Old houses are more alive than newly constructed ones: Housing and material memory in León, Guanajuato, Mexico

The representation of material memory in housing is a sequence between architecture and society, in which spaces are supported by symbols. This article analyzes the relationship between materials and buildings based on the oral memories of its occupants. A qualitative methodology was developed to analyze the materiality of a historic neighborhood, recorded microhistories on -site, and photographic records. In the findings, social ideologies are amalgamated with housing construction based on the memories of the occupants' collective memory. Further, the material memory of housing goes beyond the idea of institutionalized heritage expressed in catalogs and lists to emphasize inherited social values reflected in everyday aspects of domestic life.