Habitability Conditions in Self-Constructed Rural Houses Within Indigenous Communities

In the Multidimensional Poverty Index, housing conditions carry a weight of 25%. In Ecuador in 2022, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses, the rate of multidimensional poverty in rural areas was 70%, while the rate of extreme multidimensional poverty stood at 41%, accompanied by a Gini Index of 0.433. Paradoxically, the processes of globalization related to construction and modern material resources adapted from ancestral knowledge have led to worse habitability conditions in communities settled in the rural Paramus of the High Andes. This study aims to evaluate rural housing under extreme conditions of climate, topography, accessibility, and basic services, in order to establish strategies that are context-appropriate and promote house improvements through collaborative workshops. The conditions of 40 houses in two indigenous communities were assessed through direct observation and thermography. Site characteristics, spatial distribution, materiality and pathologies, along with perceived thermal comfort, were recorded on an adapted datasheet. The assessment was conducted by a researcher and the homeowner, with the objective of generating a participatory diagnosis. Data was analyzed using a multicriteria matrix proposed within a comprehensive framework for assessing building performance in the context of sociocultural and technical dimensions. The main results reveal that inhabitants uphold traditional aspects like collaborative construction processes, a relationship with the landscape, and efficient space utilization. However, the loss of ancestral construction knowledge and the influence of migration to cities have led to technical building errors; consequently, the majority of the dwellings exhibit structural vulnerability and poor indoor environmental quality.