Housing in Castadilla

Various types of housing in Castadilla.

Housing in Castadilla refers to the economic sector in Castadilla pertaining to real estate and housing tenure. Throughout Castadilla's history, and that of Vallos in general, there were many different types of housing styles and housing tenures depending on the culture and social status of a given person. Modern Castadillaan housing styles and housing tenures are derived from the housing styles and tensures found throughout the Occident and come in a wide range of architectural styles depending on the culture and building materials found in a given area as well as the specific purpose of a given household being built.

As a socialist state, the Castadillaan constitution guarantees the right to housing which in turn mandates the necessity of public housing which are generally located close to some of the nation's largest cities, but numerous planned communities have been built over the years in anticipation of future population movements and growths; purpose-built communities by the government has been policy ever since the colonial era, but the modern-day policy dates back to the Estado Social era after the Second Great War as citizens began to desire living away from the city centre thanks to the advent of automobiles and rail-based public transportation, thus seeing the rise of the first suburbs in the country. In current years, however, there has been a desire to live close to city centres once again as society becomes more and more high-trust with each passing year.

Overview

As with most early human civilisations, housing was a basic necessity of life for it provided protection against both the elements and the wildlife. Even a cave was considered somewhat adequate for such a purpose. so long as it was not already occupied by the wildlife. Furthermore, housing was seen by many as representative of the sanctity of privacy; without privacy there could be no proper human civilisation. However, the concept of housing to the Glaistic civilisation differed considerably to the concept of housing to the Taineans, the Latins, and the Loa, whose concepts were derivatives of concepts found in their continents of origin. For example, the Taineans saw housing as more communal in that the general public would live in large, circular buildings known as bohios; relatives of the kasike, a Tainean chief, were afforded their own dwellings located in the centre of a community which were rectangular and often larger to house the kasike and his immediate family. Traditional Tainean housing was primarily based upon the traditional housing found in Crona.

Loa housing is derivative of Polynesian housing concepts such as the ones traditionally found in Teschego and Samalosi. Polynesian housing revolves around practicality and ventilation; they were single-room dwellings built upon stilts for protection against flooding, and also had openings near the roof to promote ventilation through trade winds. The stilting allowed for these houses to effectively be built on the water, and the ventilation regulated the internal temperatures of the houses. Polynesian houses were also designed for a single family unit, but were expected to be located next to other houses from which villages would be formed.

Latinic housing is primarily the result of influences from both the Adonerii and Caphiria and were dependent upon the strata of the people in who lived in them. The general public mostly lived in apartment complexes known as insulae which were at most five stories high and could house up to fifty people at once. The living quarters in an insula were generally small and cramped, and the building itself was of a low quality which often resulted in an insula collapsing, much to the joy of the insula's owner. A citizen could own or rent a room. Wealthy families could afford to live in their own households, referred to as a domus. A large domus was known as a villa and could be located in a city or in a rural area. Latinic-style houses are generally the most well-preserved pre-Pelaxian buildings due to the use of more sturdy, abiotic building materials.

The establishment of the Viceroyalty of Los Rumas in 1497 would introduce post-medieval Pelaxian-style housing for the first time to Vallos. Initially, the colonists lived in simple, wooden dwellings due to their ease and brevity in construction; they were single-room, single-family houses designed more for keeping out the elements and the wildlife than for comfort. More complex designs would soon find their way in the Viceroyalty during the 16th Century with the implementation of a policy of establishing planned communities which made use of more conventional Occidental architectural styles both to inspire awe in the pre-colonial populace as well as to represent the growing wealth of Pelaxia at that time. This was also when houses began to contain more than one room and even multiple stories as various parts of the house were finally given their own, designated rooms.

Since independence in 1852, housing was divided into three primary types in Delepasian law; there is the fogares illados ("detached households") which are common in rural areas where space is practically limitless, fogares en fileira ("row households") which are owner-occupied households found in urban areas, and fogares arrendatarios ("tenant households") which are rented apartments that on average are smaller and more numerous in urban areas than row households. Since the end of the Second Great War in 1943, there emerged a fourth legal designation for housing in Delepasian law; that being fogares públicos ("public households") which are state-owned houses that are designed to be affordable and generally take on the appearance of row households or tenant households depending on the intended housing density.

Architecture

Colonial styles

Styles used during Castadilla's colonial era.

Throughout the colonial era, architecture was largely inspired by the styles found in Pelaxia at the time, and primarily consisted of Renaissance, Baroque, and Neoclassical styles as well as the so-called "mission" style used by houses that were built close to colonial mission stations. The primary reason that these styles were used was to inspire awe in the pre-colonial peoples of Vallos as well as to represent Pelaxia's growing wealth and prosperity. Houses which remain to this day with any of these styles tended to be the houses of prominent and wealthy colonial elites or are located in preserved city centres. These houses were built along carefully-planned city grids designed to ensure a landscape that is easy for the colonial military to maneuver. The cities which have the most well-preserved colonial-style houses are Los Rumas, Las Joquis, Santa Maria, and Adouka.

Existing cities in the viceroyalty received a major makeover in terms of city planning so as to standardise urban townscapes and to introduce the local populations to Pelaxian society. This was mostly done in areas which have had established pre-colonial cities such as the northern half of what is now Almadaria, but there were several established pre-colonial cities in what is now Castadilla which have received similar makeovers. Cities such as Mauritius, Adouka, and San Xoan were originally Latinic cities which have been converted into Pelaxian-based townscapes. As a result, these cities often had a Latinic-based architectural style so as to make them more familiar to the locals as well as to try and win over their loyalty and to eventually make them into colonial subjects. In the present this style is often given the name novolatino to differentiate it from more conventional colonial styles as well as from the old Latinic style.