Progressive Housing

At first glance it doesn't seem like much, we have all seen social housing we don't expect much from it we expect it to do the necessary, provide shelter for those less fortunate, we are never shocked when we drive by section 8 housing and the neighborhood seems a little dingy, overcrowded or even ugly.
Alejandro Aravena has different expectations Quinta Monroy is a housing complex in Iquique, chile completed in 2004. Aravena's concept is to build better housing conditions on a site previously occupied by squatters- simple so far- but his intention is to keep families on the same plots they occupied but upgrade their living conditions, this allows them to maintain emotional and work ties as well as the historical stratification of the city....the How?

He uses architecture to create basic forms to which families construct additions to accommodate their use over time. The design team uses basic technology and materials to create single family units (keeping the cost relatively low) and a plot layout that allows more than one family to occupy each allocated lot this caters to the congestion of the area but eliminates the chaos that previously existed in the slum. The firm held technical and support workshops showing the families how they could add to their homes over time creating a platform for successful transformations by equipping them with the knowledge they needed to plan and construct additions. Each unit was a basic shell with plumbing and structure provided and each family finished the house over time according to their desired aesthetic. The thinking behind this was that such a move would create a sense of ownership and pride in the community- a place that previously existed as a temporal dwelling; by his definition creating a new domestic intimacy.

I had not really considered ownership as an important factor in my design I believe creating communal spaces within a neighborhood allows different groups living in one area to interact and develop a sense of belonging but the issues raised by Aravena are crucial to my site. Slums seem to have unique cultural languages,different rules of conduct, of existence... to overcome the lack of infrastructure and temporary conditions characteristic to a slum he argues new definitions of intimacy and boundary must be created with a flexibility that allows for growth and modification, qualities innate to slum dwellings. It is hard to disagree when the progressive development of his project seem so successful...

As you look at the pics remember this area was previously covered by squatter settlements!!! that puts some perspective into it!

Beginnings

Although this is the end of my undergrad academic career it is far from a summation of my education I see it more as a synthesis of my understanding of architecture- thus far my suggestions of what architecture can do for the world we live in, why it is important to me in discovering my place, my purpose, and my work. I guess i am a product of my christian background this quest is as important to me now as is was when posed to me in Sunday school however many years ago.

I find my generation powerlessly complacent in the face of circumstance i don't know how it happened but we seem to feel content in observing life nothing stirs us into action, I hate that feeling. I remember the first time i ever understood what it was to be helpless, 1994 evening news on KBC a warning notice flashed on the screen, children were advised not to watch, adults were warned that the images would be shockingly disturbing, of course we watched. I'd never seen so many dead bodies in my life, men, women, children slashed up and flung in the streets no one was left to bury them, to honor their decency, cover their naked bodies from the rest of the world. I don't suppose it mattered nothing decent could be derived from that moment but to my young mind it seemed even more of a violation for me to see them like that.

That was the first time I remember feeling helpless, useless, powerless neither I nor my parents could do anything. From the safety of our home within the safety of our Kenyan borders we watched.

Now, so many years later having seen more chaos, war and many more dead bodies than i had ever imagined always from the safe distance allowed by my TV or computer screen I naively think i have the power to do something, to effect change, peace, happiness. Deep inside where economies of scale, political influence, and everyday realities seem somewhat blurred i believe we all do, we just have to find our way of doing it each according to his/ her own capacity.