The history of social housing in Chile began in the last decade of the nineteenth century, a moment when there appeared a series of private initiatives, all from the philanthropy of catholic charity, trying to find a solution to the problem of popular accommodation3.
The resulting initiatives from the charity organizations were a real contribution against the terrible scene that existed in Chile respecting the housing solution deficit.
During the last decade of the nineteenth century the housing complexes built by these organizations were the only homes on offer for worker’s families. As for the typology used, these charity societies took several models, but generally the houses built had a continuous facade and could have between one and three bedrooms, with basic building services. This housing model was used later by the State in the first complexes it built directly or supported.
The popular housing during the second half of the XIX century can be typified into three categories: the “round rooms”, the “ranches” and the “conventillos”4. The first ones were poorly constructed rooms whose only source of ventilation and light was the single access door. The “ranches” are several “round rooms” together one after another along a small street that was used as common area. The “conventillos” is considered the most representative type of habitation of the poorest families on the Chilean society at the end of the XIX century. This typology, associated with the idea of
2 Capel, H. y Tatjer, M. (1991) Reforma social, servicios asistenciales e higienismo en la Barcelona de finales del siglo XIX. Ciudad y Territorio, Madrid, nº 3, p. 233-246.
3 See Hidalgo R. (1999) La vivienda social en Chile: La acción del estado en un siglo de planes y programas. Scripta Nova Revista Electrónica de Geografía y Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de Barcelona nº 45 (1).
4 Ibid.
collective housing, has a similar logic to the “ranches”, because it is a private interior street that allows access to each dwelling and also is used as a common space (Fig.
4.1, 4.2 and 4.3). However, the “conventillos” possessed a more uniform structure, being constructed directly for rental. Some were also converted pre existng houses in the central area of the city, especially in Santiago, which were subdivided by their owner (usually in a very poor way), who started to let rooms separately trying to achieve the greatest economic benefits. This last situation is explained by the abandonment of the houses in the central area of the city by the aristocratic families, as they moved on to more exclusive areas.
In 1906 there emerged the first state initiative at a national level that attempted to give an answer to the increasing problem of popular housing: the Law 1838 (22.02.1906) “About Worker’s Houses”5. With this law, Chile became one of the first countries in South America where housing legislation was developed, and this law was the starting point for the creation of a national policy on social housing in the future.
This law was effective for 20 years. The most important contributions that we can mention are the sensitization of public opinion at that moment to the housing problem, the delivery of the first real data about the situation of the housing on the popular sectors of the society, and the formation of the foundation of a strong hygienist component, that was to become the principal preoccupation of the standards adopted for future experiments.
5 The law of 1906 was conceived mainly by Alejo Lira and promulgated under the mandate of President Germán Riesco, and based on French experiences. Created as the Councils of Worker’s Houses in the several geographical and political zones of Chile, these councils were coordinated through the conformation of a Superior Council, which was located in Santiago. The council had three clear lines of action, first the direct construction of houses that could be offered for letting, second to coordinate a process of sanitation (that in most cases meant the demolition of the unhealthy housing), and finally to create a set of rules and requirements for getting access to the benefits. We have to highlight the second line about sanitation and the real impact about the demolition process that it produced, for example in Santiago 1.626 housing units were demolished (specially “conventillos”) that meant 16.713 rooms, and affected 46.794 people. This measure, instead of solving the problem of housing deficit, raised the number of roofless families.
The Law of Worker’s Houses of 1906 marked the beginning of the actions made by the Chilean state involving social housing. There were considerable worries about sanitation, that were translated into a demolition process that accompanied this idea, bringing a consequent rise in the number of roofless families and a negative impact on the value of the rents. A growing conflict between tenants and landlords emerged, as one of the main topics that would need to be treated through new legislation approved in 1925.
The Housing Law of 1925 established in its first article the creation of a Superior Council of Social Welfare. This new entity in charge of the Chilean social housing fell under the administration of the Ministry of Hygiene, Assistance, Work and Social Welfare. This diagram, where the housing subject was part of a general framework of social welfare, has to be understood as immersed in a new model of social protection that was beginning to take shape in Chile between 1915 and 19206.
The Law of 1925 changed the concept of worker’s houses to “inexpensive houses”. The idea of Housing Cooperatives was also fundamental, since these institutions were granted preference by the loans delivered from the financial institutions defined by the legislation. The action of this law lasted almost till the creation of the Savings Bank of Popular Housing (Caja de Habitación Popular) in 1936.
The principal operations or programmes made by the Saving Bank were the construction of housing complexes paid for and executed entirely by it, intended for selling in the long term or for letting. Additionally they gave concessions of subsidies and state warranties to those who invested capital in economical housing projects.
During this period some of the most important examples of popular housing architecture in Chile were built. Outstanding were the Huemul II development and the
6 MINVU op.cit., p. 22
projects built by the Worker’s Insurance (Seguro Obrero), following the lines of action promoted by the Savings Bank. These housing complexes were built in several cities of northern Chile: Arica, Tocopilla, Iquique and Antofagasta, with an important change in architectural style influenced by CIAM (Fig. 4.4, 4.5 and 4.6).