The Quirquincho of Ollagüe.

Out among the volcanoes of Chile lies the small community of Ollagüe that has a special connection with the native Andean hairy armadillo or, as the locals call it, Quirquincho.

Image: Guido Valverde.

Although there are many different types of quirquincho's in this country this particular little copper colored animal has a small(ish) territory surrounding the area of Puna.
The locals of Ollagüe have a town hall which houses a community space for social, public and private use. Nearly every town in this area has a town hall with the same function but this one is just a little different.
It is built in the shape of the local quirquincho complete with tubular hairs and copper plated back. Rock, glass and concrete finish off the buildings extremities.


Image: El ojo etnográfico.

The quirquincho of Ollage..kmz (917 B)

nice one!
what man can do around such a remote and bare place if not collects minerals or builds armadillo-shaped buildings?! (:

Thanks syzygy & NS. You have been very busy on P&C with some very interesting things yourself which are a pleasure to read syzygy.
I'm an old dog come back to try to learn new thing's and keep sane.
Apparently the local mining companies donated the material for the building and would have involved most of the local community to construct.
I think it's a wonderful piece of art. 

comparsing the amount of time that has passed until before we have been born and how much will goes by after we die, well no matter what age you live 30 or 140; it still be nothing. - so do not tell me, you are old!

your armadillo find is something that -if I were rich- would worth me to crawl out there to check myself! -thanks for unique stuff!

my posts on P&C are something I put up in hope, that not (only) experts, but the same "pedestrians" as I will find them interesting.
so glad you like these old fellow from the southern hemisphere!  (here the "old" is right) (:

best!
g

That building is lovely and from above it's quite funny. The fuzzy armadillo is adorable! Definitely an improvement over the regular kind. I am practicing my pronunciation of Quirquincho.   It's nice to have small part of the village on SV with just a glimpse of the back of the building. Most of Peru is stark, but beautiful, and I'd love to see it in person. As always, thank you for the post, syzygy!