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Young Chilean architect builds houses to last

Earlier this year, fires tore through Chile’s port city of Valparaíso, killing 15 people and burning nearly 3,000 homes to the ground.

Since then, 28-year-old Carolina Moraes, an architect who specializes in social and sustainable housing, has been volunteering her time to help some of the families who lost their homes.

She’s not settling for short-term solutions, but is teaching the locals to help themselves.

Listen to the report by Eilís O’Neill from Valparaíso, Chile:

Carolina Moraes is building houses that are better than what local residents live in before the fire (Photo: E. O'Neill)

Carolina Moraes is building houses that are better than what local residents live in before the fire (Photo: E. O’Neill)

Cerro Merced is a hill in Valparaíso that was hit particularly hard by the fire (Photo: E. O'Neill)

Cerro Merced is a hill in Valparaíso that was hit particularly hard by the fire (Photo: E. O’Neill)

Many of the families affected by the fire had no legal title to the land they were living on (Photo: E. O'Neill)

Many of the families affected by the fire had no legal title to the land they were living on (Photo: E. O’Neill)

Adobe and stucco are essential materials (Photo: E. O'Neill)

Adobe and stucco are essential materials for volunteer Per Johansson (Photo: E. O’Neill)

 

Date

Tuesday 22.07.2014 | 12:42

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