El mantenimiento de la arquitectura vernácula en áreas vulnerables del Centro Histórico de Cuenca. La minga como estrategia de organización participativa

Abstract

The built heritage in the country, and, specifically, inside the Historic Centre of Cuenca, represents a great challenge re garding its conservation. The lack of enforcement and con trol of the local laws affects any building classified as “he ritage”, especially minor vernacular structures. This building typology, unlike monumental constructions, is threatened for being the most unprotected and susceptible to changes. The lack of enough economical resources and the little knowledge about the heritage and the importance of its early conservation causes accelerated deterioration of buildings, and its subsequent abandonment or destruction. Thus, in this way, the University of Cuenca and its Faculty of Ar chitecture, through their Proyecto CPM, have implemented, all over Azuay, Maintenance Campaigns with support from other public institutions, which provide most of the funds, the community, and private businesses; these interventions favor the maintenance of vernacular structures, based on the participation and commitment of the ancestral practice de nominated “Minga”. Hence, the present thesis aims to note and document the tradition of the minga in two areas of the southern Andean region of Ecuador. With this, it is sought to rescue the organizational values of the minga, in order to being applicable to preserve minor vernacular architecture, especially in those areas of the Historic Center of Cuenca that, due to the factors mentioned, are vulnerable to losing their heritage.