The climate change related adaptation and resilience of traditional tradicional dwellings: the case of Yucatan Penisula

Abstract

Mexico has been affected by extreme events such as storms, hurricanes, floods, and wildfires in the past ten years. In this paper, we will attempt to respond to the following questions: What are the climate change effects on the architectural heritage of Maya housing, and what are the adaptation and resilience practices of Maya housing and its environment? Maya houses have major climate variability adaptation potential. The building of a Maya home is conducted without architects, but with the intensive labor required for the planning, organization, technology and systematic knowledge of the climate on the part of the various artisans involved. These efforts, which we can observe to this day, implied invention, innovation and adaptation, as well as the oral transmission of knowledge for locating and orienting the home, preparing the terrain, seeking out and preparing construction materials, the actual work of building the house and conducting the related construction rituals. There exist various forms of adaptation, among them the form, design, materials and technology used. Here we review the housing’s adaptation and resilience to floods, and both water management and control. The principal objective of this text is to evaluate the adaptative and resilient processes of Maya housing to the effects of climate change, considering the principal criteria / indicators that might affect the habitat’s internal environment, its constructive structure, the materials and the inhabitant’s comfort, but without changing the Maya house’s basic design patterns.