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Bloqus: The LEGO-Style Social Housing Revolution in Chile
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In an effort to address the housing deficit and promote sustainability, the Universidad San Sebastián (USS), with the support of CORFO Biobío and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (MINVU), has introduced Bloqus, a platform that promises to transform the construction of social housing in Chile. Inspired by LEGO blocks, Bloqus uses the DFMA (Design for Manufacturing and Assembly) approach to create modular wooden homes that can be manufactured and assembled quickly and precisely.
Marcelo González, project director and head of the Master's in Construction Management and Sustainability at USS, highlights collaboration as the cornerstone of Bloqus. The platform aims to integrate suppliers and the local industry into a collaborative system to industrialize the construction of social housing in the Biobío region.
Chile, with over 18 million hectares of forests and significant sawn timber production, faces a deficit of approximately 700,000 homes. Bloqus emerges as an efficient and transformative solution, offering eight families of standardized components that can be combined to build six different models of social housing, all technically and architecturally validated.
Benefits and Scope of the Project
The implementation of Bloqus will not only accelerate housing construction but also reduce costs and environmental impact, contributing to lowering CO2 emissions in the construction sector. Additionally, the platform fosters the growth of SMEs, generating employment and promoting more sustainable regional development.
Anita Jara, Outreach Coordinator for the USS School of Architecture in Concepción, emphasizes the importance of SME participation at this stage to improve their productivity and adapt to a new paradigm in the construction industry.
From the forestry sector, Alejandro Casagrande, president of Corma Biobío and Ñuble, praises the project as an innovative and sustainable challenge that enables the active participation of small businesses in wooden housing construction.
A Sustainable Future for Social Housing
Bloqus not only redefines how homes are built but also drives family well-being and strengthens SMEs, solidifying the strategic role of wood in the future of social housing in Chile.
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