PRECEDENT STUDIES

BALKRISHNA DOSHI

LOCATION: INDORE, INDIA

COMPLETED: 1989

AREA: 100 000m2

SOURCE: Information and Images. [VSC Vastu Shilpa Consultants, 1989]

Figure 27: Aranya low-cost housing and the relation beten streets and entrances [VSC Vastu Shilpa Consultants, 1989] This research study explores the house not as a finished product but as a framework that allows people to shape the space accordingly to their fundamental needs, cultures and lifestyles. The idea also allows the house to grow subjectively, influencing human connectivity and adaptability, private and public buffers, indoor and outdoor relationships, and these spaces’ flow.

The layout of the residential scheme is planned so that the use of the road and car is separate from the pathway and the person. It highlights how cities today are designed for cars and traffic and not people and their needs. It heavies traffic and instigates informal public activities and interactions.

Doshi has a relentless vision to have the user be part of the design process; this gives back a sense of belonging and ownership to the residents. The spaces allow the users to grow and move more organically, as opposed to the rigid cities have designed over the last few centuries. By having users decide most of the vital parts of the structures, can identify a very pleasing and aesthetic form.

The project promotes flow, movement and hierarchy. This was achieved by connecting all primary nodes with secondary nodes and spaces throughout the area and never breaking that flow of interconnected spaces.

Sectors are connected with shared courtyards, green spaces and one more prominent space for the entire community to use and gather in.

This precedent study explores the research question posed: What are the existing literature or precedence on lowincome urban housing that benefits from urban farming, and how can they be applied to the housing in Pretoria?

“‘Here, there is the heartbreaking feeling that the architectural profession is deeply irrelevant, incapable of addressing human beings’ basic right to shelter.’”

Figure 28: Perspective of a street as a miniature by B.V. Doshi [VSC Vastu Shilpa Consultants, 1989]

“Design is nothing but a humble understanding of materials, an instinct for solutions and respect for nature.”

ALEJANDRO ARAVENA, ELEMENTAL

LOCATION: IQUIQUE, CHILE

COMPLETED: 2003

AREA: 5 000m2

SOURCE: Information and Images. [ELEMENTAL, 2008]

Figure 29: Photographs depicting the journey of the site from East to st, showcasing import nodes and materials [author, 2021] This precedent study explores how low-income households seek a sense of ownership over the site they have illegally occupied over the years – aiming not to displace its residents while working with a highly tight set-out budget provided through government subsidiaries.

The project is located within the heart of the Chilean city of Iquique. The main driving force behind the project is housing and rapid urbanisation, not for those who can afford it but for those who can not. As see rapid urbanisation become more and more of a problem, tend to look at the issue very isolated from our own comfortable homes. The harsh reality of the matter is that most people who will first see the effects of these problems are the homeless and underprivileged.

The typology chosen for the project is row housing, and although having many spatial benefits, the typology does not allow for a large amount of expansion and change. Aravena’s ansr to this problem was mere to build half the house. As these families grow more prominent and more financially stable, they can build onto their homes without disrupting the daily flow of family life.

This precedent study explores the research question posed: What is the existing literature or precedence on lowincome urban housing that benefits from urban farming, and how can they be applied to the housing in Pretoria?

“In the end, when the given money is enough for just half of the house, the key question is, which half do do. choose to make the half that a family individually will never be able to achieve on its own, no matter how much money, energy or time they spend. That is how expect to contribute using architectural tools, to non-architectural questions, in this case, how to overcome poverty.” (ELEMETAL, 2008)

“Half A House Builds A Whole Community.”

-Elemental

Figure 30: Artistic expression by the architects of how housing could evolve over the years. [ELEMENTAL, 2008]

“ had to build a hundred houses with a subsidy of $7,500 per family, which in the best of the cases allod for 36m2 of built space. So thought of a typology that allod for houses to expand.(...) After a year and an average investment of $750, each property value was beyond $20,000. Still, all the families have preferred to stay and keep on improving their homes, instead of selling them.”

EFFEKT ARCHITECTS

LOCATION: ALMERE, THE NETHERLANDS

COMPLETED: ON-GOING

AREA: 15 500m2

SOURCE: Information and Images. [Effekt, 2016]

Figure 31: Computer render of ReGen Village central couryard [Effekt, 2016] This precedent study explores how a community of buildings can function separately from the main city centre and the services provided in those areas – benefiting from a more decentralised approach to urban planning and architecture.

ReGen Village is a project by Effekt Architects and is located in Almere, the Netherlands. The project focuses on communities that grow their food in greenhouse inspired homes and structures – aiming to tackle a wide variety of 21st-century problems like climate change, urbanisation and water crises.

Structures comprise housing units with attached greenhouses. These will be used to service the food production portion of the project while being separated enough so that the homes still benefit from cross-ventilation and private social areas. These units will also include sustainable energy technologies to produce their own energy and, in a more meaningful sense, source of income and food.

Some of the structures identified are vertical farms placed within the community and utilising the principles of these farming methods to feed the communities and residents. Sinus Lynge (Effekt Partner) stated that the technology already exists; it is just a matter of applying science into the architecture of everyday life.

This precedent study explores the research question posed: Are there overlaps in the typology of a vertical farm and a residential scheme, and can these overlaps be used to benefit one another as ll as the user? (The re-use of water etc.)

“With ReGen Villages, residents become part of a shared local eco-system, so different families can take on different roles in the community. As ll as fostering a sense of camaraderie, this also helps to lift burdens on struggling municipal governments.” (Frearson, 2016)

“ReGen Villages adds not only environmental and financial value, but also social value, by creating a framework for emporing families and developing a sense of community.”

Figure 32: ReGen Villages program diagram in relation to area used [Effekt, 2016]

Figure 33: Conceptual diagrams of Regen Villages function and form [Effekt, 2016]

ATELIER KOE (Richard Rowland)

LOCATION: ASHANTI, GHANA

COMPLETED: COMPETITION PROJECT

AREA: 110m2

SOURCE: Information and Images. [Atelier Koé, 2014]

Figure 34: Cover page image of the Eban Aya e-book on issuu.com [Atelier Koé, 2014] This precedent study explores how traditional African architecture influences its surrounding areas, its inhabitants and users. The term Eban Aya is a traditional Ghanaian term that refers to the idea of the immediate users radiating outwards to include the larger community.

Eban Aya is a competition project by Atelier Koe, placed conceptually in the Ashanti area of Ghana. The project aims to focus on the immediate community and users. The homes invite individual ownership, community participation, collective learning, sharing, and management in creating and realising each building.

The project makes use of bamboo as a primary building material and is cultivated close to the site. As bamboo grows very rapidly, the cultivated bamboo will be “paid forward” to the next construction project in the area and thus does not become a problematic plant species as it can be in most areas.

Large masonry walls built by locally trained stonemasons are placed on the northern facades to act as a “heat battery”, absorbing heat during the day and releasing it into the structure at night. The “earth” then act as a natural insulation material for the built structures.

Having a structure that consists of these earthly materials reduces CO2 emissions, offers improved air quality and comfort, and is enduring and durable as a building material.

This precedent study explores the research question posed: Are there examples of low-income urban housing combined with urban agriculture?

“As an entry to a mud house building competition, Senegalese practice atelier Koe has developed the eban aya more as a design/construction strategy rather than a static structure.” (Hudson, 2015)

“Earth architecture can be beautiful.”

-NKA Foundation Figure 35 (right): Construction and use diagrams in the Eban Aya e-book on issuu.com [Atelier Koé, 2014]

SPACE 10 & EFFEKT ARCHITECTS

LOCATION: GLOBAL

COMPLETED: N/A

AREA: SCALABLE

SOURCE: Information and Images. [Effekt, n.d.]

Figure 36: Cover image of the Urban Village project [Effekt, n.d.]

This precedent study explores how modular building systems function in a larger capacity, how they can benefit the greater community, and how they could be applied globally to architecture in communities.

Urban Village is a prototype architecture project that aims to be applied globally to communities that envision modular mixed-use residential schemes. The project also aims to combat modern-day city problems, these being rapid urbanisation and climate change.

The project makes use of wooden modular building materials that can be prefabricated and rapidly assembled on site. It ensures the project keeps a low carbon footprint during its lifetime, envisioning a more circular approach to architecture and construction. As opposed to the traditional “linear” methods know.

Intergenerational living is a central theme of the project and provides high-quality homes at a more affordable price. This has a knock-on effect of having happier and more connected communities and cities. All are connected with a shared digital interface that accompanies the architecture.

This precedent study explores the research question posed: Are there examples of low-income urban housing combined with urban agriculture?

“It is clear that unless rethink our built environment, our cities will become increasingly unsustainable, unfordable and socially unequal. For us, shared living can offer potential solutions to some of these urgent challenges. The Urban Village Project looks at how can create new realities that promote a sense of ll-being and turn the spaces inhabit into healthier and happier places, all while being more affordable and efficient for those that live there.” (Williams, n.d.)

“Cities all around the world are facing major challenges when it comes to rapid urbanization, aging populations, loneliness, climate change and lack of affordable housing. It is clear that unless rethink our built environment, our cities will become increasingly unsustainable, unfordable and socially unequal.”

Figure 37a (top): Fostering access over ownership plus programs and public spaces [Effekt, n.d.]

Figure 37b (bottom right): The circular resource model [Effekt, n.d.]