Architecture Inverse [episode1]

Formal-Plug-In-Formal; South Africa

Guest post by Andrés Sanchez Arias

This episode shows the experience in South Africa with a focus on housing. The episode is presented as a personal journal, and presents some of the key findings through my research in Port Elizabeth.

The aim here is to showcase the method used to discover the social dynamics around the creation of housing and use of space. Thus, aiming to discover people’s needs, the specificities of context and the different patterns emerging in these housing configuration. In addition, the episode shows how governments have addressed the  social housing issues from a purely economic perspective as well as as the manner in which inhabitants have been forced to self-build, modifying their homes, building their own infrastructure, slowly improving their living conditions…

Click here for this 1st episode ofArchitecture Inverse.

[ https://youtu.be/Hc8pxsFt780 ]

For more on Architecture Inverse, check out the intro post:  https://favelissues.com/2016/03/10/architecture-inverse-intr0/

Andrés Sanchez Arias

Andrés is an architect from the Catholic University of Leuven and Sciences and Techniques of Urban Environments ENSA Nantes, France, who specializes in Architecture and Sustainable Development. He has worked with CRENAU Nantes Laboratory and capacities-University of Nantes France- in fields of study related to the improvement of housing and the recognition of social dynamics as tools to generate sustainable solutions that meet the needs of communities and current environmental demands, particularly in relation to the creation of housing, infrastructure and spaces in self-constructed informal settlements. Fieldwork: Bogota (Colombia), Mumbai (India), Port Elizabeth (South Africa), Sao Paulo (Brazil), Dhaka (Bangladesh) and Manila (Philippines), Seoul (South Korea).

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Arquitecto especializado en Arquitectura y Desarrollo Sostenible de la Universidad Católica de Lovaina y en Ciencias y Técnicas de Ambientes Urbanos de la ENSA Nantes. A trabajado vinculado al Laboratorio CRENAU Nantes y con Capacites-Universidad de Nantes Francia, en campos de estudio relacionados con el mejoramiento de la vivienda y en temas enfocados a reconocer las dinámicas sociales entorno a la conformación de la vivienda, de la infraestructura y los espacios públicos en los sectores autoconstruidos, como herramientas para generar soluciones sostenibles que se adapten a las necesidades de las comunidades y a las exigencias medioambientales actuales. Trabajos de terreno en: Bogotá (Colombia), Mumbai (India), Port Elizabeth (Sudáfrica), Sao Paulo (Brasil), Dhaka (Bangladés) y Manila (Filipinas), Seúl