of Ayawáskha. During the nights of the rituals, indigenous people can perceive the connection to the space in a new ways, each of them are part of the same organism, hence the association of the Maloka being alive. Their minds travel in and out the space, the inside world and the outside one being them the connection. From the personal experience, to a collective experience and the spiritual one. Creating a relation of mind body and the ethereal.47

At first, when looking at the Maloka, the relation between the space and the function may not be clear and could appear to be vague of meaning. However, it is a complex and variable relation between user and building that requires both to perceive the space and to be involved in its use, more specific in the ritual. An interpretation of Peter B. Jones, British architect and architectural historian, on the similar matter of what Marcel Mauss and Pierre Bourdieu have called ‘habitus’, is that the arrangement of the space has to intersect with a set of habits, beliefs, and expectations held by the person who experiences and uses the space.48 Once that connection between spaces and ritual use is achieved, building and activities tend to reinforce each other, the Maloka reassures the indigenous by reinforcing their beliefs and intentions, corroborating their view an understanding of the world, and their way of being.