HUMAN SCALE

from CLASS OF 2021_Botha, RP

by jacques_23

2.2.1.LOCATION & HISTORY

1.

Figure 46: RESIDENTIAL TYPE

Plots are completely fi lled with dwellings. in some cases dwellings use the existing concrete columns used for cable distribution as support columns.

2. SHOP TYPE Figure 47:

The shop type comes predominantly fourth along the wider pedestrian walkways. These dwellings are similar to the residential type, except they have wider entrance doors and a shop front window with a canopy.

3. Figure 48: BATHROOM TYPE

Currently there are no proper bathroom amenities and water supply points in Setswetla due to the congested nature of the settlement. The municipalities have resorted to supplying portable plastic toilets along the wider roads and Jukskei River bed.

Figure 46-48: Sketches of building- types in Setswetla, 2021. Figure 49: Combination of diff erent building types, 2021.

The shop and residential types as well as the portable toilets are common features in Setswetla. The pedestrian walkways are active and therefore shop owners use the walls of dwellings facing the walkways to advertise and market their services.

Figure 50: Project approach strategy, 2021.

03. DESIGN CONTEXT

The chapter will include the main aim, research questions, delimitation, methodology and approach for mitigation fl ood vulnerability in Setswetla. The chapter also includes precedents of projects in a similar context as Setswetla to inform the best approach applicable to the problem statement

3.1. PROJECT AIM

Figure 51: Place vulnerability mitigation strategies (Dintwa, Letamo and Navaneetham, 2019).

This research aims to mitigate the physical and social vulnerability within Setswetla by implementing an urban model and prototypical social housing that will migrate the settlement to a resilient community. The hypothesis is that social vulnerability can be mitigated by providing essential services and resources like proper stormwater servitudes and fl ood prevention strategies. The physical/geographical vulnerability can be mitigated by applying innovative strategies adopted from nature to produce a resilient and adaptable building typology aff ordable to low-income households. Individual ownership must be kept throughout the project process; thus, it is crucial to supply owners with multiple options to cater to their specifi c needs. The aim is to stimulate incremental development that allows residents to develop their homes into more resilient dwellings adaptable to the changing context. The project will strictly supply prevention strategies by identifying the risk and potential hazards and mitigating them before a disaster occurs. Because of the site’s congested nature, these prevention strategies will be implemented incrementally, allowing individuals to invest in their homes over a time until they have reached resilience. 03.DESIGN CONTEXT

3.2. RESEARCH QUESTIONS

MAIN & SUB QUESTIONS _

Figure 52: Site photo of Setswetla showing the poluted Jukskei river bank, 2021 Main: How can flood vulnerability be reduced in Setswetla informal settlement through the design of resilient, affordable and sustainable social housing and an urban model?

Sub Questions:

1. Could sustainable living within Setswetla produce a balance between nature, buildings, and people to create resilient, but fluid environments that are affordable to all?

2. Can a solution contribute to both Setswetla’s short-term need for mitigating the flood/water vulnerability and the long-term need for rapid urbanisation and its social-economic complexities?

3. Could there be a way that Setswetla residents can benefit from a natural disaster to the point where a flash flood becomes a celebrated natural event ?

4. How can individual ownership be kept for the residents of Setswetla while relocating them to a safer environment?

3.3. DELIMITATION

COMMUNITY INITIATIVE APPROACH _

Figure 53: Community initiative project approach, community residents cleaning up and rebuilding their community after a fl ash fl ood 70

Every community is unique. There is no one solution for all settlements, and on a human scale not one solution can satisfy the needs of different individuals. In a recent journal “State-led versus community initiated” by Adegun, (2015, p.3-6) there has been much uproar by communities over this issue. Housing developers try to find a simple copy-and-paste solution that gives all community members the same size house or plot, no matter what their home/ plot size and assets were before a disaster. Entrepreneurs that rely on their homes as their main source of income now must start from scratch destroying the before thriving local economy. Many families and entrepreneurs’ monthly income rely on their houses, whether they run a small business from home or rent out flats. It is important not to disrupt the existing urban fabric but to find innovative ways of enhancing opportunities to develop and expand informal settlements in a safe manner (Adegun, 2015). By keeping to a community initiative approach, individual ownership can be preserved while producing solutions affordable to all. A “lowfab” approach—using materials locally made or grown to build, may significantly save construction costs and help promote the economy of local entrepreneurs. The current problem is not communities’ ability to prepare for a natural disaster, but their ability is restricted by not having accessibility to education and recourses in their circumstances. Therefore, the proposed interventions will use local materials and construction methods combined with elements supplied from an architectural professional’s knowledge of sustainable living that will act as a blueprint for building resilient dwellings. The intervention should show that fluid resilience is achievable in an affordable way if the necessary recourses and services are supplied.

3.4. METHODOLOGY

JOINT PROCESS DESIGN _

The methodology approach uses a joint process design strategy; this strategy consists of a sequence of designing prototypes, constructing models and putting them through a simulated flooding scenario, improving the design and then analysing the results. Repeating the process as many times as possible should supply the best applicable design prototype for Setswetla.

Figure 54: Methodology: joint process design illustration, 2021

A context study with a systemic quantitative approach, by mapping, analysing the site and weather patterns, researching statistics and case studies of similar environments, will identify areas most vulnerable to flooding within Alexandra. It is essential to understand patterns and statistics to help evolve a solution, but a qualitative approach can better understand the in-tangible contributions and complexities through analysing text, videos, and audio from published sources. Opinions and experiences can gather in-depth insights into current issues and extend to generate innovative ideas for problem-solving that will inform the design intervention and programme that will consist out of affordable, resilient, and sustainable building typologies best applicable for environments prone to flooding. By analysing Alexandra’s urban framework with a systematic and initiative approach has informed where the imbalance lies between buildings, people, and nature to inform innovative sustainable systems. By experimenting with a series of context models to test different situations and scenarios, it will inform a design that allows residents to be rooted in their environment while adaptable to the changing context. Using a quantitative approach this study will draw on various design activities; drawings, models and collages, as well as observations and analysis of similar precedents to develop proposed solutions. Observations will reflect what was noted after visiting the site with the organisation Rays of Hope Alexandra. Analysis of literature and precedents of existing solutions will identify appropriate solutions that will best fit within the fluid context of Alexandra. The findings will reflect and respond by thinking critically about the complexities contributing to flooding vulnerability. Through prototyping different architectural solutions on a scale model of a specific site within Alex that is the most flood vulnerable by experimenting with various interventions and putting them through a synthetic flooding scenario, it will show which intervention will be the most applicable to the everchanging context of Alex. Scale models will be used, along with the simulated flooding model to inspire unique solutions; through working with physical materials, a different perspective will be encountered which might inspire different

3.5. PRECEDENTS

Three different precedents of informal settlements where explored that have a similar context and problem statement as Setswetla. All the precedents investigated solutions to minimize flood damages to low income communities living in flood prone environments.