From Concept to Contruction: Some Strategies for Housing In South Africa.
Commendation for written concept.
(in association with Maciek Miszewski)
PREAMBLE
“The process of building a country and providing for the basic need such as housing calls for more than simple duplication of unrelated units. The success depends on the creation of living environments that enhance dignity in humanity and encourage the celebration of life.
The issue of housing then, is really, about creating ‘community’. Our attempts must therefore aim at a holistic approach that facilitates the opportunity to live and develop. It is not about the numbers of units but about life and self planning. The result should sustain life at present and grow as a cultural and valuable gift to the next generation.” ref: Maciek Miszewski for competition preamble.
CONCEPT
All people have a right to decent housing. People are not ‘given’ houses irrespective of their individual needs. They are helped through infrastructure (layout, services and part structure) to participate as need and finance allows.
It is the intention to create a sense of ownership through a form of assisted “self-help” housing that is built through sufficient capacity building and support in conjunction with rapid security of tenure.
The spatial system has two parts:
- it involves the principle of pedestrian and vehicular separation in combination with public green spaces and
- the building of simple row house typologies that creates a sense of scale and enhances public life that is not dominated by a car. The architectural design strategy can be applied to any site following a study of particularities pertaining to contextual influences.
