San Miguel's flat-roofed houses are built out to the lot lines. Rooftop terraces provide outdoor living space. With such designs, where does rainwater go? A common solution is to pierce rooftop terrace walls and channel water through pipes onto the street. The pipes are called canales.
Rudimentary canales consist of galvanized tin pipes no more robust than woodstove chimneys. They're ugly but functional.
Better homes feature carved cantera water spouts, some with metal extensions designed to cause runoff to pour into the street instead of on pedestrians navigating sidewalks during a downpour.
Cantera can be worked into any desired shape. Since canales serve as architectural elements in addition to the carrying water, some have fanciful shapes
Unintended plants take root. Birds perch on canales and excrete seeds. Cantera, composed of compressed volcanic soil, provides nutrients. And water is ample during the rainy season.
A line of carved rams drains a large terrace while adding interest to a colonial façade.
I captured this image during a torrential downpour a few years ago, showing canales in action.
Most of our streets lack gutters or storm drains. All that water pouring onto the cobblestones turns thoroughfares into rivers. Walking becomes impossible. For drivers, the torrent hides lurking potholes. Concentrating on negotiating the flood, it's easy to overlook the canales overhead. The sudden hammering of a stream of water on the car roof provides a startling reminder that when driving in a downpour, it's necessary to look up.
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