These micro-installations of the fishing community’s daily operations are nimble, intentional and in conversation with the environment. Here, architecture does not serve as the foundation, nor does it act as the saviour; and in some towns such as Los Molinos where communal dinghies and wooden pallets are left on the shore, it is not even necessary. Instead, architecture is just one voice engaged in a dialogue with fishers, the sea, materials and the day’s catch. Architecture’s significance is small in scale, discreet and relational; capable of being adjusted, removed or replaced. While different artisanal groups often use trade-specific tools and work in distinct coastal areas, there are similarities in the southern Chilean fishing landscape they all share — access to certain materials, how goods are bought and sold, climate, sense of place and a shared cultural identity. Chilean industrial and mechanised fishing industries use permanent piers and warehouses developed and maintained solely for that industry. In contrast, many artisanal fishers, such as seaweed harvesters or individual pescadores , rely on access to public beaches or local paths that lead to the water. The responsibility for maintaining access points – to take care of them – is shared. The line blurs between the individual and the collective as multiple families, ages, and professions collaborate to maintain communal tools, manage beaches, and generate income. Co-management of this waterscape reveals a particular intimacy – one where the environment and the fishers are in constant dialogue. The market is not necessarily the driver of how and where the days’ catch is offloaded rather it’s the shape of the beach, the depth of the bay, the materials used to stack, store and move the goods from boat to shore; a dialogue observed through small, fluid, site-specific material choices. For instance, . Even though the customary materials have changed over time, from jute and wood to plastics and styrofoam, many of the tools are still fastened, affixed, or used as they were by grandparents: knowledge is passed down, along and through time, to people young and old, and assumes a material form through these micro-installations that are cared for by the artisanal fishers and their families. The techniques of harvest and collection embed the strategies of those who came before and ways of working that will guide those who come after. It is through these material expressions in the coastal towns of southern Chile that offer insight into qualities of wateriness that are applicable to our practice as designers. Working closely with the sea, artisanal fishers have honed their craft through generations, weaving together traditions, materials, and a deep sense of place. Water’s influence imbues a greater need for adaptability and resourcefulness that can be observed in these quotidian rituals of care. It is not through the simplification of these approaches that we are able to gain insight but rather through water’s synergetic nature that we can better learn to build together.
Corral used to store Pelillo before being dried; this area is co-managed by an extended family and some neighbors, Ancud, Chiloé Island, Chile.
Rope used to hoist a bag of seaweed up the face of a cliff from the harvest area below, Ancud, Chiloé Island, Chile
all images Brittany Giunchigliani
Seaweed harvester carrying a bag of Luga Roja ( Sarcothalia crispata ) in a commonly used plastic woven sack, Playa Chauman, Ancud, Chiloé Island, Chile
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on site review 43: architecture and t ime
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