[re]visiting low-income housing :: BUILDING LOCAL WORKSHOP [JUNE 2012]
In many developing countries, current low-income housing strategies prove to be not only inefficient but also unsustainable in their designs, material and construction choices, and are impeded by high costs and inhibiting policies. In this regard, place-based responses are essential in the approach. This includes strong participatory processes to address existing realities and needs, allow community empowerment and provide long-term appropriation and self-sustainability. It also means taking advantage of local materials and related construction skills within a community, the existing cultural traditions, and surrounding ecologies in order to provide adequate solution at all scales (housing, infrastructure and urban design).
With that said, I wanted to share information on BUILDING LOCAL, a design-build workshop that will take place in Barichara, Colombia from June 15 to June 25.
The design-build studio will explore the aesthetic, assembly andtectonic qualities of local materials: earth, stone, fique, bamboo and wood, engaging students in a series of workshops that will culminate in the design and construction of an efficient and innovative low-income dwelling/farmhouse.
Barichara is a small town of 8000 people located on the Andean hills on the North Western region of Colombia, in the Department of Santander. With colonial architecture dating back to 1705, and traditions of earth and stone constructions, Barichara is one the historical landmark in the country. Currently, as the town transitions from an agricultural economy to a service based economy –relying primarily on tourism- new residents are moving in and the town is experiencing various environmental and social transformations. On the one hand, these transformations offer new opportunities for innovation, further experimenting with local materials and the existing building typologies, yet, on the other, they reflect a troubling condition for local farmers, or campesinos, that are now searching for their own space among the incoming residents and within the new economy. Barichara is therefore a unique place to learn and explore local construction techniques, while requiring a multi-dimensional proposal that addresses and engages the socio-economical and environmental impacts of a transitional economy.
LINK TO WORKSHOP WEBSITE: BUILDING LOCAL
**Image source: FUNDACION ORGANIZMO, Design-build Center for the Sustainable Habitats, www.organizmo.org
Lecture at Parsons :: Vila Viva Favela Redesign, Belo Horizonte
Fernando Lara lectures at Parsons School of Design, discussing participatory budgeting strategies in Belo Horizonte, and recent projects in the Brazilian favelas.
“Vila Viva Favela Redesign, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.” Claudius Pereira, chief executive of the Agency for Housing and Urbanization for Belo Horizonte, Brazil, and Dr. Fernando Lara, architect and professor at the University of Texas, Austin, discuss the redesign of the Vila Viva Favela, winner of a Metropolis Award.
TIME: Wednesday, November 02, 2011 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
LOCATION: 6 East 16th Street, 12th Floor, Room 1200
ADMISSION: Free; no tickets or reservations required; seating is first-come first-served
Link + Article :: Design for the Other 90% CITIES
Top: Children play on the Platform of Hope, above Gulshan Lake, Dhaka, Bangladesh. [Photo by Khondaker Hasibul Kabir] Bottom: A mural by community youth and artists Jeroen Koolhaas and Dre Urhahn, working under the nameHaas&Hahn, Vila Cruzeiro favela, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. [Photo by Haas&Hahn]
Cynthia Smith, the curator of the Cooper Hewitt’s Design for the Other 90%: CITIES exhibit wrote an interesting article on the online journal Places. The article summarizing Smith’s observations and findings, as well as showcases some particular projects. Following is a link of to the article, as well as a link to the online database of the CITIES exhibit.
Cynthia Smith on PLACES
Design for the Other 90%: CITIES ONLINE DATABASE
Design with the Other 90%: CITIES
Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
On view October 15 – January 9, 2012
Location: Main Gallery, United Nations Visitors Lobby
The groundbreaking 2007 “Design for the Other 90%” exhibition has been developed into an ongoing series that will continue to focus on design solutions that address the 90 percent of the world’s population not traditionally serviced by the professional design community.
“Design with the Other 90%: CITIES,” the second exhibition in the series, will examine the complex issues arising from the unprecedented rate of urban growth projected to take place over the next 20 years, primarily in the informal settlements of the global south. Organized by Cynthia Smith, curator of socially responsible design, along with a 10 person advisory committee, the exhibition will explore the multidisciplinary, overlapping relationships among urban planning and design, education, social entrepreneurship, climate change, sanitation and water, migration, public health and affordable housing in these communities. As part of “Design with the Other 90%: CITIES,” the museum will make the information it gathers in the field accessible through an online open-network database, which will enable designers, communities and other stakeholders to work together to develop design solutions to these challenges. This important dialogue will also continue through a scholarly catalog and robust education programs.
Stay posted for Design with the Other 90%: CITIES ‘ online Open Network Database, part of the larger CITIES’ website. The online database will include information on projects and initiatives from the series, as well as additional urban projects and a social network for user-generated content.
Workshop in Medellin :: The Metrocable
Medellín will be hosting an international workshop at the National University Campus from the 12th to the 14th December 2011. The event, entitled “Governance, mobility and poverty reduction: Lessons from Medellin, Colombia”, aims to share the findings of the first systematic independent appraisal of the pioneering experience of Medellín on the use of aerial cable cars for public transportation supported by a set of urban upgrading interventions. This 19 month-research project is coordinated by University College London (UCL), in partnership with Universidad Nacional de Colombia (Medellin Campus) and Universidad de los Andes (Bogota).
The workshop looks to provide pointers for successful application in other cities of the world and will also reflect on the potential impact that this system might have for low-income neighbourhoods of Soacha, a municipality adjacent to Bogotá, Colombia’s capital city.
To learn more about the project and to pre-register follow the link below. The organisers will send you further information about the programme and other practical information about participating in the workshop, before the end of September 2011.
FORDFOUNDATION- The Just City
Marking its 75th anniversary, the Ford Foundation gathered civic leaders and policymakers, urban designers and entrepreneurs in order to explore how fairness, opportunity and equity could serve as defining features for a new era of urbanization.
Informality: Re-Viewing Latin American Cities Friday-CRASSH Conference
I will be participating in the conference “Informality: Re-viewing Latin American Cities,” which will take place in Cambridge from the 18th to the 19th of February… here is some quick info:
Link: http://www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/events/1324/
Department of Architecture, Cambridge
The Center for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities
18 February 2011 to Saturday, 19 February 2011
Location: Department of Architecture, Trumpington Street, Cambridge
Adriana Navarro Sertich
Lubaina Rangwala
Jennifer Renteria
Kirsten Larson
Proyectos Arqui5
Tucker Landesman
Namrata Kapoor
Paula Restrepo-Cadavid
Andrew Carman
Jose Antonio Ramirez
Fernando Luiz Lara
Bethany Opalach
