Roofing in Argentina

Argentina runs from the subtropical north-east and the Andean north-west to the cold, windy south of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. Its roofs include grass thatch in the Andes, clay tile in the Jesuit missions and colonial towns, the corrugated sheet metal (chapa) that became the signature of the Buenos Aires port district of La Boca, and hand-split timber shingles in Patagonia. For an overview of the Southern Cone, see Roofing in Argentina and Chile.

Climate and hazards

• Earthquakes in the Andean west, addressed by the national seismic code.
• Strong winds in Patagonia and on the pampas.
• Snow in the Andes and the far south, and heavy rain in the north-east.

Roofing history

Andean. In the north-west, Andean houses were roofed with grass thatch. The bunchgrass ichu (Jarava ichu, Peruvian feathergrass) grows in Argentina as in the rest of the Andes.

Jesuit missions. In Misiones province, the Jesuit missions among the Guaraní made fired clay tiles in their own workshops from the 17th century, replacing earlier straw roofs, partly as protection against fire. Tiles from San Ignacio Miní measure about 46 to 55 cm (18 to 22 in) long, 19 to 22 cm (7.5 to 8.7 in) wide and about 1 cm (0.4 in) thick. A 2016 study of the church of Santa Ana found 67 fragments of decorated tiles with a crescent-moon border, which covered much of the church roof. When the explorer Juan Bautista Ambrosetti visited Santa Ana in 1894 its roofs had collapsed. The Jesuit Missions of the Guaranis in Argentina and Brazil were inscribed by UNESCO in 1983.

La Boca and the immigrant city. By 1880 La Boca, at the mouth of the Riachuelo in Buenos Aires, was a busy port district dominated by Genoese immigrants. The architect Fernanda Cragnolini describes houses said to have been built from shipyard leftovers and painted in strong colours, mainly red and green. Timber-framed houses were clad in smooth or corrugated sheet metal with zinc flashings, under low-pitched roofs with zinc gutters and downpipes running down the façade. Many were multi-family tenements (conventillos), often three storeys high, with rooms opening onto galleries. Houses stood on hardwood piles bolted to tie beams about a metre (3 ft) or more above ground. Fire was a constant risk.

Patagonia. In the south, hand-split wooden shingles (tejuelas) were used to clad roofs and walls, a tradition shared with Chile and found in Argentine border areas of Río Negro, Chubut, Santa Cruz and Tierra del Fuego.

Traditional and vernacular roofs

• Ichu thatch in the Andean north-west (see Andean ichu thatch).
• Teja roofs of the missions and colonial towns (see Jesuit mission roof tiles).
• Casa de chapa: timber-framed house clad and roofed in corrugated metal, as in La Boca.
• Tejuela shingle cladding in Patagonia.

Roofing today

Metal sheet (chapa), concrete slabs with waterproof membranes, and clay or concrete tile are all common.

Codes, standards and regulation

A 2012 comparative review listed CIRSOC 103 (2005) as Argentina's seismic design regulation.

Notable roofs

• Jesuit Missions of the Guaranis (UNESCO 1983), including San Ignacio Miní and Santa Ana.
• La Boca, Buenos Aires: brightly painted corrugated-metal houses and conventillos.

Local roofing terms

• Chapa (or chapa acanalada): corrugated metal sheet.
• Teja: clay tile.
• Tejuela: hand-split wooden shingle.
• Conventillo: multi-family tenement.
• Paja brava: ichu grass.