Booklet “1� Student: Jens Pedersen Project Title: Climate Refuge // A Culturally Sensitive Model Studio: Studio Building Design Semester: E13
The process report you are about to read is separated in two booklets labelled either “1“ or “2“. They are supposed to be read in consecutive order, where “1” will revolve around the initial research, the motivation and political relations regarding the project. “2“ will describe the process of developing the architecture, urban strategy and conclude upon what was learned.
The process report you are about to read is separated in two booklets labelled either “1“ or “2“. They are to be read in consecutive order, where “1” revolves around the initial research, the motivation and political relations regarding the project. “2“ describes the process of developing the architecture, urban strategy and will conclude on the project.
Booklet 1 - Research - Migration ? - Refugee Paradigm - Forced - Culture - Who will Come ? - Context? - The Vernacular - Algeria - Bangladesh - Kiribati - Urban Studies - Urban Precedents - Architectural Assignment - Bibliography - Image list
Contents
Booklet 1 - Research
Booklet 2 - Process
•
•
Migration ?................ 9-12 - Refugee Paradigm - Forced
•
Culture........................ 13-16
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Who will Come ?..... 17-20
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Context?.................... 21-23
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Urban Studies.......... 27-31
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- Urban Precedents
The Vernacular....... 33-41 - Algeria - Bangladesh - Kiribati
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Architectural Assignment............. 43-45
• •
Bibliography................... 46 Image list......................... 47
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Technique.................... 5-9 - Concrete studies - Wood studies
Urban Studies........... 11-15
- Constructing the Urban
• Formal development .................. 17-31 •
Construction........... 33-37 - Ål-hytta - Adaptation
•
The strategy........... 38-39
•
Result......................... 42-43
• Conclusion/Reflexion ............... 44-45 • •
Bibliography................... 46 Image list......................... 47
This project will try to verbalize future problems in relation to the prospects of a greatly increased global migration, where people will be permanently displaced from their current country of residence. These issues will be addressed through the development of a culturally sensitive architectural model, that will be developed through a study of the vernacular of at risk countries.
This project verbalizes future problems in relation to the prospects of a greatly increased global migration, where people will be permanently displaced from their current country of residence. These issues will be addressed through the development of a culturally sensitive architectural model, developed through a study of the vernacular of at risk countries.
Migration ?
Migration ?
img. 1: People in the process of migration. Reason unknown.
img. 2: Diagram showing different migrations paths across the globe.
Migration ? - Different types of migration now, and in the future. Throughout history people have migrated, some for prosperity others due to a shortage in food supply, some sought refugee from war. The different reasons for migration have been evident through the hunter gatheringsocieties, in nomadic societies, in zones of conflict in Africa or the middle east, or in current urbanization process. Looking at the current situation, there are approximately 1.3 million people moving from rural areas to cities every week, seeking prosperity. This has let to the prospects of approximately 80 pct of the worlds population living in cities by mid century( ≈ 2500 ). This project adresses the process of migration, not current trends, but what is predicted to happen within the future. There is a growing consensus that there will be a great increase in climate induced migration due to the effects of climate change 2. These new migrants are popularly referred to as “climate refugees”. However that is far from an accurate terminology, since the term “refugee” is
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bound to a very strict definition. How strict the definition is became evident by looking at the case of Kiribati; where people have applied for asylum in New Zealand, but got their application denied2. The definition is viewed as being narrow and outdated, since it describes what it (politically) means to be a “refugee”3. In order to further explain why the term “refugee” is not suitable, see the quote bellow, which briefly summarizes, what criteria you have to meet to be classified as a “refugee”: “Any person who owing to a well founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his/her nationality and is unable, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself/herself of the protection of that country.”3 The definition as such is very good, however it was defined back in 1951, and has been redefined once since, in 1967. The changes made, was to two initial restrictions: one being that you had to be European, the other, that the actions for which you were being prosecuted had occurred prior to 1951. These were cancelled, thereby making it possible for people from all over the world to apply for asylum. The fact that the definition has not been updated since 1967 makes it evident that it is outdated for the paradigm shift in the causality of why people are seeking refugee or being forced to migrate.
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So if “refugee” is not the right classification then what is? How should displaced people be referred to in relation to this project? Should they be labelled as “climate refugees” or as “climate migrants” ? The word “refugee” has a more immediate connotation, meaning that you have to get away as fast as possible, for instance in relation to war. The climate change which causes people to migrate are characterized as “slow-onset-disasters”(further elaboration later in this segment). Indicating that, the cause of migration would not happen over night, leaving time to orchestrate the migration process. So it might be more appropriate to refer to the people as “climate migrants”. However, this term is still lacking in its description, since it implies that people are moving because they want to and not out of need. The residents in “at risk countries” do not have a choice. Since the country will become unhabitable for several reasons such as; desertification, contamination of fresh water supply, landmass being overtaken by the ocean, etc. (These disasters are classified as “slow-onsetdisasters”.4), all caused by climate change. So even though people have time to arrange for the move, it might be more appropriate to refer to the displaced people as “forced-climate-migrants”(will be referred to as FCM). This term is a temporary definition and may be redefined throughout this process report. The next section of this booklet describes issues regarding the FCM and their culture - what will become of it ? Will it simply be lost? Or are there ways to preserve it, or make it evolve in relation to a new context?
img. 3: People in the process of migrating
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Culture ? - What will happen to the culture of people with no country ? “Culture is the collective memory of society.”5 - Michael Weinstock A problem the FCM face is; what will happen to their culture, once they leave the setting in which it emerged? Is it by keeping societies together like the quote by Weinstock suggests? Part of the answer was found in the article “Collective Memory and Cultural Identity” by Jan Assman, which sheds light on how culture is accumulated within societies, and what parts are necessary for it to be sustained. When talking about culture there are to terms to familiarize yourself with: “cultural memory” and “communicative memory”. The “communicative memory” is labelled as the “everyday memory”, which essentially revolves around the remembrance of social interactions6. About “cultural memory” Assman says; “...., cultural memory is characterized by its distance from the everyday.“7, and: “The specific character that a person derives from belonging to a distinct society and culture is not seen to maintain itself for generations as a result of phylogenetic evolution, but rather as a result of socialization and customs.“ 8 The above quotes indicates that culture will not be affected by a change in peoples immediate surroundings or living patterns, as long as the changes relates to the everyday, and people will remain in proximity to others with same cultural background. However when these changes becomes permanent, which is the case for the FCM of this project, what will then happen ? Assman tries to give an answer to this predicament by indicating that if a culturally similar group is within proximity to each other, the inherent cultural memory will make the people view the new context within the framework of their culture and understand it through it. Thereby making the new context the framework for the further development of the existing cultural memory, not eliminating what is already there but building on it9. The above is contradicted by the paper written by Karim Hadjri: “Vernacular Housing Forms in North Algeria”, where Hadjri describes how people of Algeria reacted to being placed into housing build by the french
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administration in the 1960’s, based on minimum spatial requirements to eat, sleep and cook. These housing types were called Regroupement and destroyed the social life for the occupants, since they were alienated from the Algerian way of life. The people of Algeria has since then tried to retrofit these Regroupements, to make them culturally appropriate. Thus with little success10. This indicates that the architecture and urban structure should have similarities to where people come from, however it is expected to have differences, since there will most likely be a change in climate from migrants original country, to their new country of residents. In conclusion; for this project to become culturally appropriate, it has to understand the principles of everyday life in the “at-risk countries”, in relation to urban patterns and flows - but also the internal structure of a dwelling. This will be executed by analysing three different cases from “at-risk countries”, and thereby develop an architectural model based on the knowledge gained by these studies. The analysed countries will be presented in section: “Who will come?“. Understanding how the FCM will have to live is one part of this project, however it is also imperative to know how the FCM will affect the new context of residence. Currently there are two ways of preserving cultural memory; one is to contain the cultural minorities as we see with the native Americans and how they have been assigned reservoirs. This is a widespread strategy and has also been applied to south-American Indians and the aborigines of Australia. The other possibility is; when minorities have aggregated in a buttom-up manor in areas of existing urban fabric, as we see with China Town areas in several larger cities throughout the world(Singapore, London or San Francisco, to name a few) or like “little India” in Singapore. When walking around the above mentioned cities it becomes clear that you are within one of these areas, not when there is a change in architecture, but when there is a change in specialized shops. For instance when you are within China town, London, there are more Chinese restaurants and shops than img. 4 : Native americans performing one of their many rituals, these rituals are still taking place in todays reservoirs - thereby keeping their culture intact.
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any other place in London. In the case of these existing hubs, there is not a change in architecture, since people are aggregating in an already established context. However this project creating a new context, either within an already existing context, or proximity to one. This might create differences both in architecture and other indicators, such as difference in shops or restaurants, signalling you are within a culturally aggregated hub(see img. 6 pp 16). Having these cultural hubs placed around a city, is considered highly diverse, urban and will make it change character throughout the urban fabric. The effect of the two possibilities is the relationship between “us” and “them”(“us” meaning the local population and “them” the migrating minority.) In the first possibility where “they” are contained within a defined border, it is easy to make it about “them” and “us”. However, in the other possibility the distinction becomes blurred, since “they” are situated among “us”. Even though the FCM in some situations will be without a country, it is not believed that allocating a piece of land(a reservoir) for them to call their own will be the solution to their cultural dilemma. It is on the other hand believed that they will be spread through out the world in larger groups, and then incorporate into already existing urban structures, by creating the small urban hubs. This last idea calls for a shift in the current understanding of the world, where it is viewed as a collection of individual countries with their own interests. The required shift would make people view the world holistically, by making it possible to talk about one global society rather than the collection of societies. This does not imply a unified culture, just that people will take more responsibility in helping eachother, rather than solely focussing on one selves. The shift is already beginning, and will be further described in the section labelled “Context?“. There are more cultural aspects to take into account, some of them specific to the countries of the FCM, and will be further elaborated in the section labelled “Vernacular studies“.
img. 5 : London China town - A small cultural hub within a larger city. It presents a very interesting gradient in terms of demographics and urban usage.
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img. 6 : A naive interpretation of how the new context will fit into an existing Swedish. The image is not to be taken literally, however it indicates that there will be a shift in urban structure, when fitting a city with a new living pattern.
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Algeria
Bangladesh
Kiribati
img. 7 : Hotspot map over countries being affected by climate change.
Climate-induced increase in storm and flood disasters
Climate-induced decline in food production
Environmentally induced migration Climate-induced degradation of freshwater resources
Hotspot
Who will come ? - What countries will be used for the initial development of the architectural model ? The above map displays different hotspots throughout the world, the hotsports are highlighted using red dots. Some of the dots also have an extra icon, which indicates what type of “slow-onset-dissasters� areas affecting the countries, and whether or not people have begun the process of migration because of it. As previously mentioned, it was decided to focus on three affected countries and analyse their vernacular architecture. This choice was
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made partially by looking at the hotspot-map, but also by reading/watching a series of articles and lectures. Kiribati has already been mentioned in relation to this project(in section “Migration”), here it was briefly mentioned that some people from Kiribati has been denied asylum in New Zealand, but what is in fact the problem that Kiribati are facing? Kiribati is a group of islands in the South Pacific ocean, and will become gradually less inhabitable within the next decade. The immediate cause is the lack of drinkable water, which will make the islands unhabitable within the next 7-10 years. If this problem is fixed, Kiribati faces a greater threat; the rising sea-levels, threatening to engulf the islands11,12. Looking at the map, and watching Larry Brilliants lecture “the case for optimism”, it becomes clear that Bangladesh is, like Kiribati, very exposed to climate changes. According to Larry Brilliant, if the CO2 emission were to stop today, the sea-levels would continue to rise through the following 1000 years, due to a continued increase in the global temperature; thereby making the worlds climate a positive feedback loop. This rise in sea-levels, would within the next approximately 100 years, partially engulf the country, but it is the contamination of the freshwater supplies that would make Bangladesh unhabitable for its approximately 150 million citizens. Brilliant estimates that there would be created approximately 100 million migrants, which he expect would travel to China or India13. According to the Norwegian Refugee Council(NRC), India have started to but up fences along their border towards Bangladesh, to prevent them from entering the country. This will force the possible FCM of the future to seek refuge elsewhere14, which will be further elaborated in the section “Context?“. The third country of investigation is Algeria, which is situated in the northern region of Africa, and as Bangladesh and Kirbati, they are also facing “slow-onset-disasters”. Instead of it being related to the rising sea-levels, the climactic dilemma is related to the lack of water; desertification15,16. There is very little numbers in terms of affected population, however the problem is real, and Algeria is only one country, but it is projected that 40 % of Africa will be affected by similar disasters. Therefore it is important to investigate countries of this region, which makes Algeria a great candidate for the third case study. Knowing where people will come from is the first half of this section, the other: what type of people will come? Reviewing the article “Future Floods of Refugees“, by the NRC17, indicating that there will be two types of people being displace, either mobile or immobile, and they can come from two types of countries: either vulnerable or resilient. If the country is vulnerable,
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it means it is at-risk, however a vulnerable country can also be resilient and be able to withstand the pressure produced by the climate change. This is evident with a country like the Netherlands, which have made a series of dikes preventing the country from being flooded. This is, however, only possible since the country is very rich, and has the resources to build and maintain the dikes18. Unfortunately this is a luxury many countries lying in the hotspot zones do not have. According to the NRC many of the countries being affected by climate change, are not very resilient, and will not be able to adapt to the future situation, which in the end will force people to migrate. The mobile people are from the (upper) middle-class, and are assumed to be able to provide for themselves, and are therefore not interesting for this project. The immobile people will be the main focus of this project, since they are from the lower social classes(<middle class), and will be the ones in need of help. These people would normally move from rural ares into bigger cities, in search of prosperity(current migration trends), and establish their own unique society where everybody works and helps each other, whether it be by baby-sitting, teaching or help building houses. In addition, these people become a huge asset for whichever city they are apart of, or within vicinity to,
img. 8 : A favela in Sao Paolo, situated next to a high income housing unit. The people in the favelas are supplying the work force for the high-rise8.
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because they are to be considered a huge latent workforce(see img. 9 pp 20). If this type of society sounds familiar, it is due to them being scattered throughout the world in cities like Mumbai, Rio De Janero and Caracas. These areas are commonly know as slums, which has a negative connotation. Watching Stewart Brandts lecture on the â&#x20AC;&#x153;4 environmental â&#x20AC;&#x153;heresiesâ&#x20AC;?, it seems to be quite the opposite. Brandt argues that these people might be poor, when they move to the city, but they are actively seeking to get out of poverty. The unemployment rate is very low in these areas according to Brandt, since they, as mentioned, help eachother and are able to generate jobs for things such as; school, kindergartens, carpentry or craftsmanship. This essentially means that these people have an inherent will to learn and adapt to their new environment and apply whatever expertise they have or will acquire after they move(ex. build up of houses) in order to create or keep a job19(see img. 9). To sum up this section; it has been decided to analyse the vernacular architecture of Kiribati, Bangladesh and Algeria, in order to develop a framework for the architectural model that will be proposed for the successful relocation of the FCM. The following part of this booklet will describe the proposed context for this initial architectural test. img. 9 : Displays how the migrants can become a work force for its adjacent city, but also for neighbouring cities, within a given distance. close enough proximity
to far
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Context ? - What is a suitable placement for the migrants ? As mentioned in an earlier section, the country, which will becomes the new context for the FCM had to have a liberal view of the world. Initially this was thought to be Norway due to the earlier mentioned report published by the NRC (Norwegian refugee council). Doing a more thorough research it was discovered that Sweden is more liberal, and actually showing tendencies similar to what was described in the section about â&#x20AC;&#x153;Cultureâ&#x20AC;?. Sweden has a lenient border policy, and are actively trying to make Europe a more open state, by proposing an open border policy to prevent future border conflicts20. Besides being a open country, Sweden actively seeks an increase in population for the northern areas, since they at the moment are being heavily de-populated22. Choosing to move people from warm climactic regions, where people are at risk, to Sweden, is a very dramatic choice. Not only are people culturally very different, but the climate is equally as different, making the shift even harder. The difference will be analysed by comparing Bangladesh img. 10
img. 11
img. 10 - 11 : Diagrams showing the average temperature and daylight hours of Lycksele in northern Sweden. img. 12
img. 13
img. 12 - 13 : Diagrams showing the average temperature and daylight hours of Bangladesh. 21
and northern Sweden. The reason for only comparing the climatic difference between one of the countries of interest is that all the countries are more or less all situated, on the same longitude. When looking at the current climactic situation they are very different from each other, where people in northern Sweden have very varied seasons both in terms of daylight hours and temperatures, and the people of Bangladesh have a more constant climate. This seems drastically different, and it is, however the climate change, which is the cause of this entire assignment will increase the global temperature, making the shift less dramatic23. But for the sake of this project the point of departure is the current climactic condition, previously described in img. 10-13 on pp 21. The local municipalities in need of population growth, have started to offer permanent stay in Sweden, if you agree to stay within their region for a minimum of 2 years24. The new citizens will then in turn be helped to find a job or education, and be referred to Swedish language classes. The article describing the depopulation of northern Sweden, mentions the city of Sorsele22 as being in need of a population boost. This city is placed very far from the coast line, and the only means of transportation to get there is by car, which makes the transportation of displaced migrants difficult. Looking 150 km west, there is a city named Lycksele, which is closer to the coast line and has better infrastructure potentials, since it has a small airport. Making it easy to transport FCM to the city. Lycksele is within the same region as Sorsele, and it is therefor assumed that Lycksele is also in need of population growth, making it very simple to chose Lycksele as the context for this project(see img. 14-15 for facts and placement of the city).
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img. 14
img. 15
The airport of Lycksele, which presents some infrastructural potential, as to getting FCM, on site.
Facts about Lycksele: - has a population of 13.058 people. - has a small airport, making it easy for the FCM to get there. - has schools and a hospital25,26. - has a good train connection - situated approx. 124 km north east from the big student city named Ume책, and the FCM of Lycksele, will be able to function as a work force for Ume책.
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img. 16 img. 16 - 17 : presents the issue this project is trying to address; how do you successfully relocate people from one climactic situation to another, and still maintain their cultural patterns ?
img. 17 24
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Urban Studies
Urban Studies
img. 18
Urban Precedents - How to successfully retrofit a city with a growing population ? One of the unknown factors in the project, is the number of displaced people. How many will there be, how many will Sweden take in? And how many will go to Lycksele? As described earlier Sweden, is more liberal than Norway, and according to the NRC Norway is expecting to take in approximately 500.000 migrants by 205027, so it is estimated that Sweden will accept somewhere between 500.000 - 1 million migrants(from numerous countries), and that somewhere between 10-50.000 will be located in or around Lycksele. A general strategy for how they will be integrated into the urban fabric will be developed throughout this section based on a few historic precedents. The precedents have been studied to understand how different strategies will affect a context. Above is an old plan of Barcelona, from 1859 (img. 18), where Ildefons Cerda proposed a new urban structure for the future of Barcelona.
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img. 19
img. 20
He inserted a grid of infrastructure, which connects already existing urban settlements(black parts of the map). This presents a model of urbanisation that sews already existing urban areas together.28 Images 19-20,at the top of this page is of Paris, the top one is from 1871, and the other is a â&#x20AC;&#x153;screengrabâ&#x20AC;? from google-maps. Notice the coloured lines on the top? They represent the old city walls, which used to contain the city. But in 1671, they got torn down and transformed into boulevards, and allowed for a rapid urban expansion. The old city walls are also highlighted on the google image, and notice how the urban fabric is much denser within the boundaries of the old city walls? What is interesting about this strategy
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img. 21 Skjern/Tarm :
img. 22
1842
1901
is the shift in the architects function, they went from making buildings to orchestrate the infrastructure in the new urban areas.29 The last case study is of two small Danish townships that have developed and grown over time and will become one city within the next 20 years. The cities are called Skjern and Tarm, and are situated in central Jutland. Their formal development have been studied from 1842 - 2012(see img. 21-24). The interesting part is their starting condition, and the process of merging together. The starting condition for both towns were the same, they started to form around road intersections. This is a very normal way for cities to initially form, and it has happened this way since the hunter gatherer societies29. The towns are proposed to grown together by filling in the gap between them, alongside what will then become the main road29,30. The initial two precedents are of a very different scale than Lycksele, yet they present some interesting strategies in terms of how to retrofit Lycksele with a rapid growth in population. Especially the Barcelona process of filling in,
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img. 23 1945
img. 24 2012
because Lycksele has a very intricate road network surrounding it, creating some “pockets” that have potential to be filled out. Using this model has potential to integrate the migrants into the already existing Urban fabric, by blurring the relationship between “us” and “them”, creating a series of urban hubs through the city. The expansive model of Paris is not appropriate, since Lycksele does not have something containing it and is not organized in a radial manor similarly to Paris. In addition to this, it would be feared that if this strategy were to be applied, a very clear distinction would be created between “us“ and “them”, since the Swedish people would potentially end up being surrounded by the migrants. The model used in the Skjern/Tarm situation is very appropriate for the situation in Lycksele, both in terms of its initial scale, which is similar to Lycksele, but also in terms of the type of urban fabric it would create. This model of merging together will be used in relation with the infill model from Barcelona, for when the FCM will incorporated into the urban fabric of Lycksele.
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Vernacular Studies
Vernacular Studies
img. 25 : Vernacular house from Sweden, showing the wooden framework, and its characteristic red colour
Vernacular Studies - Learning from the Vernacular In order to know what the architectural model should take into account, in terms of organisational principles, important spaces, urban structure and urban relations, it is important to analyse the housing types of the people that will potentially move to Sweden. In this case the point of departure is the vernacular of Algeria, Bangladesh and Kiribati. After the analysis, one of the three cases will be chosen to develop and test in its new context. The case studied in this section is based on what type of dwelling the people described in “who will come”, is assumed to be living in. Algeria: As previously mentioned Algeria has been under occupation until recent times (1960’s) by France, which has had some negative effects on the way of living. But looking back to before the French occupation we find the Vernacular housing unit, which is the starting point for this analysis(img. 26). The general goal for a dwelling in Algeria is to be introvert and private. The household is situated in a densely packed urban plot, where the only “open space” within the plot is the small alleys leading to the entry points of the households(see img. 28). These areas are called a “Kasbah”, and are the traditional way of organising households in Algeria. When looking inside the dwellings, it is clear there is an organisational hierarchy, which consist of several different architectural elements, where everything is organised around a central courtyard(see img. 27). The courtyard serves two purposes, one is climactic - it helps to cool the entire household by creating wind circulation(cold air moving toward hot-air - from inside to the outside). The other to function as the social centre for the family, because when moving around the house, you will always have to go out to the courtyard or its associated gallery, thereby increasing the chance of meeting others from your family. Another important element in the dwelling is the flow of people, and how this is controlled. This has been done by developing a specific entrance situation called a “sqifa”, which essentially separates the flow going into the dwelling. A “sqifa” normally has two doors, one for animals and one for people, however sometimes it has only one door. This makes the separation of flow a little bit different, since the “sqifa” is then required to have a small room where the separation of people/animals can take place(see img. 27). A final thing which is found highly interesting is how they build their architecture. The materials are local, such as rocks, wood or mud, and the dwellings are build by the community at large. Furthermore some of the dwellings are constructed in such a way that they are expandable in relation
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img. 26 Bedroom
Roof terrace Stairwell Courtyard Bedroom Roof terrace
Entrance Storage Goat shed
to growth within the family. There are a multitude of different functions through the house, however the only focus for the future work will be on the liveable functions 32 is based on several k e y con i ng design i n t h eetc. Kmbah such as; kitchen, bedroom, storage room,Hous common area 68
•
T D S R
5.1
cerns, among which are climate, privacy inside the house, and
dry clothes, look at the sea and the townscape, and meet neighbors. Additionally, some houses have wells in the
protection against i ntrusion and housebreaking. I n addition,
yard, and orhers have djeb, a tank which collects rainwat
wealth is sometimes expressed in the size and decoration of
washing clothes, cleaning floors, etc. (FIG. 4).[0
houses, although the architecture (and the facades in par ticular) of Arabo-Islamic housing are traditionally very mod
Physical characteristics of the site of the Kasbah of Algier
est. Houses are also b u i l t to accommodate several households
considerably influenced its built form. Its steep slope f
e Kmbah is based on several k e y con
dry clothes, look at the sea and the townscape, and meet their
(the extended family). This is why houses may have three
its builders to rely on stairs and nartow, winding streets.
climate, privacy inside the house, and
neighbors. Additionally, some houses have wells in the court
stories and be composed of many rooms organized around a
pedestrians are able to enter (except that when the stree
flat, animals may be used for transport). Commercial a
usion and housebreaking. I n addition,
yard, and orhers have djeb, a tank which collects rainwater for
central courtyard. In such houses, there is only one entrance,
xpressed in the size and decoration of
washing clothes, cleaning floors, etc. (FIG. 4).[0
through a sqifa (meaning a closed and covered space or en
ic housing are traditionally very mod
Physical characteristics of the site of the Kasbah of Algiers have
accessible either from an outside corridor called a driba, or di
l t to accommodate several households
considerably influenced its built form. Its steep slope forced
This is why houses may have three
its builders to rely on stairs and nartow, winding streets. Only
d of many rooms organized around a
pedestrians are able to enter (except that when the streets are
uch houses, there is only one entrance,
flat, animals may be used for transport). Commercial activi-
architecture (and the facades in par
ng a closed and covered space or en
ere is a bench). This space is normally
trance lobby, where there is a bench). This space is normally
img. 27
rectly from a blind alley or a narrow street (FIG. 3).
The courtyard, the west-ed-dar, meaning "the center of the house, " is a typical feature of medina-type housing. It is usu-
img. 28
n outside corridor called a driba, or di
y or a narrow street (FIG. 3).
KEYS 1.
t-ed-dar, meaning "the center of the ure of medina-type housing. It is usu-
2.
3.
o
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2.
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2 0 30 40 50
Entrcmfe from ({ street
Accessibility to typiwl hOIlJeJ ill the Kasbah ofA lgier.r. (Drclwing
FIGURE
4. A n exawple of a traditional hottSe ill the Kasbah of /\Igier.r. (
,,/tel' DelllZ, L'Urbanisme er I'archi recrure d'Alger, p. l3. )
A telier de leI Casb"h, 1980, /). 8;. )
ally surrounded by a covered gallery with arcades giving access
t i e s c a n only b e fou nd along t h e main streets leading
KEYS
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wl hOIlJeJ ill the Kasbah ofA lgier.r. (Drclwing
FIGURE
archi recrure d'Alger, p. l3. )
A telier de leI Casb"h, 1980, /). 8;. )
45.
Covered gelllery Terrace
4. A n exawple of a traditional hottSe ill the Kasbah of /\Igier.r. (SONne:
to rooms. The gallery provides women with a place for do
fortified doors. Originally, houses in the Kasbah were
mestic activities i n bad weather. Rooms in such a house type
following strict building regulations established by the
rarely have openings to the outside; instead, the courtyard
rulers and dating to the fourteenth century . These re
ptovides both sunlight and ventilation.
tions concerned the fact that every house should face th
35terrace. " and have a roof
Rooms i n medina- type housing have different names accord
vered gallery with arcades giving access
t i e s c a n only b e fou nd along t h e main streets leading t o its
ing to their location and their main use. Three rooms usually
Such u n i formity is no longer t h e case, however. Severe
provides women with a place for do
fortified doors. Originally, houses in the Kasbah were built
occupy the first floor and are called ghoraf (plural of ghOi/ct,
crowding and the demand for additional housing spac
weather. Rooms in such a house type
following strict building regulations established by the city's
meaning "room"). They are connected to a large corridor (es
led to anarchic extensions. In addition, the KaJbah is u
o the outside; instead, the courtyard
rulers and dating to the fourteenth century . These regula
serious threat due to physical decay, lack of maintenance
tions concerned the fact that every house should face the sea
him) which overlooks the west-ed-dar. On the second floor there are other rooms call m'nazeh (plural of menze/h, which
and have a roof terrace. "
means "distant room" ) . These are arranged in a similar way
conditions became so dramatic that UNESCO was called
to the ghoraf, but because they receive considerable sunlight
help the Algerian government restore this valuable pie
and ventilation.
housing have different names accord
frequent inadequate building expansion or subdivision.
d their main use. Three rooms usually
Such u n i formity is no longer t h e case, however. Severe over
and dominate the house, they are i n the best position. Finally,
urban heritage. The results of this initiative are not k
nd are called ghoraf (plural of ghOi/ct,
crowding and the demand for additional housing space has
the house i ncludes a roof terrace, largely used by women to
yet, however, it seems that the government intends to
y are connected to a large corridor (es
led to anarchic extensions. In addition, the KaJbah is under
img. 29
Boia
Sleeping hut
Water stand
Cooking hut
Kiribati: There is not written a lot about Kiribati, which makes this analysis based on blog posts, by people who have travelled to Kiribati. A household in Kiribati consist of a small aggregation of huts in a manor similar to img. 29. Image 30-31 shows real huts from Kiribati. It is evident that the huts morphology are highly affected by the climate; they are very open to allow for ventilation, which is also why they are elevated above ground. Furthermore the elevation helps to keep different animals out. The huts are constructed out of locally accessible materials. Image 29 consist of three huts aggregated around a central courtyard, similarly to that of Bangladesh(pp 38-39), the different huts are a cooking hut, boia(dining/living room) and sleeping hut. The centre is where water is placed and distributed.33,34,35
36
img. 30
img. 31
37
img. 32
Kitchen Cow shed
img. 33
L - type
Tea-house // Shop
Bedrooms Porch // Plinth
Goat Shed
Kitchen // Plinth
img. 34
U - type
38
HOMESTEAD TYPES L-type:
Bedroom Porch // Plinth
img. 35
Parallel - type
Bangladesh: The knowledge gathered on the Bangladeshi vernacular is based on a case study performed by a group of architectural students, who were doing an internship in the country. The Bangladeshi vernacular is divided into three different types (see img. 33-35), the L -, U - and parallel type. Image 32 is based on a household organized as a U-type. A dwelling consists of multiple architectural components, all organized around a central courtyard, which is always â&#x20AC;&#x153;openâ&#x20AC;?, in the sense that it never gets fully enclosed by the same household. However, it is always closed of by bordering dwellings or trees/bushes. Even though the urban only consist of three different types, there are variation within every type, which presents a goal for the architectural model, which is to create a framework that will allow for a high urban heterogeneity. The courtyard in this region has no climactic benefits, but it has a huge urban potential since it is being used as a passage/shortcut when passing through the urban fabric. Since the courtyard is used as a passage for everybody in the neighbourhood, it is not viewed as being a private courtyard, so the good question would be; when is something within a household considered private? The answer is, when you are on the porch/ plinth, you are considered to have moved from the semi public realm into the private one. The plinth(see img. 32), is used to indicate the importance of the house which sits on top of it. This means that the house with the highest plinth is the head of the family. The plinth also serves a pragmatic function which is to secure the interior against flooding. After a flood, the dwellings has to be repaired, and this is done by its own occupants, so similar to Algeria, people are used to building and maintaining their own houses. The houses are usually constructed out of wood and mud; Locally available material. The focus of the further development would be to deal with the liveable parts of the household - meaning bedrooms, kitchen, tea-room etc. and how they organize in relation to each other. How these spaces relate to infrastructure also presents some potential, since certain functions are more used when facing the roads. Then dwellings which are further away from the roads has another spatial use. The sensitivity to the roads also indicates that cars are not a normal part of the urban fabric.36
39
It has been interesting to learn what constitutes the vernacular from different countries, and to realize that they have some similarities. One being that they mainly use locally available materials, and the other that people and the community often participate in the build of dwellings. Since these two factors are considered to be a part of the cultural patterns displaced in the countries, they are viewed as being crucial for the future development of this project. Another motivation for implementing self-build as a part of the project is to prevent what Danish poet Yahya Hasan says about foreign immigrants in Denmark, which in this case is paraphrased; that their responsibilities stopped the second they got to the country, and are extremely lazy since everything has been served up for them on a silver platter 37 - the hope is that by making people work for their household they will start to take pride in where they live and the way they live, and prevent the creation of what is popularly known as “ghettos”. Furthermore it is expected that social relations will be formed between people if they help each other in the build process. Since Kiribati is the one with the most immediate need of help, it would be obvious to select this country as the country of investigation, but since there were very little references to find about the way they live, it was chosen to work with either Algeria or Bangladesh. The two are very different, but the one which presents the most potential is Bangladesh, due to the way it is organized on an urban scale. Because it has the potential to create large communities where people are not estranged from each other, due to the informal network through the courtyards, it would be very interesting to see how this would translate into a Swedish context. Furthermore the Bangladeshi vernacular consist of a few different dwelling types, which have variations within the specific types. Meaning that the architectural model should allow for a flexible design and a multitude of morphologies within one or several frameworks. Since the project is inherently about culture, investigating how the Swedish build will be performed in the section labelled “technique” in booklet “2”. So the continued work through this project will revolve around developing an architectural model for forced-climate-migrants from Bangladesh, which will incorporate cultural elements from their households with the way of building in Sweden - thereby creating a cultural synergetic architectural model.
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img. 36 : It will be interesting to see how the living patterns of Bangladesh will adjust to new living conditions in Sweden.
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The
The Assignment This section describes the assignment, which was developed based on the previously described research. The second booklet describes the process and studies that have been made to make the best possible answer in relation to the assignment.
The Assignment The climate is changing and numerous precautions are being made to prevent, or tone down, the global warming and the issues it presents. Reading “the uncertain future of “climate refugees” in the Pacific.” by The international, where the current effects of climate changes have forced inhabitants of the island of Kiribati to apply for asylum in New Zealand 1, displays a more harsh reality. The reason inhabitants of Kiribati started to apply for asylum is, that their Island is being engulfed by the rising sea levels. This is not only a threat to islands but also to low-lying countries or cities. This knowledge brings up the question; what to do? How shall we in the future manage the amount of displaced people due to climate change? This project proposes a strategy for the successful relocation of displaced people, with no possibility of returning to their homeland or previous area of living. Generally speaking, there are two types of migrants; internally displaced people(IDP) or people that are migrating across boarders. The focus will be put on people that are moving across boarders. Normally people would move to countries near their own boarder, however recent studies show that boarders are being more and more restricted. An example of this is India, which have started to put up fences along the boarder towards Bangladesh, because the Indian government fear that they will be flooded by migrants from there, since the country is at great risk of becoming uninhabitable in the future2. These tendencies indicate that displaced people may need to move further away than to their immediate neighbours. A possible destination of refuge could be Sweden. There are several reasons for why Sweden is a place of interest, one being that Sweden is among the first nations addressing the need for a global responsibility towards these forced-migrants, which have lead to a debate addressing the closed boarders of Europe. Furthermore, Sweden have become a role-model, for the rest of Europe, by altering their immigration policy to have a more lenient policy3. Another reason is that the northern parts of Sweden are actively seeking people to live there, and are currently offering jobs to refugees/migrants, that will agree to stay there for a minimum of 2 years. This is to go against current trends, where locals are seeking towards the larger cities in the south4. Due to the above, the site for the assignment is set in Northern Sweden, in close proximity to Lycksele. Lycksele is a small city, placed approximately 100 km north-west from Umeå, with a population of 13.058 people5. The city is within the region actively seeking new residents, and it has a small airport, making it easily accessible. An added benefit of being within proximity of an established city, is the possibility to attach onto and expand from the existing infrastructure.
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The project focuses on the development of a dwelling for displaced people migrating from Bangladesh. The dwelling is thought to be flexible, and be able to create a multitude of different morphologies. The ambition is to design a framework for the dwelling allowing for numerous dwelling morphologies within the same type(s). It should be possible to build the dwelling as an unskilled labour. The dwelling should be able to accommodate a family of approximately 4-8 people. The question of variation will be tested through a quantitative study of latent possibilities within the created framework. The media for this study will be digital drawings. The build-ability of the dwelling, will be investigated in large scale models and drawings between 1:50-1:20. The urban is very important in Bangladesh, making it important to conduct urban studies in models and drawings, in scales ranging from 1:2000 - 1:200. The focus of these studies will be to understand the urban circulation.
1) http://www.theinternational.org/articles/405-the-uncertainfuture-of-climate-refugees - 06/09/2013 2) Future floods of refugees - A comment of climate change, conflict and forced migration, by the NRC. 3) http://www.government.se/sb/d/3083 - 06/09/2013 4) http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=2054&arti kel=4378679 - 06/09/2013 5) http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=lycksele - 07/09/2013 6) http://www.ted.com/talks/stewart_brand_proclaims_4_environmental_heresies.html - 06/09/2013
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Bibliography: 1 : “Stewart Brand: 4 Environmental ‘heresies’” TED: Ideas worth Spreading. N.p., n.d. Web. Sept. 2013. 2: “The International.” The Uncertain Future of ‘Climate Refugees’ in the Pacific —. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Sept. 2013. 3: “Latest News.” Refugee Council of Australia. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2013. 4: “future floods of refugees - a comment on climate change, conflict and forced migration” can be found here http://www.nrc.no/?did=9268973. Accessed 4-1-2014 5:Weinstock, Michael. System City: Infrastructure and the Space of Flows. London: John Wiley & Sons, 2013. 18. Print. 6: Assman, Jan. Kultur und Gedächtnis: Collective Memory and Cultural Identity. Germany, 1988. 126127. Print. 7: Assman, Jan. Kultur und Gedächtnis: Collective Memory and Cultural Identity. Germany, 1988. 129. Print. 8 : Assman, Jan. Kultur und Gedächtnis: Collective Memory and Cultural Identity. Germany, 1988. 125 . Print. 9: Assman, Jan. Kultur und Gedächtnis: Collective Memory and Cultural Identity. Germany, 1988. Print. 10: Hajri, Karim. TDSR vol “V” no. 1: Field Report - Vernacular Housing Forms in North Algeria. 1993. Print 11 :“The International.” The Uncertain Future of ‘Climate Refugees’ in the Pacific —. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Sept. 2013. 12 : (http://avaxnews.net/fact/That_Sinking_ Feeling_or_Daily_Life_in_Kiribati.html) accessed 23-10-2013 13 : “Larry Brilliant: The Case for Optimism.” TED: Ideas worth Spreading. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Sept. 2013. 14 : see ref 4 15 : (http://www.towardsrecognition.org/2012/04/ climate-change-migration-and-conflict-innorthwest-africa-rising-dangers-across-the-arc-oftension/) accessed 23-12-2013 46
16 : (http://www.alarabiya.net/ articles/2011/09/08/165977.html) accessed 23-122013 17 : see ref 4 18 : (http://science.howstuffworks.com/ engineering/structural/levee2.htm) accessed 4-12014 19 : see ref 1 20 : (http://www.government.se/sb/d/3083) accessed 6-9- 2013 22 : depopulation of the northern parts 23 : (http://www.theguardian.com/ environment/2007/may/15/climatechange. climatechangeenvironment) accessed 4-1-2013 24 : (http://www.thelocal.se/50030/20130903/ ) accessed 6-9-2013 25 : (http://www.lycksele.se/templates/Page. aspx?id=19724) accessed 2-10-2013 26 : (http://www.lycksele.se/templates/Page. aspx?id=21379) accessed 2-10-2014 27 : see ref 4 28 : Aureli, Pier Vittorio. The Possibility of an Absolute Architecture. Cambridge, MA: MIT, 2011. Print. 29 : see 29. 30 : Otto, Frei, and Berthold Burkhardt. Occupying and Connecting: Thoughts on Territories and Spheres of Influence with Particular Reference to Human Settlement. Stuttgart: Edition Axel Menges, 2009. 55-59. Print. 31 : (http://www.tvmidtvest.dk/indhold/ rabaldermoede-om-skjern-tarm) accessed 1-102013 32 : see ref 10 33 :see ref 11 34 : see ref 12 35 : (http://www.peacegallery.org/asiapacific/ kiribati/kiribati05.htm) accessed 19-10-2013 36 : privately contacted regarding this link (http://www.panigram.com/2011/06/exploringbangladeshi-mudarchitecture/#comment-1042) accessed the 16/10/2013 37 : “Politiken.” Digter: Jeg Er Fucking Vred På Mine Forældres Generation. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Jan. 2014.
Image List: img. 1 : (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ commons/b/b5/Palestinian_refugees.jpg) accessed 04-01-2014 img. 2 : (http://spatialanalysis.co.uk/wp-content/ uploads/2011/03/global_migration_sm1.png) accessed 04-01-2014 img. 3 : (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_MRnCBEdLKIY/ TUMGguNMuzI/AAAAAAAADCM/cHZohQs81AE/ s1600/Mass+migration+during+independence+of+I ndia+38.jpg) accessed 22-12-2013 img. 4 : (http://ja.wahooart.com/Art.nsf/ O/8XX8KU/$File/Henry-F.-Farny-Dance-of-CrowIndians.JPG) accessed 13-10-2013 img. 5 : (http://cathrinealice.files.wordpress. com/2010/11/sales-poster-pic-sent.jpg) accessed 22-12-2013 img. 6 : own illustration img. 7 : own illustration img. 8 : (http://heckeranddecker.files.wordpress. com/2008/10/sao-paolo-slum-cmp.jpg) accessed 20-10-2013 img. 9 : own illustration img. 10 : (http://weatherspark.com/ averages/33927/Chittagong-Chittagong-DivisionBangladesh) accessed 29-12-2013 img. 11-12 : (http://weatherspark.com/ averages/28938/Lycksele-Vasterbotten-Sweden) accessed 29-12-2013 img. 13-14 : (http://weatherspark.com/ averages/33927/Chittagong-Chittagong-DivisionBangladesh) accessed 29-12-2013 iimg. 15 : Map archive from Aarhus Architectural school img. 16 : privately contacted regarding this link (http://www.panigram.com/2011/06/exploringbangladeshi-mudarchitecture/#comment-1042) accessed the 16/10/2013 img. 17 : own illustration img. 18 : (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ commons/4/48/Ensanche_-_eixample_-_Barcelona. jpg ) accessed 27-09-2013 img. 19 : (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ commons/a/a2/Paris_und_Umgebung_1871_
cropped.jpg) accessed 1-10-2013 img. 20 : google.maps.dk img. 21 - 24 : Map archive from Aarhus Architectural school img. 25 : Edenheim, Ralph, Olle Norling, Margareta Kjellin, and Roger Tanner. The Red Houses. Stockholm: Byggförlaget, 2005. 105. Print. img. 26 : own illustration img. 27,28 : Hajri, Karim. TDSR vol “V” no. 1: Field Report - Vernacular Housing Forms in North Algeria. 1993. 68. Print img. 29 : own illustration img. 30 : (http://travelwithnorma.files.wordpress. com/2011/04/14-sleeping-hut.jpg) accessed 04-012014 img. 31 : (http://avaxnews.net/fact/That_Sinking_ Feeling_or_Daily_Life_in_Kiribati.html) accessed 23-10-2013 img. 32 : own illustration img. 33-35 : privately contacted regarding this link (http://www.panigram.com/2011/06/exploringbangladeshi-mudarchitecture/#comment-1042) accessed the 16/10/2013 img. 36 : own illustration
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