The Shanty Awe by Iara Silva-Silva

THE SHANTY AWE THE SHANTY AWE

U30099 Dissertation Submission Iara Silva 12071790

2014/15

Supervisor: Harriet Harriss A dissertation presented to the School of Architecture, Oxford Brookes University in part fulfilment of the regulations for BA (Hons) in Architecture

Statement of Originality This dissertation is an original piece of work which is made available for copying with permission of the Head of the School of Architecture Signed

Statement of Ethics Review Approval This dissertation involved human participants. A Form E1BE for each group of participants, showing ethics review approval, has been attached to this dissertation as an appendix.

THE SHANTY AWE Signature architecture of shanty-towns

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

ANGOLA AND PORTUGAL

CHICALA AND COVA DA MOURA

FAMILY, COMMUNIY AND THE STREET

CHALLEGING STEREOTYPES

SIGNATURE STYLES

CONCLUSION

REFERENCES

NGOLA E PUTU KIKALA E KOVA DA MOURA JINDANDU, RIEMBU E NZUNGA UKUMBU

PRESUMPTIONS*

KUUABA DGOHO UNIQUE STYLE *

RIZUBILU

*LITERAL TRANSLATIONS FROM KIMBUNDU

Preface: I am Portuguese with Angolan parents. Although I was raised in Portugal I never felt like I fitted in with the Portuguese culture, I could never explain my position and the relationship between the duality of my nationalities, much like the constitutions of cities, as once said by Hélder José: “Cities are not explainable, They are made through the conquest of time Building Infrastructures, houses and places”

I could not explain it. Curiously it was in a visit to a Portuguese shanty-town where I saw translated there the combination of my two cultures. I could easily identify myself within that space. I did not see what the myths that surround these places claim them to be. When I first entered the neighbourhood I did not feel out of place, I did not feel uncomfortable, I did not feel uneasy, instead I felt an atmosphere of sharing and friendship surrounding me. Everything seemed natural.

Introduction The aim of this thesis is to define the architectural taxonomy of shanty towns, by highlighting its positive architectural, spacial and social aspects, in attempt to provoke the re-evaluation of the shanty-townâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; s perception and qualities. Through the analysis and comparison of Chicala, a shanty-town in Luanda, Angola,and Cova da Moura, in Lisbon, Portugal, I am going to identify the general attributes of shantytowns, and define the architectural similarities between these two shanty-towns, as well as what distinguishes them - to do so, this thesis is going to have a heavy sociological component in order to successfully explain the precedent, evolution and multiplication of shanty-towns.

Introduction

The smallest component to the city is the singular individual (Khawaja, 2014), yet a city only comes to life when people inhabit it. The spatial occupation of the street is the key factor which can improve a person’ s appreciation of the public space, as it was written by Gehl and Alexander, but it is rarely seen throughout an entire day of an urban centres. Shanty-towns are the embodiment of locally resourced materials, a constant socialisation, and community development, yet, they are rarely recognised for their positive characteristics. In the book Small Change Nabeel Hamdi defines development as when“you are secure enough in yourself, individually or collectively, to become interdependent; when I can emerge as We, and also when we is inclusive of them”(2004) she exemplified this theory with cells, each “ has a purpose, each cell works individually, it is created and it dies by itself, but in order for it to make any event happen one cell is not enough, a group of cells must gather and work together for change to happen” .

Introduction

Development is what has always driven the evolution of architectural styles, planning of cities which alter the composition of daily life. Such evolution occurs due to the improvement of the previous styles, however in the modern globalised world identity which directly influences our social patterns, tends to get lost in the mainstream industry of... Everything. In cities which are no longer designed for people, shanty-towns create a contrast to the urbanised centre, in succeeding to maintain originality. It where communities flourish in the middle of constantly changing times, where cultural identity is found, and social interaction shapes lives and architectural surroundings.

Introduction

It is estimated that 1/3 of the world’ s population lives in shanty-towns (UN Habitat, 2014), these self-built cities are known by a variety of names according to their geographical location, from Slums, to Hoods, to Ghettos, to Favelas, and much more. Shanty-towns are spread around the world and have a great impact on the urban life of the city, as well as the conservation, generation, and propagation of culture. Yet, they are perceived as nothing but ‘ buildings’ , ignored portions of land that have nothing to offer, as Pevsner said in 1963“A bicycle shed is a building; Lincoln Cathedral is a piece of architecture. Nearly everything that encloses space sufficient for a human being to move in is a building, architecture applies only to buildings designed with aesthetic appeal” . This type of reasoning, still present in today’ s architectural world, disregards their distinct inherited beauty and their palette of aesthetic design characteristics.

Introduction

The study of the case-studies will begin by the contextualisation of the historical, temporal and geographical aspects that lead to the creation and relation of shanty towns. In the first chapter, I will mainly analyse the relationship between Angola and Portugal, as this dissertation derives from an Angolan perspective, but it will also provide clarity to the importance of Cape Verde and its Portuguese association, providing context for the creation, expansion and evolution of the case-studies, as well as establishing the relationship, similarities and differences between both. Once the historical context is established, in Family, Community and the Street, I examine how the culture, mutual aid, and the social occupation of the streets, three of the aspects that tend to be recreated throughout shanty-towns worldwide, are specifically found in Chicala and Couva da Moura, in order to illustrate the functionally of the spaces.

Introduction

I will then, in Stereotypes identity and analyse the impact that the myth and stereotypes surrounding shanty-towns have in their development, and constitution, as well as the actions taken by governmental agencies towards them, exemplifying through the examples of other shanty-towns. Finally I will illustrate how the cultural and social assets of shanty-towns, have shaped it architecturally, and how its construction constantly encourages, the engagement and continuation of the existence of a community, in the final chapter. Through the analysis and elaboration of questionnaires, informal talks and the interpretation of several books, this thesis, without attempting to romancing shanty-towns, is going to showcase its positive aspects and their architectural character.

ANGOLA AND PORTUGAL The Portuguese are well known as leaders of marine exploration, which led to the discovery and colonisation of the Angolan Kingdom in the late 15th century, as well as other African countries such as Cape Verde, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau and São Tomé e Príncipe. The exploration of the Congo River began in 1485, and by 1490 the Portuguese had established a trade post in the Soyo city, then a part of the Congo Kingdom, now belonging to the Angolan province of Zaire. Soyo served as an entry point of the Portuguese stay in Africa, as it allowed them to establish good relations with Congo’ s King, Afonso I, who consented to their stay whilst being unaware that the Portuguese were capturing slaves along the coast.

NGOLA E PUTU

Fig,1.

ANGOLA AND PORTUGAL

In 1571 by orders of the Portuguese King, D. Sebastião, the explorations south of the Congo River began and four years later with a hundred settler families, four hundred soldiers and 20 horses, in 1575, Luanda was founded (Headrick, 2012, p.142). It was in 1579 that war stroke, as the newly arrived Portuguese population was not welcomed by the already settled Portuguese slave traders, nor by the Ngola, the ruler of the Ngongo Kingdom, from which derived the name Angola. In 1592, after several failed attempts, the Portuguese, then under Spanish Rule, marched towards Angola’s interiors, and having found nothing considered to be of value, retreated back to the coastal region and remained there until the 19th century. The following 3 centuries after the discovery of Angola, “two coastal settlements, three small forts, a tenuous hold on a hundred miles of river, and little else” (Headrick, 2012, pp. 142-3) showed the limits of the Portuguese colonisation. The absence of land development by the 18th century, affirmed the Portuguese´s lack of interest in the progress of its colonies, as they were mainly used for the capture of slaves for the profitable Atlantic slave trade.

NGOLA E PUTU

Fig,2. Luanda of Sao Paulo in Angola, Africa - XVIII

ANGOLA AND PORTUGAL

This characterised the whole experience of the Portuguese colonialism of Africa, particularly Angola. Seeing that Portugal itself, was a poor country, it heavily relied on its colonies to relieve its debts, but following the independence of Brazil in 1822 and the abolition of the traffic of slaves, commanded in 1836 but only conducted years later, the Portuguese economy suffered. Angola’ s development in this time was non-existent and Cape Verde’s association with Portugal was at a full swig. “There were Portuguese, there were slaves and there were mestiços” (Stewart, Irwin, and Wilson, 2009, p.23). The Portuguese identified the mestiço Cape Verdean population as being similar to its own, which allowed some of its population to receive a sort of Portuguese citizenship, as well as access to education

NGOLA E PUTU

Deriving out of the large assimilated population, several poets and journalists spurred from those concessions, some of which created Claridade, a newspaper with the intention of expressing the essence of Cape Verdeans, as well as stimulating the support for the enlighten colonialism, the Portuguese citizenship and the newly founded Portuguese Republic of 1910. Cape Verde became the intellectual centre of Portuguese African Colonialism, and many of its mestiĂ§o population were sent to Portugalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s other colonies to administrate them.

ANGOLA AND PORTUGAL

In the 1920s Angola was officially considered to be a Portuguese colony, under the requirement set by the Berlin Conference of 1884, in which “effective occupation” was mandatory for the official recognition of a colony. Perhaps it was due to that fact that only in the late 19th century Angola’s interiors began to be explored, the development of the coastal regions started and infrastructures were built. In 1926 the poorly functioning Portuguese Republic which held a mediocre record of achievements and was incapable of maintaining a constant president, was replaced by a military dictatorship. In 1932 António de Oliveira Salazar whilst promising a reform in the society and an improvement in economy, was elected Prime Minister. He soon concentrated all the power in his hands and eradicated all social liberties, becoming a virtual dictator. Estado Novo (New State), was installed, and the ruthlessness exhibited at home was extended to its African colonies, which according to Salazar gave Portugal an image of greatness among other European nations. Their wealth was use to rebuild Portugal’s economy.

NGOLA E PUTU

Fig,3.

ANGOLA AND PORTUGAL

“Fertile soils, rich forests, good climates, rivers to generate hydroelectric power, and minerals such as diamonds, gold, iron, mica, copper, phosphates, manganese, and petroleum” (Farola, 2002, p.272), sugar, palm products, coffee, corn and cotton started being traded and the intense diamond mining began. In 1917 Angola had already been established as a diamond supplier, and by 1955 petroleum exploration had begun. Whilst the exploration of Angolan soils was in motion, in the 1940’s the Cape Verdean population suffered from mass deaths due to droughts and famine, In 1954 Cape Verdeans alongside Guineans activists formed the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC). Fig,4-5. Fortress of S.Miguel

NGOLA E PUTU

Luanda

is the oldest urban agglomerate of West Africa, south of the equator. The city is located in between the bay and the port, and during the 3 centuries in which Angola remained a slave empire, Angola’s capital, served as the governmental station from where the metropolis, Portugal, controlled its mainland colonial territory. It had an administration level of a municipal organisation and scarce and fluctuate population, which in 1621 rose to 400 people. Along with the Portuguese economy, the abolition of slavery also shook the colony’ s finances, leading to the decay of the life of the city and due to its abandonment and ruin, it obtained the reputation of the poorest city in the world (Amaral, 1983 p. 295), and the fact that in 1881, 718 of the 1453 Europeans which lived there were convicts did not help improve its image. “The Deposit of Convicts of Angola. They had to sleep in the S.Miguel fortress everyday, but during the daytime they would freely walk around the city”(Graça, 2014).

ANGOLA AND PORTUGAL

In attempts to find lucrative investments elsewhere, the Portuguese began to explore and trade Angolaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s natural resources, leading to the improvement of its colonisation policies which included the remodelling of the territorial establishment, and the introduction of the fixated residents in Luanda. Although some problems remained, as Amaral (1983, p.295) explained Luanda was a city adapted to its location, the slopes that descended from the upland to the beach, were adorned with traditional houses of adobe and wattle-and-daub of the native Angolans, the town-houses of the Portuguese settlers and the small baroque-style churches. During the final years of World War II, Luanda reached a beneficial economic and social turmoil which was accompanied by an explosive development, resulting in a fast increase of population which went from 50588 in 1930, to 475 328 in 1970. 5.800.000

3.280.000

61.895

1940

164.340

224.510

1950

1960

475.328

1970

923.842

1983

1.511.000

1990

2.002.400

1995

2000

2007

Fig,6. Luandaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Population Growth

NGOLA E PUTU

This demographic outbreak, sped up Luanda’ s growth, aesthetically, geographically and influenced the manner it developed, giving it an “unusual and vulgar physical appearance, and the common deficiencies of other cities”(Amaral 1983, p.295), such as the high buildings, the disappearance of green spaces, agglomeration of people and the constant rise of prices, which contributed to the re-establishment of an elite, previously the slave owners, which were equipped with buying power. The physical separation in the cityscape, once experienced between the Portuguese settlers and the natives, was now encountered by the elite and the city dwellers who could not afford the high prices of the urban centre, “at that time, in 1935 there were neighbourhoods, neighbourhoods of white people and assimilated black people”(Graça, 2014), the city was divided between rich and poor, and the musseques themselves, did not yet exist within the urban context.

ANGOLA AND PORTUGAL

Attracted by the expansion of urban activities which led to economic development, rural Angolans migrated to the city, being previously dependent on agriculture they arrived in the urban centre with the offer of cheap manual labour, but due to the discrepancy between the cost of living and income, it was impossible for the newly arrived rural migrant to establish himself in the urban centre. It forced him to settle around the periphery of the poor white neighbourhoods, and as more migrants arrived, the bigger, and more evident the musseques became, â&#x20AC;&#x153;who flies over the 400th century city or observe its plan, will be impressed by the contrast between the urbanised areas, of well-drawn streets and ordered houses where the sings of modernity multiply, the city, and the vast circle that surrounds it, the notable absence of any sort of urban organization â&#x20AC;&#x201C; marked by the chaotic clusters of huts from the mussequesâ&#x20AC;? (Amaral, p.296).

NGOLA E PUTU

The creation of the musseques divided the city into 3 parts: the centre, the bairros and the musseques. The centre was reserved for the houses of the rich white man; as the bairro, framed along the limits of the urban centre, was destined for the poor white man and the assimilated black person; and being expelled from the other locations, the indigenous Angolan was pushed to the periphery of the bairros, as described by Pepetela (1990) and mentioned in Bettencourt (2011, p.52), the musseques were a â&#x20AC;&#x153;spatial symbol of a social differentiation based on race, although never explicitly admitted and perhaps never absolutely conducted". The segregation between the urbanised city, an the makeshift neighbourhoods became a distinct characteristic of the city of Luanda, and as the urban centre expanded in order to lodge the newly arrived Portuguese immigrants, it gradually destroyed some of the musseques in its periphery, the dislodged people rebuilt their houses on the edges of the newly delimited city. Although many shanty-towns were pushed back, some remained intact, and as the city broadened, they became included in the area of the urban centre.

ANGOLA AND PORTUGAL

From the Kimbundu language, Mu-seke, later assimilated and became ‘musseque’, it directly translates into ‘red earth’, which characterised the properties in which the musseques were located, for that reason it became the designation of the neighbourhoods of the marginalised indigenous, and as the neighbourhoods evolved, and its population diversified, the name remained. It was normally made up of cubatas (hovels) and located at the top of the urbanised city, each musseque was later dubbed with the name of the owners of the properties in which they were located. Succeeding the independence of the Belgian Congo in 1960 as part of the UN decolonisation resolution which was disregarded by Portugal, the MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola), initiated the long, brutal liberation war, in February of 1961, in Luanda. New Angolan political parties emerged, in March, and revolt among the coffee planters broke out in northern Angola, spreading to the rest of the northern Angola.

NGOLA E PUTU

Fig, 7.Musseque em Kalandula

ANGOLA AND PORTUGAL

As a response, the Portuguese killed over 20,000 people and used bombs to destroy several villages. At the end of the year, they were successfully driven out of northern region, leading to a bigger and bloodier war, with the support of foreign forces. Military helicopters from France, bombs and bombers from West Germany and the United States which also provided naval vessels; Portugal had a great variety of supporters such as Apartheid South Africa and racist Rhodesia which cooperated in the exchange of Angolaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; s natural resources, whilst the MPLA was supported and financed by the Soviet Union as a response to the American intervention. As the war prolonged, many settlers returned home, and several natives emigrated to Portugal in hopes of a better life, at the same time, the PAIGC also engaged in an armed rebellion against Portugal, and the first inhabitants of Cova da Moura, mainly of a Cape Verdean origin, started to appear in the periphery of Amadora withing the metropolitan area of

Lisbon.

NGOLA E PUTU

The distinction observed in the Angolan city of Luanda was now recreated, as the newly arrived immigrants established themselves around the metropolitan city of Lisbon as they could not afford the high costs of the life in the urban centre, nor could they afford to live far from it. In 1975 a military coup was staged, and parliamentary democracy was implemented. Censorship was abolished, political prisoners freed and the Portuguese colonies were granted their independence. 95% of the Portuguese population in Angola, approximately 340,000 people (Human Rights Watch, 2007, p.13), fled the country leaving behind their properties, which were occupied by Angolan families. Fig, 8.

ANGOLA AND PORTUGAL

In the years following independence, Cova da Mouraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; s population was reinforced with the arrival of returning Portuguese emigrants, and a flux of immigrants from Angola and Mozambique, resulting in the thickening of the density of its population, as well as its illegal occupation and constructions. Angola emerged in a bloody civil war between the parties which once fought for independence and were now fighting for power, this conflict lasted until 2002, with a slight interruption in 1992, when the first election occurred and an effort to quickly adapt the country to the developed world began. During the armed conflict a great part of the country was mined, many saw the capital as a safe haven resulting in a second wave of migration which proliferated the musseques, and as they swiftly grew in size and population the further away from the city they extended, to such magnitude that â&#x20AC;&#x153;from Luanda to Viana, it used to be a desert. There was a concentration

30 30

NGOLA E E NGOLA PUTU PUTU

of population population in in Viana, Viana, and and another another one one in in Luanda, Luanda, of and that that path path went went from from being being unoccupied unoccupied to to being being and occupied through through the the growth growth of of the the musseques, musseques, occupied since there there was was no no investment investment in in habitation, habitation, people people since anarchically built built their their houses, houses, filling filling in in the the gaps” gaps” anarchically (Silva, 2014). 2014). (Silva, The city city of of Luanda Luanda developed, developed, imploded imploded and and exploded. exploded. The The rhythm rhythm in in which which it it grew, grew, compromised compromised the the balance balance The of the the development development of of the the urban urban centre, centre, contributing contributing of even more more to to the the social social segregation segregation based based on on financial financial even possibilities. possibilities.

1980 - 19,42 Km2 1980 - 19,42 Km2

2000 - 270,05 Km2 2000 - 270,05 Km2

1989 - 100,80 Km2 1989 - 100,80 Km2

1998 - 253,27 Km2 1998 - 253,27 Km2 2010 - 350,00 Km2 2010 - 350,00 Km2

Fig, 9. 9. Luanda’s Luanda’s Expansion Expansion Fig,

ANGOLA AND PORTUGAL

The need for economic stability caused business opportunities to become desirable, leading to, among other things, the necessity to update the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; s economic image, generating the construction of new infrastructures which mirrored the requirements of globalisation, instead of the reconstruction and reparation of the poorly functioning existing ones. The duality of the city, always characteristic of Luanda, was reconfigured from a racial segregation to an economic one. The economic development turmoil made it financially advantageous to dislodge some of the musseques population, â&#x20AC;&#x153;they start looking in those economic interests in a way that led to the real estate speculationâ&#x20AC;? (Silva, 2014). Musseques located in profitable locations, such as Cambamba I, were partially or completely destroyed resulting in the relocation of its population to other musseques. In Lisbon, the city delimitation maintained the same, instead there was an expansion of the number of areas considered to be economically essential. Its shantytowns were divided into degraded

NGOLA E PUTU

neighbourhoods and self-built ones, many of which where demolished in order to build luxury apartments, others which gained some recognition and remained intact. Their multiplication was prevented through the construction of peripheral residential areas, built to accommodate the flux of rural migrants and immigrants from former colonies, and eastern European countries. It is conclusive that although both capitals had different developments, in regards to shantytowns, both occurred in the same time frame but were contained differently. It was also established that it is the economic character of the urban centre which maintains the segregation between the city dwellers and the shanty-towns residents. In Luanda, due to the financial disparity, between the majority of the population (bellow poverty line), and the minority which has an extremely high income, it is nearly impossible for the dweller to move out of the neighbourhood, whereas in Lisbon where there is a middle class established, it is possible and easier for him to do so.

ANGOLA AND PORTUGAL

In contrast, as Luanda developed, it pushed back the musseques and attempted to eradicate the oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; s within the urban centre, whilst Lisbon expanded the economic character of the city, and subsequently began to quench these neighbourhoods, planning to replace them with luxury houses. The explicit delineation between the city and the shanty-towns was created by the expulsion of the poor city dweller from the urban centre. The city being the heart of urban life, the centre of economy activity and generator of income, meant that the dweller drew closer to the city as it provided him with the amount of money required to survive.

NGOLA E PUTU

CHICALA AND COVA DA MOURA Chicala, from the Kimbundu, Kikala, denominates the aggregation of the municipality south of Cabo Island, currently known as the Chicala Triad, and is between the neighbourhoods I, II and III. Initially, within the Cabo Island administrative sector, it was limited to todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; s Chicala I, it expanded to the creation of Chicala II in the 1980s and to the neighbourhood of Chicala III in the 1990s becoming incorporated in the Kinanga administrative sector (Mingas, 2012, p.27). The fact that it is so closely located to the city, limited its growth, and in 2007, the triad had an estimated population between 40-50,000, most of its residential household was predicted to house around 5 people and having a total area of 50-75m2.

KIKALA E KOVA DA MOURA Nowadays, Chicala Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; s population is mainly originated the from Axi-lwanda, a sub-group of the Mbundu people which were once located at the north of the river Kwanza, whilst Chicala II and III have a diverse population, with residents from both national and international origins. Its creation pre-dates independence, and it was initially the residence of fishermen who settled around the beach, in order to be able to easily get to work.

Fig, 9.

CHICALA AND COUVA DA MOURA

Alto da Cova da Moura, commonly referred to as Cova da Moura, or Kova da Moura in creole, is situated in the periphery of the municipality of Amadora, and it is divided into the administrative localities of Buraca and the Damaia which resulted in complications in regards to the responsibilities, and organization of the neighbourhood (Bettencourt, 2011, p.27). In 1990â&#x20AC;&#x2122; s the neighbourhood was made up of 3346 people, more than 50% of which with African origins. Until this day, the neighbourhood experiences a constant arrival of people belonging to the PALOP (Portuguese Speaking African-Countries), although the majority of its population derives from Cape Verde. The level of illiteracy of the neighbourhood is under 10%, although most of the population has at least the basic school abilities, and some even have university degrees.

Amadora Lisbon

Fig. 9. Metropolitan area of Lisbon

KIKALA E KOVA DA MOURA

In response to the lack of infrastructures, such as water, electricity, and sanitary conditions of the neighbourhood, in 1978 its residents organised the Cultural Association Youth Mill and elected representatives to speak at city councils in regards to their necessities, which besides the improvement of the dwelling’s conditions, it also aimed at the legalisation of the neighbourhood, as well as of its immigrant residents (Moinho da Juventude, 2015). The neighbouhood was built around the Mill, from which its residents union iinherited the name. It is located by the train station, and in a crucial position which allows its residents to overlook the city of the Lisbon. Its ‘’complex configuration with several arteries which intersect, encouraging, with time, strategical areas which gave place to meeting places” (Moinho da Juventude, 2015), are well known nationally and internationally, resulting the establishments of tours around the neighbourhood.

In this thesis Chicala will often be referred as the musseque, and Cova da Moura as the bairro, as that is how they are commonly referred in Angola and Portugal, respectively.

FAMILY, COMMUNITY AND THE STREET ‘’ The people in the neighbourhood were only good to serve those in the city, to clean their houses, to build their houses, and so on. Anything apart from that was like your uncle was telling you about the convicts, during the day they would freely walk around the city, but at night they would retreat to the Fortress of S. Miguel to be incarcerated. The neighbourhood worked a little like that”(Silva, 2014). The expulsion from the city, physically, economically1, culturally2 and socially3, stimulated the creation of spaces in which the marginalised people were accepted. The proximity with one another, combined with similar life experiences and cultural background, encouraged constant interaction.

JINDANDU, RIEMBU E NZUNGA 1 ECONOMY The lack of means to afford a living standard suitable for developed countries, led the inhabitants to help each other create an environment in which them and their families could survive, using agriculture and informal commerce as a way to complement the low salaries received. As illustrated by Lança (2010, cited in Bettencourt, 2011, p.55), “in the peripheral neighbourhoods of Luanda, a communitarian spirit is still experienced and the social networks attenuate the deficiencies. The parochial principals of the neighbourhood go through gossip, the tending of other’ s children, the protection of the streets and fixing of what nobody does for them, I am told by the cables on show patched by many hands, and by the drawn electricity used in a balanced consumption between all” .

FAMILY, COMMUNITY AND THE STREET

In Luanda The first people to create the musseques had a rural background, and were used to growing their own food, being newly arrived to the fast-expanding, unaffordable city, they built their houses in order to accommodate that alternative form of subsistence, agriculture. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In the neighbourhood he had his chickens, his garden, enough space to have everything that will help him save in terms of subsistence...â&#x20AC;?(Silva, 2014), as the times evolved, and some of the houses in the musseques reduced in size, the creation of animals ceased in some households, however the vegetable gardens were always present, even if in smaller spaces or quantities. In Lisbon The agriculture component of the life in the musseque, evolved and migrated with those who moved to the bairro, in Portugal during the 70s, but like all the other mannerisms and behaviours, they were adapted to its new limitations.

JINDANDU, RIEMBU E NZUNGA

Fig.10-11

FAMILY, COMMUNITY AND THE STREET

The dimensions of Cova da Moura in correlation to the high population density of that community, prevented the inhabitants building houses which had enough space to include the creation of animals, or the establishment of big enough agriculture gardens. Besides the limited space, the Portuguese weather, conditioned the array of cultivable vegetables. Those limitations did not prevent an adapted version of that trait to occur, on the contrary, although the existence of farm animals ceased, the growth of vegetables continued by the replacement of backyard gardens for small pots and vases on window stools. The necessity of a large production of vegetables led some residents to take over green spaces, normally near highways and big commercial surfaces and cultivate there. Known in England as â&#x20AC;&#x2122;guerilla gardeningâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, such practices which were once illegal, are now encouraged by the government itself in both countries.

JINDANDU, RIEMBU E NZUNGA

In Luanda, it became common for families to rent a field from the Ministry of Agriculture (Silva, B. 1996, p.26), and in Lisbon, the occupation of these lands with an agricultural purpose, is encouraged as a means of controlling the woodlands and as a complement to the economic crisis, the governmental branch responsible for the lands, usually provides access to the space, as well as instructive courses on agriculture techniques. What cannot be grown, can be bought with prices cheaper than those in the city, and with a variety which fits the neighbourhood’ s eating habits. (Graça, 2014). However the presence of established shops did not prevent the existence of informal commerce, as explained by Silva (2014),” the neighbourhood allowed a small subsistence farming, which completed the salaries that they were able to obtain from the sale of products, like fish ... They were named Kitandeiras and normally sold fish, vegetables, fruit, and so on. The men usually worked, either cleaning as well, serving the houses, in construction sites or factories.”.

FAMILY, COMMUNITY AND THE STREET

The kitandeira // Zungeira These women, normally older, can be usually seen all over Luanda, in the middle of traffic or roaming the streets, balancing on their heads, plastic basins filled with what they are selling. In the musseque they are usually found in shaded areas and in groups, chatting away and awaiting costumers. In the bairro they are in set locations, and the plastic basins are replaced by a makeshift market stall. However, it is common to see those who sell bakery products such as bread and savoury foods, walking up and down the neighbourhood, from house to house, or to shops in which an informal contract has been arranged. Although some women, sell those sort of products from their own home, either in the musseque or in the bairro.

JINDANDU, RIEMBU E NZUNGA

Fig.12

FAMILY, COMMUNITY AND THE STREET

Physically, the Kitandeira and the Zungeira are quite similar, except that the Kitandeira usually balance a straw board, a metal sheet or a metal basin on the top of her head, whilst the Zungeira carried plastic basins. The Kitandeira appeared in the first stage of the establishment of the musseques, they solely sold whatever products her family,normally the husband, produced. In Chicala due to the fact that it was mainly a fisherman community, the Kitandeira usually sold the freshly caught fish, to the women in the urbanised city. The Zungeira began to appear with the second phase, around independence time, in contrast with the Kitandeira, she purchased her goods near factories at low prices, and resold them at a higher price. The dweller of the shanty-town, constantly creates alternative habits in order to fulfil their necessity, whether it is to complement their insufficient salaries or to establish themselves in a advantageous location towards the city, which due to its growing character, in the case of the musseque, is not the indicator that every part is easily accessed. As a response to the lack of public transportation, the residents of

JINDANDU, RIEMBU E NZUNGA

the musseque established an informal bus system, the candongueiros. Blue and white vans with a capability to seat 11, but usually overcrowded, provide transport to those who do not possess cars, each van has an established route which connects the peripheral musseques to the different point within the centre of the city, and their illegal character, like most things that were once marginalised, is slowly obtaining a legal and constant aspect. In the case of the bairro in portugal, this problem was not presented as the neighbourhood itself, is framed within a developed city where public transportation is not absent. Fig.13

FAMILY, COMMUNITY AND THE STREET

CULTURE

These neighbourhoods are not only a cluster of makeshift houses and economies, but they also act as a bubble of a preserved knowledge and lifestyle, which has been passed down from generation to generation. As mentioned before, mannerisms tends to adapt, but the basis in which they were created remains, the same happens with taught behaviour. It is in this aspect that the musseque and the bairro differ the most. Whilst one is the constant creator, in a way, of popular culture, the other is the maintenance of that culture, within a foreign one. The musseque, was the motivator of the folklore culture, found in a way intact in rural Angola, as the urban centre that was Luanda, was replete with colonisers and the denominated “assimilated”indigenous people, normally mixed race, that had been given an education and had assimilated the Portuguese culture. “The people of that time who came from the interior would give their girls and boys to the houses of the white and assimilated people, so that their children could receive an

JINDANDU, RIEMBU E NZUNGA

education and acquire different habits from those of the interor”(Graça, 2014). Thus the city was a constant generator of assimilated culture with an inclination towards the Angolan tradition, the residents of the mussseques “developed a cultural self-sufficiency, style, and independence that resonated with cultures beyond theirs and yet was particular to Angola” (Moorman, 2008, p.18). From that mixture originated dishes like moamba, nowadays one of the most popular national dishes, and urban styles of music and dance like kuduro, kizomba, and semba. “Independence itself, opened the doors of the musseques, the access that they had to the city, allowing the musseques to bring with them that culture” (Silva, 2014), resulting in the mixture of cultures, traditions and habits which compose the contemporary Angolan culture, known to all.

FAMILY, COMMUNITY AND THE STREET

In the bairro the assimilated tradition was transplanted to Cova da Moura with its residents. However, the further westernisation of that culture did not occur, as “everything that is excluded, has the tendency to crystallise” (Silva, 2014), the preservation of habits created the cluster of African culture that is so characteristic to the bairro. Nonetheless, both cultures met and functioned within the same space, but there is not “a big socialisation between the two communities, they get along but do not mix, or if they do mix is little.” (Silva, 2014). The relationship between both cultures is most obvious in terms of language. Deriving from the assimilation of the Cape Verdean population in colonial times, and the freedom and liberties that it was granted, such as the already mentioned Claridade newspaper which allowed a conservation and diffusion of their own culture, in terms of fashion, craftsmanship and their own language. “In the house of the Cape Verdean, the Cape Verdean continues to speak his creole*, while his children, because

JINDANDU, RIEMBU E NZUNGA

they go to school, learn Portuguese and grow up in a bilingual environmentâ&#x20AC;? (Silva, 2014). However in the last few years, creole became a popular language within the younger generations of most peripheral neighbourhoods, not only shanty-towns. In the musseque, the Angolan national language - kimbundu - as the urban centres developed, remained only within the villages in the interior of Angola.

*perfect analogy of the assimilation of Cape Verde. It is the mixture of the native Cape Verdean language with the Portuguese language.

Fig,14

FAMILY, COMMUNITY AND THE STREET

SOCIALLY

“[What do you think they represent?] By the lack of everything, a place for growth of anti-social people” (Anonymous, 2014). ‘’West calls these ‘communities of resistance’ (...) where one is able to redeem and reclaim the past, legacies of pain, suffering and triumph in ways that transform present reality” (Hambdi, 2004). The resistance aspect of shanty-towns heavily relies on its characteristic of self-help between community members, which are portrayed daily in the life of the dweller, either through the care of other’s children, or through the establishment of places in which one is able to relax. “The area was very densely populated as if there is no room to breathe fresh air. However, there was an intangible feeling of friendliness and family-like relationships between the inhabitants” (Anonymous, 2014).

JINDANDU, RIEMBU E NZUNGA

The whole construction of the neighbourhood itself, is the embodiment of that aspect. To the unfamiliar visitor the bairro and the musseque appear to be urban planning disasters, with no beginning nor an end, but it is in its disorganisation where the characteristics of the shanty-town can flourish and survive. “If you enter a yard, usually separated from the alleys by old corrugated iron sheets, you might find a beautiful oasis with plants and green trees, but you might just as likely find a yard containing heaps of rubbish” (Silva, 1996), it is the use of the same materials and construction methods that confuses the visitor. As it has been previously mentioned, the whole neighbourhood was designed to fit its user’s necessities, and besides the requirement of access to the city and cultivation of aliments, the resident of the shanty-town also requires protection, and it is through the disorganisation of the neighbourhood itself that it is accomplished, “one of those [defense] mechanisms was that, a point of passage but it had a gate. Therefore someone who was not from the neighbourhood, never knew if he was entering someone’s private property or if was a regular public road.” (Silva, 2014).

It is conclusive that the neighbourhood itself is selfsupporting in every aspect, and a nucleus of social, cultural and economic inclusion to those who there, but it is also obviously noticeable that such characteristics are only able to occur due to the marginalisation of the space and of those who reside there. The propagated preconceived idea of an abnormal, violent, and unhygienic separate world can be sourced to colonial times in which the nativesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; were as equally perceived. As times, cities and social patterns evolved so did the impact of those stereotypes.

CHALLEGING STEREOTYPES The musseque, as well as the bairro are, as it has been established before, illegal residential areas in the peripheries of the urban centre, and both terms obtain a pejorative definition when used to refer its residents. “They represent, specially nowadays, a construction of an always negative identity of the city. An example not to follow. An automated thought, it is as unconscious, of what might live there: violence, conflicts, drugs, etc. When you hear the words ‘social neighbourhoods’ whoever is an outsider always associates it to a negative and stereotyped image of a model of society” (Anonymous, 2014). In the metropolitan city of Lisbon, its peripheral neighbourhoods are not mainly composed of shantytowns, unlike Luanda, but of legal residential areas built with the purpose to lodge the newly arrived migrants or immigrants in the post-colonial, postindustrial era. Most, like shanty-towns, grew and came to acquire a similar reputation of crime, drugs, poverty and violence. Curiously, although they shared similar stereotypes as shanty-towns, they perceive them as being worse than them.

UKUMBU Perception is the way in which something is regarded, interpreted or understood; the ability to see, hear or become aware of something through the senses, an idea, and as any idea it is powerful, dangerous and influential. “We look upon these slums as external observers from the affluent, industrial West, and of the vast literature is by authors sharing the same viewpoint. Our own reactions have come to dominate pour analysis of the situation” (Lloyd, 1979, p.31). “It is so much easier to assume that such poverty would lead to social disorganization, with its attendant violence, apathy and broken families” (Lloyds,1979, p.33), the lack or absence of education being the source of most of those problems, is not an incorrect argument but it is rarely contextualised. In Luanda, by 1962 the index of illiteracy on musseques was extremely high (52%), the existence of schools acutely reduced, and under the dictatorship of Salazar who believed that too much education

CHALLEGING STEREOTYPES

would lead to subversion (Monteiro, 1973, cited in Guimarães, 2010), the deprivation of education was used as a method of control, following independence, the country was submerged into a civil war, reducing its development, in all aspects as well as education. In Lisbon, the myths created around the neighbourhood lead to its exclusion, “generates a series of situations (...) then the quality professors start refusing to go to those neighbourhoods, because they get scared” (Silva, 2014), leading to an access of education that is not portrayed in the illiteracy indexes, because people are able to read but the quality of the education received is inferior than those in the city. “The neighbourhood itself is a label, a bad label for the person, as it prevents him to find a job” (Silva, 2014), and in addition to the lack of quality education, the chances of a shanty-town dweller guaranteeing a wellpaid job decreases rapidly.

62 UKUMBU

The preconceived idea applied to the space is embodied by its residents, who are perceived as marginals. In sociological terms, it denominates a person “who belongs to two cultures, or societies, being fully integrated into neither” (Lloyd, 1979, p.60), it literally and accurately describes the residents of these neighbourhoods. According to Sarah Escorel (2000 cited in Guimarães, 2010, p.3), this duality creates the vulnerability which leads to social marginalisation, ultimately reducing them to the condition of animal laborans, and by failing to “fully exercise the potential of ‘human condition’”, the dwellers are reduced to their biological preservation, in her opinion the absence of infrastructures “establishes the distinction between living and surviving”.

CHALLEGING STEREOTYPES

As part of any neighbourhood, its residents daily lives revolve around working, whether it is through informal markets or through established corporations. Living is surviving and surviving is only accomplished through living - the amount of money one spends on recreational times is not sufficient in order to label one as an animal and the other as a human. “It is hard to imagine its people as happy, achievement oriented and hopeful” (Lloyds, 1979, p.33), it influences objectivity, Sarah Escorel’s theories summarise the perspective of many others sociologists and how they describe, identify and study the shanty-town dweller, as an animal, influencing how these neighbourhoods are regarded by others and handled by authorities. “It is understanding the society itself, undressing it of all prejudice and really helping” (Anonymous, 2014). The governments responsible for the properties in which shanty-towns are located either attempt the requalification or the clearance of those neighbourhoods.

64 UKUMBU

Clearance has often been the selected choice,

based on the physical aspect of the neighbourhood, and due to the advantageous location of that shanty-town. It leads to the forced eviction of people which are either left behind, or relocated to a legal residential area. In Luanda, Human Rights Watch conducted a study in regards to force eviction and its illegal character between 2002 and 2006, during that period of time 18 mass evictions took place and resulted in the destruction of 3,000 houses and the displacement of 20,000 people, although, according to governmental numbers, 30,000 were displaced (Humans Rights Watch, 2007, p.8). The discrepancy between the Human Rights Watch numbers, who actively work with these neighbourhoods, and the governmental issued numbers, are the indicator of what has been stated above, the impact of the preconceived ideas. According to authorityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s each residence is a household for

CHALLEGING STEREOTYPES

10 people, in contrast with 5-7 people which the Human Rights Watch declared, the impact of this governmental assumption is aggravated when it is used as an argument to support the destruction of the neighbourhoods, a larger number of people per house would result in overcrowding of the economic possibilities of that residence, pushing the family bellow the poverty line, and supporting the government’s excuse to the occurence of those clearances. These evictions resulted in re-locations to big land plots equipped with houses, like the Zango neighbourhood, or to unnamed agricultural sites, as exemplified in They Pushed Down The Houses report, “a few days later, people claiming to own this new land told the evictees to leave because they were on private property. The evictees returned to the original eviction site by their own means and were later evicted again” (Human Rights Watch, 2007, p.56). Zango is one of the administrative divisions of Viana, a town 20kms from Luanda. It became one of the relocation sites subsequent clearings, it began with industrial houses and has now spread to five neighbourhoods: Zango I, II, III, IV, and V, and as

66 UKUMBU

times passes by it is slowly becoming another shantytown,“people do not posses the conditions to maintain the neighbourhood with an acceptable quality level, so those bairros quickly degrade and become worst than the musseques and the neighbourhoods of shacks” (Silva, 2014). “Some may resort that the shanty-town people have so little control over their destiny that it is not worthwhile inquiring into their views and attitudes, and indeed there is much justification in this, for economic policies are certainly not decided by them” (Lloyds, 1979, p.10), most times the inhabitants are not financially and economically prepared to withstand relocation, as it brings a set of new problems without the resolution of the old ones. Their pre-established practices which allowed them to maintain a certain level of life, such as animal husbandry or the plantation of vegetables, can no longer exist; the distance between its residence and the city, the main source of income, increases and becomes out-of-reach as recorded by the Human Rights Watch: “when he was first taken to Panguila, he would leave work just past

CHALLEGING STEREOTYPES

6pm and would only get home round 12pm, because candongueiros did not serve Panguila” (2007, p. 56); in addition, the distribution of the income becomes disproportionate as rent becomes a requirement. In Lisbon the clearance of Casal Ventoso, “the bairro [Cova da Moura] also started being associated with criminality and drug traffic, negative image which has been transmitted by the media” (Bettencourt, 2011, p. 29). However Cova da Moura is an example of re-qualification which does not occur as often, and normally needs to derive from the neighbourhood residents. Cova da Moura’s residents’ union formed in 1980, and managed to slowly improve the infrastructures of the neighbourhood, it currently has well built houses, and it possess a level of minimum quality; its cultural diversity in terms of communities, “namely an autonomous community, and a rather large Portuguese community” (Silva, 2014), along with the fact that Cova da Moura has been in existence for a long time and that it is not in private lands was able to acquire a permanent character which aided its legalisation.

68 UKUMBU

“I’ve never been to one of those neighbourhoods just to take a look around because the people that live there are not some sort of tourist attraction” (Anonymous, 2014). Nowadays, Cova da Moura’s reputation and the desire of the dwellers of the urbanised centre to experience the ‘danger’ of such neighbourhoods, led to the creation of tours, excursions of what is considered to be exotic.“Just wandering around felt a bit rude, like it was a theme park” (Anonymous, 2014). The neo-liberalisation of the developed nations, pushed each country to establish a certain position in regards to its financial possibilities through symbolic infrastructures, “aiming to wipe the city’s image clean of any suggestions of poverty, underdevelopment or social disadvantage (Bonifacio, 2012, p.21), the clearance of city is only accomplished through the stigmatisation of shantytowns, and the propagation of those stereotypes through the population.

SIGNATURE STYLES These self-built cities derive from the culmination of factors described in previous chapters, the cultural, architectural and social aspects of shanty-towns constantly rely on each other in order to exist. If one of the components is removed the structure in which the neighbourhood was built is damaged, depromoting the self-built city of its statue. The beauty of a city is framed within the ordinary day, “and the multitude of outdoor spaces that surround us”(Gehl, 1996), such spaces are create through the components of location1, materiality2 and construction3 which allow the social use of the space and the cultural expression of its residents, ”the appropriation of place in ways that empower community. Through territorial demarcation and use value communities are also able to attach social value”(Hamdi, 2004). As it has been previously established, shanty-towns are positioned in crucial locations in regards to the urbanised city, as “place often assumes more

KUUABA DGOHO more importance than space, especially for the poor and vulnerable. Security and accessibility take precedence over use value or identity at least to start with”(Hamdi, 2004). The fact that it was built by people, for people, and with people in mind, “traditional, organic cities grew on basis of everyday activities over time. Travel was on foot, and construction was based on generations of experience. The result was cities on a scale adapted to these senses and potential of human beings” (Gehl, 2010, p.55), and it sharply contrasts with the modernised European cities, the result of an impersonal and large outdoor space, as they are crowded with buildings and cars. Shanty-towns are easily identifiable through its makeshift character, and present an aesthetic of its own which derives from the combination of materials and construction rules, exclusively apply to each geographical location.

SIGNATURE STYLES

However, the external aesthetic of the houses is the last thing considered in their construction, its interior presents a priority, and sharply contrasts with the public space which normally lacks infrastructures. The interiors are usually plastered, decorated and hold “big televisions as their centrepieces” (Veysseyre, 2014). Aesthetically speaking, shanty-towns are mainly recognised and represented through an unfinished look of the exposure of raw materials, and due to the fact that it is the last concern in the resident’s list of priorities, it occurs according to the economic possibilities of the resident. The first exterior aesthetic symbol to appear, occurs during the construction of the house and relates to the security of the residence, the window grating which instead of being simple straight lines, are beautiful organic patterns which evoke Art Nouveau, however, straight lines can be seen but are extremely rare.

KUUABA DGOHO

The final external characteristic, happens at the end of the construction and when money is available, but it is not considered a priority, the plastering of the façade and the painting of the walls, normally with lively colours. In commercial contexts, the use of signs that identify the character of the shop, is adapted to the residents means, and replaced by writing it on the building’s façade. According to the geographic location of the shantytown it is common to see elements found in the urbanised centre of that city or country, for example in Portugal the use of azuleijos (tiles) is an extremely popular ornamental characteristic which also influences the thermal cooling of houses, its usage dates back to the 13th century and is commonly used in façades, walls and ceilings from the north to the south of Portugal, it can also be found in Portuguese shanty-towns like Cova da Moura. Fig,15-16 Cova da Moura

SIGNATURE STYLES

These self-built cities are also known through the bundle of the position of their houses, stacked together with little or no space between them, it is the translated expression of their marginalisation of the urban city, it protects them from those who discriminate against them whilst allowing them to create a safe place for constant interaction, “in a town where building lean against each other physically, the sheer fact of their adjacency forced people to confront their neighbours, forces them to solve the myriad the little problems which occur between them, forces them to learn how to adapt to other people’s foibles, which are greater, and more impenetrable than they are”(Alexander, C., et al, 1997, p.533). The modern ways of interaction, mainly through technology, tend to substitute direct contact between people which traditionally require a common denominator between both parts. In a space which due to the nature of its construction, forces people to interact and adapt to each others eccentricities, the use of the public space in which they meet must stimulate their most of their senses - sight, hearing, sound,

KUUABA DGOHO

and touch - in order to spur the meeting.

Fig,17-18

SIGNATURE STYLES

A shanty-town is horizontally built, and because all of its senses are frontally oriented (Gehl, 1996), the low construction of this dwellings permits the human being to capture the neighbourhoods sensory stimulation whilst being in motion or stagnation. Sight lines allow the dweller to experience the space from their house or the street. The soft boundaries grant him the possibility to swiftly move from a private space, to a semi-private, and a public place without great effort, “sharply demarcated boarders will make it difficult in many situations to move into the public environment if it is not necessary to do so” (Gehl, 1996, p.155) . These sight lines, usually provided by windows, or open doors, allow the connection of the outdoors with the indoors, “when people see into spaces from the street their world is enlarged and made richer” (Alexander, et al, 1977, p.581). In junction with the social characteristics of the neighbourhood, in terms of public use and confidence between residents, parents feel confident enough to allow their children to use the neighbourhood as their playground because the uninterrupted view from windows and doors permits constant supervision of their toddlers from either

KUUABA DGOHO

themselves or a friendly neighbour, “I felt like it was a close community, and like a huge playground with loads of possibilities. Seemed like a fun place to be a kid” (Anonymous, 2014). This exposure to the city allows children to acquire information through daily experiences, expanding their educational development to more than just school and home which results in the prevention of the “vast undertakings of a modern city” to become “mysterious and inaccessible”(Alexander, et al, 1997, p.294). In vertical shanty-towns, like the famous Tower of David in Venezuela, which are created through either the degradation of a space, or usually the occupation of a unfinished or abandoned building. The connection and integration between spaces is done within the building itself, as the exterior of the construction is the marginalising urbanised city, and the neighbourhood itself is within, there is a shift of where socialisation occurs. In this case the stairwell and its adjacent space becomes the public space, where people, meet, talk, and socialise.

Fig,19,20,21 - Tower Of David

Fig, 22, 23 - Chicala II

SIGNATURE STYLES

This is the result of the public space having the “balance of being defined and yet not too defined, so that any activity which is natural to the neighbourhood at any given time can develop freely and yet has something to start from”(Alexander, et al, 1977, p.349). The independence to contribute to how the public space of the neighbourhood is used allows the residents to freely express themselves, and as an appreciation of that freedom, they collaborate in order to maintain it. This collaboration grows over time, as the residents economic power grows, it occurs through the improvement of each of their houses, as their possibilities allow it, “therefore, the space that was occupied by the father, with his death it passes to his children, in turn his children that might have better economic possessions, but not enough to move to another neighbourhood with better quality, prefers to do a few works in the place in which he is residing, slowly upgrading its quality” (Silva, 2014), normally expanding the area of its residence vertically, usually creating a 2nd or a 3rd story, and once it is done he also tends to modify the plan of his house, to adapt to his new necessities, as per example, the expansion of the family will require more rooms.

KUUABA DGOHO

In Brazil, the expansion happens though the compensation of the non-existence of a garden by the creation of a balcony, and due to the weather, mostly sunny, allows the resident the construction of an area open area which is also used for the realisation of barbecues, but unlike the unwritten rules of the positioning of the houses, it’s common to leave a space of at least one meter between each house, as an extra floor will almost always obstruct a neighbour’s view (Veysseyre, 2014). The sociability of the shanty-towns derives, as well, of how the space itself began being built, usually in turn of an open space which later became the social centre of that neighbourhood. In the case-study of Chicala the initial houses faced the sea, influencing the way which the rest of the dwelling grew alongside the ocean instead of a square, in the case of Cova da Moura it began in turn of a small square created by the negative space of the houses of its first residents. As each neighbourhood evolved and expanded, its original rules slowly went unnoticed as newly arrived residents began to build “all kinds of structures, more or less pleasing to the eye, more or less temporary” (Ramiro, 1996, p.78).

SIGNATURE STYLES

The non-existence of major roads or pavement, allowed pedestrians and cars to blend, “conversations can grow naturally around the lots of people wash their cars. Vendors set themselves where cars and pedestrians meet”(Alexander, et al, 1977,p.271), accidents between cars and people are extremely reduced in the case-studies, as the narrow roads in the neighbourhood and the active occupation of the street by the pedestrian, slow down traffic. As it has been established, most of the general characteristics which lead to the creation, evolution and maintenance of shanty-towns are extremely similar, if not equal in the bases in which they were created, the materiality in which a shanty-town was created is the aspect in which they are distinguished. Considering that the houses of the dwelling are a longterm investment, built as money allows, and adapted to the requirement’s of the resident’s needs, usually remaining in the family, and being upgraded, or expanded throughout generations, the selection of materials was initially determined by a set of rules:

KUUABA DGOHO

source, cost and weight (Veysseyre, 2014). It must be locally sourced in order to be cost effective and easy to get - also allowing the purchase to be exact, eliminating excesses; and it must be light and small enough in order to pass though narrow streets and to be carried by a person. Considering that the houses of the dwelling are a longterm investment, built as money allows, and adapted to the requirementâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s of the residentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s needs, usually remaining in the family, and being upgraded, or expanded throughout generations, the selection of materials was initially determined by a set of rules: source, cost and weight (Veysseyre, 2014). It must be locally sourced in order to be cost effective and easy to get - also allowing the purchase to be exact, eliminating excesses; and it must be light and small enough in order to pass though narrow streets and to be carried by a person.

SIGNATURE STYLES

In Chicala, due to the proximity of to the water, its original houses were made of materials such as bamboo, used for structure, fishing materials, wood, palm tree leaves, and up-cycled waste, such as the barrel’s staves which were used to delineate the back-gardens, and the making of washing-tanks (Graça,2014). Following independence, as Angola’s economy plummeted, most industrial materials became extremely cheap, allowing residents to upgrade the materials used on their homes to blocks of cement, brick, and corrugate steel became popular. The peripheral musseques which used clay, adobe, wood, zic, to build pique-a-pau houses (hovels), normally found in rural Angola, with the industrial revolution, replaced those initial materials industrial ones which also allowed the expansion of the modular house, vertically.

KUUABA DGOHO

The relationship between its cultural, social and architectural assets come to live with, by and for the individual, generating the positives aspects of selfbuilt cities which tend to be ignored. It is possible to observe that the architectural characteristic of the shanty-towns are built in order to be constantly upgraded and adaptable to its userâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s need, in that process of a limited palette of materials and economic possibilities, a style of simplicity and function is created, defining the shanty-town itself.

CONCLUSION

â&#x20AC;&#x153;When dwellers control the major decision and are free to make their own contribution to the design, construction or management of their housing, both the process and the environment produced stimulate individual and social well-beings. When people have no control over, nor responsibility for, key decisions in the housing process, on the other hand, dwelling environments may instead become a barrier to personal fulfilment and a burden on the economy. (Turner, 1973, cited in Hambdi, 2004). Through this thesis it as been possible to establish that most myths and stereotypes surrounding shantytowns aid in the marginalisation of these spaces, resulting in its degradation and disregard when considering the possibilities of the existence of their architectural value, which has been demonstrated to exist.

RIZUBILU Although each case is unique, it is possible to identify the general social aspects of these dwellings, “I felt like it was a social space, a type of sociability that no longer exists in the rest of the city” (Anonymous, 2014). In contrast to the modern urbanised space in which one can easily feel alienated, the shanty-town is defined by an expression of “supreme joy”, as its residents are allowed to freely use the street as a social meeting place. The modern urbanised centre itself, constantly attempts to copy the dwelling’s social assets without crediting its origin, “what happens nowadays in Bairro Alto is a bit transplanted from what normally used to be done, and was poorly seen, in those neighbourhoods. I mean just go and be on the street, drinking, socialising, eating, dancing, and so one, was seen as an abominable thing. It was not done, but it is fancy to do it in Bairro Alto, that type of socialisation, under an open sky which is a natural practice in bairros”(Silva, 2014).

CONCLUSION

Sir Winston Churchill once said â&#x20AC;&#x153;we shape our buildings, thereafter they shape usâ&#x20AC;?, and in fact, each architectural style was an expression of the epoch in which it was created, but as the modern world is translated into its architecture, the most important characteristic of the city is lost between the large scale buildings and its reflective surfaces, in contrast to the shanty-town in which individual is the most important and valuable asset. The recognition of the architectural taxonomy of shanty-towns, would stimulate the further study of those places, resulting in the appropriate improvement, as well as the social integration of its marginalised population. It would draw attention to the importance of social aspects of the city, reverting the modern architectural trajectory from the translation of economic power to the focus on the individual, the translation of its identity, as well as granting community building the indispensable character it deserves.

RIZUBILU

WORD COUNT: 10.731

SPECIAL THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED ME WITH WRITING AND/ OR GATHERING THE INFORMATION FOR THIS DISSERTATION.

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de Áreas Urbanas Críticas // The Musseques of Luanda - Qualification and Rehabilitation of Critic Urban Areas. Dissertation. Architecture College,

Technical University of Lisbon - FAUTL. Available at: https://www.repository. utl.pt/bitstream/10400.5/3654/1/Disserta%C3%A7%C3%A3o.Andrea. Bettencourt.FINAL.pdf (Downloaded: 22 December 2014). Bonifacio, L. (2012) ‘Luanda needs no introduction’, in Moreira, P.(ed.) Chicala is not a small neighbourhood. Porto: JR Gráfica, p.21. Gehl, J. (2010) Cities For People. Washington: Island Press. Gehl, J. (1996) Life Between Buildings - Using Public Space. 3rd edn. Copenhagen: Arkitektens Forlag. Graça, A. (2014) Conversation with Iara Silva, 28 December. [Transcript in appendix] Guimarães, R. (2010) As vunerabelidades nos musseques Luandenses na

década de 1960 // The vulnerabilities in Luanda’s musseques in the decade of 1960. Available at: http://www.encontro2010.rj.anpuh.org/resources/ anais/8/1276562012_ARQUIVO_artigo_anpuh_rogerioguimaraes.pdf (Downloaded: 19 December 2014).

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Fig.13. Muleza, P. (2014) Candongueiros. Available at: http://www. redeangola.info/opiniao/metro-de-superficie/ (accessed 26/ 01/ 15). Fig.14-15-16 Silva, I. (2014). Cova Da Moura. Private archives. Fig.17. Bayoh, M. (2014). Stay Sucka Free. Available at: http://staysuckafree. tumblr.com/post/105034634834 [Accessed 25 Jan. 2015]. Fig.18. St. Francis de Sales, (n.d.). Ear. Available at: https://finerfem. wordpress.com/2014/11/09/are-your-ears-open-to-divine-inspirations/ [Accessed 26 Jan. 2015]. Fig.19,20,21. Silva, J. (2014). Tower of David. Available at: http://www. theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2014/apr/03/tower-david-caracasvenezuela-in-pictures [Accessed 20 Nov. 2014]. Fig. 22 Daimao, P. (2012) Chicala II. Available at: http://www.chicala.org/ urbanidade/parque-infantil,-chicala-1/ruas-chicala-2/ (accessed 27/ 01/ 15). Fig.23 Grupo L22, ULA (2011) Chicala II. Available at: http://www.chicala. org/urbanidade/parque-infantil,-chicala-1/ruas-chicala-2/ (accessed 26/ 01/ 15). COVER FIGURES Right - Silva, I. (2014) Cova da Moura. Personal Archive. Left - Afonso, R. (2014). Sentado A Escrever Com A Luz... Luanda // Seating Writing With The Light... Luanda.

30 JAN 2015 IARA SILVA