Strained Local Heritage. Tradition and Modernity in Single-Family Housing Units in Osorno, Chile

Abstract

Osorno is the setting of a major patrimonial single-family housing quarter which combines expressions established in the second half of the nineteenth century -mostly the work of Central European settlers- and other expressions emerged as part of modernization processes that took place in the city and its surrounding areas, built from the third to the seventh decade of the twentieth century. This wealth of diverse architectures is a singular and hybrid constructed evidence that admits merger and dialogue, but also the expression of differences, in this case, the tradition-modernity tension. The paper seeks to reveal the continuity and change vectors that are part of such tension and observe its current expressions in these dwellings. This specific housing quarter, given its visibility and effectiveness, helps preserve the historic memory supporting the construction of local identity.