Andean architecture is the distinctive style of the countries that are part of the Andean mountain range, developed by the various pre-Hispanic cultures throughout Venezuela, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia and northwest Argentina during the centuries, combining emblematic iconographic elements.

In Andean architecture it is important to take into account the nationalization of the Cosmovision, the same that determines spaces based on the passage of the sun, thus giving the sense of spatiality, taking as reference the ÑAUPA PACHA (north of the Andean world; east of the Western world.- Lozano, Alfredo.- Cusco Cosqo, Symbolic Model of Andean Cosmology 1990.

The extensive use of adobe and wood in coastal areas, as well as the use of carved and attached stones in mountain areas and the management of levels and terraces as part of the organic contextualization of the work with the environment, have been indisputable marks of Andean architecture.

The most famous example of this architecture is Machu Picchu, the "lost city" of the Inca culture and rediscovered by archaeologist Hiram Bingham in 1911.

Contenido

Para entender la concepción andina dentro del plano arquitectónico ha sido necesario realizar una breve síntesis acerca del espacio, y percepción de los pueblos originarios del mundo Abya Yala (actual América).

El sentido del espacio andino se divide en tres planos que son el vertical, el horizontal y el aureolar, este espacio tiene una "kancha" o lugar en común conocido como el "kay pacha" o núcleo, este espacio como el Ordenador de Vida (SUMAK KAWSAY) es el eje de los planos horizontal, vertical y aureolar y que por ende tiene un valor energético que influencia el pensamiento de los RUNAS (gente del mundo andino).

Courts or spaces

This horizontal plane shows us how the energy fields are located in relation to the solar cycle, that is, the solstices and equinoxes, it is here where ÑAUPA PACHA (North Andean that represents the universal and the ancient of the indigenous peoples of the central Andes (South America) is marked. In the Quechua language Chakana means four stairs, it has the shape of a square and staggered cross with twelve points, it refers to the sun, the moon, the worldview symbolizing the union between low, medium, and high.

The sikis or bases govern the scale of power in pre-Columbian society; that is, starting with a higher being, the government and the people. This hierarchy is similar to that of other cultures and to this day, in many of them, it remains in force.

Paccha is parallel space and time. This plan is the summary of the previous two.

The nucleus or "kay paccha" is the living space, the present, it is the essence of everything that is built in the Andean culture.