Making La Paz Housing Quake and Land Slide-proof

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City officials of La Paz, Bolivia are hoping to change the architectural landscape of their city by replacing hill-side shanty-towns with new houses designed to withstand the city's frequent landslides. The houses are the creation of Japanese architect, Hiroshi Hara who knows well the challenges of living in a geographically unstable environment.

Studded with modern skyscrapers, the downtown area of La Paz rests on a valley floor.

But most poor Bolivians live in shanties like this one: set precariously into the surrounding steep canyon walls, sometimes with pipes and even foundation suspended midair.

It's a dangerous situation: the homes are made of heavy mortar blocks and concrete pillars while the hillside soil is notoriously unstable.

Experts say some 75 percent of the city is prone to landslides, and they're happening with increasing frequency

But a Japanese architect thinks he might have a solution- Hiroshi Hara has designed small, interconnected towers built to withstand the earthquakes and landslides that plague his homeland.

Hara thinks the structures would also work well in La Paz.

Local architect Jesus Rodriguez agrees.

[Jesus Rodriguez, Architect]:
These independent blocks work in a different way, in a more balanced way when the earth moves in unstable areas. The house won't be affected as much by shifts in soil, not like what happens to homes built in one piece that are heavier."

Made of lighter construction materials, Hara's design features 3 small towers, connected by bridges, that are energy-efficient and easily constructed.

[Jesus Rodriguez, Architect]:
"This was built in two months by architecture students, people who don't have experience in construction but can build it anyway. That's part of Hiroshi Hara's idea, that normal people can build their own homes."

Rodriguez and colleagues are working to bring down the cost of the home, which totals around $25,000, far more than most of the existing houses.

They hope this prototype will soon be a fixture on La Paz's canyon walls not just a showpiece downtown.

Category:

Science & Technology

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• NTDTV
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• Paz
• Housing
• Quake
• Land
• Slide
• proof
• Bolivia
• Japanese
• architect
• Hiroshi Hara

[mispistoleros]

NTDTV, thanks for covering this important topic. such innovations would be practical in all of latin america, with its rugged terrain and teaming favelas.

in colder climates, there are also alternatives in construction and heating. i worked with a friend who'd set up a masonery heating system business, some of the first 10-12 systems he built. the systems are based on old technology and tho expensive to build, are extremely economical and last 2-3 generations.

google, "pyromasse marcus flynn".