Quincha
Encyclopedia
Quincha is a traditional construction
system that uses, fundamentally, wood
and cane
or giant reed
forming an earthquake
-proof framework that is covered in mud
and plaster
.
Quincha is a Spanish
term widely known in Latin America
, borrowed from Quechua
qincha (kincha in Kichwa
), which means "fence, wall, enclosure, corral, animal pen". Historically, this type of construction has been utilized in the Spanish and Portuguese
colonies throughout the different regions of the American Continent.
Even though Spanish and Portuguese are closely related languages, in this case, the Portuguese equivalent is completely different: Pau-a-pique.
Construction
In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...
system that uses, fundamentally, wood
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
and cane
Cane
Cane are either of two genera of tall, perennial grasses with flexible, woody stalks from the family Poaceae that grow throughout the world in wet soils. They are related to and may include species of bamboo. The genus Arundo is native from the Mediterranean region to the Far East. Arundinaria...
or giant reed
Arundo
Arundo is a genus of two or three species of cane: stout, perennial grasses from the family Poaceae, native to the Mediterranean region east to India, China and Japan. They grow to 3–6 m tall, occasionally to 10 m, with leaves 30-60 cm long and 3-6 cm broad.- Species :* Arundo...
forming an earthquake
Earthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
-proof framework that is covered in mud
Mud
Mud is a mixture of water and some combination of soil, silt, and clay. Ancient mud deposits harden over geological time to form sedimentary rock such as shale or mudstone . When geological deposits of mud are formed in estuaries the resultant layers are termed bay muds...
and plaster
Plaster
Plaster is a building material used for coating walls and ceilings. Plaster starts as a dry powder similar to mortar or cement and like those materials it is mixed with water to form a paste which liberates heat and then hardens. Unlike mortar and cement, plaster remains quite soft after setting,...
.
Quincha is a Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
term widely known in Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
, borrowed from Quechua
Quechua languages
Quechua is a Native South American language family and dialect cluster spoken primarily in the Andes of South America, derived from an original common ancestor language, Proto-Quechua. It is the most widely spoken language family of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, with a total of probably...
qincha (kincha in Kichwa
Kichwa
Kichwa is a Quechuan language, and includes all Quechua varieties spoken in Ecuador and Colombia by approximately 2,500,000 people...
), which means "fence, wall, enclosure, corral, animal pen". Historically, this type of construction has been utilized in the Spanish and Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
colonies throughout the different regions of the American Continent.
Even though Spanish and Portuguese are closely related languages, in this case, the Portuguese equivalent is completely different: Pau-a-pique.