Reorienting a maloca in the city: adaptations of traditional Amazonian architecture in the urban context
CAPIUL's maloca in Leticia has been interpreted as a "disoriented" architecture for various reasons. However, this article argues that this deviation constitutes a reorientation, the result of a spatial and political negotiation within the urban context. The maloca becomes disoriented...
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| Format: | article |
| Status: | Published version |
| Publication Date: | 2026 |
| Country: | Ecuador |
| Institution: | Revista CHASQUI |
| Repository: | Revista CHASQUI |
| Language: | Spanish |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:ojs.www.ciespal.org:article/5281 |
| Online Access: | https://revistachasqui.org/index.php/chasqui/article/view/5281 |
| Access Level: | Open access |
| Keyword: | Reorientation Maloca Indigenous architecture Traditional architecture Urban Amazon Reorientación Arquitectura indígena Arquitectura tradicional Amazonía urbana Reorientação Arquitetura indígena Arquitetura tradicional Amazônia urbana |
| Summary: | CAPIUL's maloca in Leticia has been interpreted as a "disoriented" architecture for various reasons. However, this article argues that this deviation constitutes a reorientation, the result of a spatial and political negotiation within the urban context. The maloca becomes disoriented with respect to traditional astronomical references, but reorients itself with respect to new criteria for its relationship with the city: territorial visibility, accessibility, representative uses, cultural continuity, and defense of the territory. In this tension—between two paradigms of dwelling—the maloca does not lose its meaning, but rather adapts and updates its orientation to continue inhabiting the city without abandoning its traditional foundations. Thus, CAPIUL's maloca embodies an architecture that transforms urbanism and is transformed by it. |
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