![Chontay House / Marina Vella Arquitectos. © Gonzalo Cáceres Dancuart Chontay House / Marina Vella Arquitectos. © Gonzalo Cáceres Dancuart](https://i0.wp.com/images.adsttc.com/media/images/6646/89aa/a569/1e6e/5181/36d7/medium_jpg/o-terreno-como-materia-prima-casas-latino-americanas-construidas-com-materiais-encontrados-no-proprio-solo_11.jpg?ssl=1)
Chontay House / Marina Vella Arquitectos. © Gonzalo Cáceres Dancuart
Organizing, shaping, stacking. Transforming raw materials from the soil into architecture. This is a challenge that many Latin American architects embrace, demonstrating that scarcity can be daunting but also a rich opportunity to unleash creativity.
The use of materials extracted from the local soil serves a dual purpose. In regions with limited industrialization, using locally sourced materials makes economic sense because industrial materials such as concrete and steel are expensive and often require long-distance transportation, adding to their cost. Environmentally, choosing locally sourced materials from the start of a project reduces transportation needs and carbon emissions, supporting sustainability efforts.