M. Arch. Final Study_Geoffrey Allen Kornegay
DR. PETER LANG_CHAIR DR. CECILIA GIUSTI_MEMBER DR. JESSE SAGINOR_MEMBER
Over the course of half a century of “slum fixing,” and “urban revitalization,” the world has seen a broad spectrum of answers to the question, “what should we do for the urban poor?” From the short sighted “tabula rasa” to concrete mega-blocks of the hyper-modernists, each theory, though well intentioned, had flaws. More recent approaches encourage less intervention and more basic support. By understanding not only the physical needs of informal settlements, but also the economic and social needs, a more complete approach can be taken to encourage positive growth in depressed areas.
This project aims to create a prototype “Architectural Infrastructure,” to service the unique needs of informal neighborhoods. It will serve as a “community center” which addresses the needs of the physical community, the economic community, and the social community. The intention is not to create a “stock” building to be used in all locations, but rather to develop a framework that allows for variability and therefore implementation in areas with differing needs.
LAGO TEXCOCO AIRPORT
IZTA
NEZA CHALCO
The Neza-Chalco-Izta area of Mexico City will be used as a test site for this project and the needs of this community will be used to develop the test program. The neighborhood is segmented into large blocks roughly 1.5km square. There are central openings in each block which may have originally been for community uses, but are now largely privately owned. A segment of one of these areas will be designated as the site for this project.
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To encourage spatial efficiency and extended occupancy, facilities will be designed to allow complementary uses to utilize a single space at differing times. This variable use of space should be encouraged in both indoor facilities and outdoor open spaces to create a sense of constant occupancy. This facility would be one of many spread out across a large neighborhood. The goal is not to provide a single, massive solution for millions of people, but rather a network of related (though not identical) facilities, within walking distance of each other, to service the needs of a local community. As these needs vary throughout the settlement, so should the manifestation of the “infrastructure,” provided. Due to the nature of the community and the people who live there, the service area of this type of project is limited to, “acceptable walking distance,” as understood by the users of the facility. This radial area and number of “targeted users,” will become the guidelines for the development of a specific program. It will be used to develop the schedule of facilities to be included in the project and the amount of built area dedicated to each use.
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Physical Infrastructure: _Water quality, delivery, and storage _Garbage collection and disposal systems _Power generation, local use and distribution _Mitigating flood risk _Air quality problems relating to seasonal water level change in the Texcoco Lake _Mitigating soils and landslide risk during heavy summer rains _Transportation, access, and connectivity to other areas of the city
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Economic Infrastructure: _Public market _Small scale financial institutions _Education facilities for teaching job skills and developing small business owners _Community garden or other public project space Social Infrastructure: _Public space both indoor and outdoor _Sports and recreational facilities _Performance and presentation space _Cultural space for art or other exhibition _Health clinic and related education facilities _Public Library
1. The program should consider physical, economic, and social infrastructure and provide a holistic solution encompassing all three, not a series of individual solutions.
4. The project should have a positive impact on the local environment by addressing site-specific environmental problems and encourage local sustainability through education and services to the community
2. The facility should be adaptable for variable use 5. The project should provide opportunities for local in both short term (day-to-day) and long term “sweat equity” investment by the community to create (year-to-year) to account for the changing needs a “sense of ownership,” by the end users. of the community. 6. The culture of Mexico and informal settlements is 3. The project should provide high quality public very family oriented; therefore the program should space to allow for social interaction amongst the encourage use by all age groups separately and together. members of the community. 7. Displacement of existing housing stock should be kept to an absolute minimum. Any displacement should be accounted and compensated for.
CASE STUDY ARCHITECT LOCATION CLIENT
Grotão - Fábrica de Música Urban Think Tank Sao Paulo, Brazil SEHAB, City of Sao Paulo This multi-function public building is under construction in the Paraisópolis informal settlement of São Paulo, Brazil. Its program includes classroom and performance space for a pre-existing music school program, small sports facilities, public space, urban agriculture, commercial space, a transportation link, and a small amount of replacement housing. This is clearly a vast undertaking, but by designing each space for multiple purposes, the program can be condensed and the building can be occupied more efficiently. The site was formerly occupied by rudimentary housing equally dense as that surrounding the facility. A small section of the housing was destroyed by a mudslide – a common occurrence in this area of high erosion and steep terrain – creating a unique opportunity for investment. The building and site improvements create a new section profile for the site and serve to reinforce the hillside and prevent further erosion while creating much needed open space. The project won the Holcim Gold Award for Sustainable Construction for its design approach and integration of sustainable features at every scale. In its conclusions, the award committee summarizes by stating, “The project utilizes site orientation to provide a combination of both passive and active systems for maximum efficiency and low cost. The buildings and landscape work as one system that can effectively handle the varying conditions of the wet/dry season cycle. Prevailing winds in combination with an in-floor cooling system provide efficient tempering; the waste heat is stored in the terraces (as heat sink) during the day and emitted through hybrid-PV panels at night. Excess heat is vented through a solar and wind supported chimney. Water is reused on site; what was once a danger is now a resource. Wetlands filter the water through the site, which can be used for irrigation (in urban agriculture) and gray-water applications or further filtered through rapid sand filtration. An on-site water tank distributes excess water to the sewage system during the wet season and stores it for later use during the dry season.”
CASE STUDY ARCHITECT LOCATION CLIENT
Living Rooms at the Border Estudio Teddy Cruz San Ysidro, California, USA Casa Familiar This experimental community model is not just a proposal for a building, but rather a small scale reinvention of prototypical planning policy in United States. Along with non-profit developer Casa Familiar, Teddy Cruz designed a housing project that embraces the informal patterns and impromptu mixed-use development of the low income areas of Southern California. Paired with this project is the designation of what he calls, “AHOZ: Affordable Housing Overlay Zones” which create micro planning policy areas that allow for the inclusion of program that would traditionally be considered a “non-conforming use.” This allows for densification, which leads to affordability, and stimulates micro-economic activity in public spaces. The program includes housing, public space, workshops, a market, a community center, community gardens, and group kitchens, but more importantly, it encourages the social interaction between each of these spaces. In an interview with California Architect, Cruz says of the project, “In a place where current regulation allows only one use, we propose five differentuses that support one another, suggesting a model of social sustainability for the neighborhood, one that conveys density not as bulk but as social choreography and neighborhood collaboration.” Equally as important in Cruz’s design is the ability to utilize a single space for multiple functions. Much of the ground level is left open as multi-function space to be used by the community for both planned and spontaneous events. This opportunity is a vital part of the culture of the neighborhood.
CASE STUDY ARCHITECT LOCATION CLIENT
Parque Ecologico Lago de Texcoco Iñake Echeverria Mexico City, Mexico Department of Ecology Though this project is programmatically different, and on a larger scale than my proposed project, it addresses many of the same issues by virtue of its location and public nature. It represents a proposal for massive investment in urban ecology and social place-making. Lake Texcoco is a largely abandoned zone, prone to flooding and neglected for decades, surrounded by some of the most economically depressed areas of Mexico City. The UN’s Mexico City case study in Understanding Slums focuses on this area and points to its water cycle problems and topography as key issues, stating. “[The] paradox of too much and too little water has characterized Mexico City’s growth throughout its history and has been a major factor in the urban segregation and the location of slums…. The steep slopes surrounding the extinct lakes are undesirable for most conventional building uses, and have provided a cheap alternative for unauthorized settlement.” The project aims to reestablish the hydrological cycle of the area to prevent flooding and to engage the surrounding communities through the provision of sports fields, trails, museums, and other community facilities. It is intended to serve as a “social catalyst” for the nearby informal settlements and encourage the reactivation of social, cultural, and educational networks in an underdeveloped part of the city.