commercial autonomy
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BENVGBU8 | CRITICAL URBANISM STUDIO Individual Design Response
January 9th, 2017 Salma Nassar Candidate Number: NMYX7
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”a neighbourhood well prepared for change.... making PREVI porous”
[1[
PREVI
PREVI , Los Olivos, Lima, Peru “The concept of PREVI was a concept that challenged all housing project ideologies at it's time. It set a precedent for decades to precede. The irregularity of the typologies ceated a complex neighbourhood layout, very different from the monotonous institutional housing estate projects. This allowed the multiplicity of self-created (autonomous) urban possibilities and activities which gave birth to multiple new space usage far from what was initially planned. Having said that it gave the barrio a “ greater functional complexity”. PREVI shifted the responsibility of housing to the end user, which required families to be self generative and to create a micro-economical system to help sustain the coninuation of the house. On the programatic level, multiple families built a commercial outlet as an extension or part of their house as an initial strategy to cover the construction expenses of their unit. This observation resonates with how commercial activities consolidated building practices and dwelling. To be able to constantly upgrade, an intervention will be proposed to help revive the commercial activity, thus the local economy of PREVI will be more internalized to strengthen it’s autonomous edge. On two scales, the evolution of certain public and private spaces will be pushed to fit commercial uses. A. Temporal Markets open for PREVI and adjacent neighborhoods using flexible tables B. Creating a production chain between adjacent houses using their kitchens and backyards.” (Huidobro, n.d, p. 27).
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PREVI, Lima
Urban Expansion of Lima since 1940 1940 1961 1972 1981 1993 Barriadas (low income settlements) Tugurios (slums)
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[2[ Commercial Autonomy + Surroundings
PREVI Collective Autonomy + Income Units PREVI was analyzed through the lens of collective autonomy. Which was the initial building plan of the whole neighbourhood. It is said that PREVI became a city within a barriadas, and it all goes back to the self construction of the people, urbanising the city at their own pace. As John Turner defines autonomy as a response mechanism to meet what is lacking and essential . PREVI wouldn’t have undergone the process of consolidation if it wasn’t for adjacent neighbourhoods as they developed an open economy between them. According to Time Builds: The Fernandez Family and multiple more families build a shop as an extension to maintain the capital to build their house.
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Fernandez Family Income Unit Shop
2003
1978 97 m2
124 m
2
138 m
2
209 m
2
344 m
2
Ground Floor First Floor Second Floor
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Fernandez Family Income Unit Incorporation
1973
Bu Pro ilding ce ss
≈1976
Shop
Inco
Inc
om eG
en
era
tor
me
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No
rth
Commercial Ground Floor (Time Builds!) Commercial Ground Floor (Google Earth - Personal Mapping)
PREVI Axonometric
Change of Use | Pedestrian Network “The transformation of a house depends to a great extent on the family’s needs. However, the location of a house within a diverse urban fabric is also a determining factor for is potential development. The emergence of new uses beyond the residential is directly related to the various aspects of neighbourhood design. In PREVI, the propertes facing the perimeter roads connecting the neighbourhood with the city have been transformed into convenience stores. The main pedestrian streets also has a large number of shops but these are more of the local corner-shop kind. Around the central park, the houses have been transformed into a couple of nurseries and a school that use the park for various activities intensfy
Commercial Autonomy
intensfying the use of public space. Understanding the location patterns of new uses such as these makes it possible to design a neighbourhood well prepared for change, without generic or overdetermined zoning, that promotes entrepreneurship (in the form of new family businesses) to strengthen the local economy.” (Huidobro ; Torriti ; Tugas, nd) PREVI’s evolution of its layout, started with the initial plan of pedestrian networks and open space plazas. The encouragement of customer access to spaces activated the need to transform ground floors to commercial outlets.
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PREVI and its Surroundings The original vision at PREVI-Lima was only ever partially realised: less than a third of the 1,500 planned housing units were built and the governmental crisis of the late 1960’s meant that the occupants were left to their own devices. Hence, the original master-plan covered a larger area than what already exists. Given that PREVI was built on deserted lands, it was a primary reason that other neighbourhoods were developed, thus some of them are occupying what was originally PREVI. The concept of the project is to attempt to link the surrounding neighbourhoods and integrate them back in the masterplan, hence the idea of “opening up PREVI” aroused. “Since the concept of PREVI is a statement against the modernist model of urban design, its primary goal was flexibility” (Huidobro, n.d, p. 27). “In 2003 the current state of PREVI was researched as part of [an] architectural degree thesis at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile. [It] focused on verifying how the families, turned into incidental architects had completed the project and transformed it into a consolidated and integrated piece of the city. The houses have been transformed, dozens of small businesses flourish and special rental systems for subdivisions of the original units make up a dense active neighbourhood.” (Huidobro, n.d, p. 27).
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Parque Del Naranjal
ricana N
Pan Ame
Cueto Fernandini
orte
Independencia
Chrimoyas
100 m
PREVI and its Surroundings East of PREVI is bordered by a high way Pan Americana Norte which makes the interaction between PREVI and the Eastren Neighbourhoods difficult. However neighbourhoods west of PREVI were initially part of the original masterplan thus its evolution took the same continuation of the pedestrian spine and linked the adjacent neighbourhoods with PREVI. As well as the North neighbourhood Parque Del Naranjal
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which is rich in public parks, a lot of outlets face the periphery.
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[3[ Public Spaces + Commercial Acitivity Rules and Regulations Design
Adjacent Neighbourhoods
PREVI
housing
al f ation aciliti c u
erce & serv m i m
s ce
co
es
ed
CURRENT ECONOMY
Adjacent Neighbourhoods Adjacent Neighbourhoods
PREVI
al f ation aciliti c u
housing erce & serv i mm
s ce
co
es
ed
INTENDED ECONOMY
Global Intervention 1. Closed Economy Between Neighbourhoods As PREVI portrayed the efficiency of having a self owned shop integrated with the dwelling unit. Used to maintain the running costs of building their own house, the intervention suggests having a closed loop of merchandise trading from one neighbourhood to the other, for instance sharing storage spaces, transportation costs, common suppliers, and food production cycles.
Duration: Long-term Plan Scale: Neighbourhoods Actors: Neighbourhood initiative and civil society mobilization
Adjacent Neighbourhoods
A
B
Exploiting PREVI’s Urban Strategy “The urban approach included three main strategies: 1. A pedestrian axis that connects educational and sports facilities and the main park. Running through the centre of the neighbourhood, pedestrian street activates and defines its core, allowing any public transport to stop to make the whole system more efficient. 2. A network of small plazas and pedestrian passages based on the relationship between the urban unit (the plaza) and the social unit (the self-organising community). This urban/social connection promotes the collective care and maintenance of public space. This plaza-and-passage scheme also articulates the different clusters formed by the original projects. “ (Huidobro ; Torriti ; Tugas, nd)
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Ground Floor Transformation
Commercial High External Connectivity Medium External Connectivity Low External Connectivity
Users External Visitors Local Visitors
It is evident that most transformed dwelling units are the ones on the periphery and with the largest access to pedestrian density. The aim of the intervention is to increase the porosity of PREVI through commerce and trading services.
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Opening Up PREVI
Parque Del Naranjal
Cueto Fernandini Independencia
Chrimoyas 100 m
2. Commerce Locality Internalizing commercial goods between neighbourhoods. Example: Food Outlets In order to decrease costs of transportation, supplies, and labor, a model to internally grow crops needed in backyards and exchanging them.
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Duration: Long-term Plan Scale: Neighbourhoods Actors: Neighbourhood initiative and educational facilities
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Pedestrian Axis Extension
Temporal Markets
3. Pedestrian Axis Extension
4. Temporal Markets
Easing the pedestrian acess from PREVI to Cueto Fernandini neighbourhood. Duration: Long-term Plan Scale: Cueto Fernandini and PREVI Actors: Neighbourhood initiative and civil society + government
Temporal markets (example: Sunday Markets), will allow local entrepreneurs to arouse and encourage them to lead thei own business of merchandise and services. Duration: Short-term Plan Scale: Public Parks Neighbourhoods Actors: Neighbourhood initiative and civil society + government
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Distribution Ironing Reconditioning Unit Reconditioning Unit Sorting Unit
Collection Unit
6
5
4
3
2
1
5. Closed Production Markets Learning from PREVI; to internalize the income and resources , a second-hand clothes market is suggested. Second -hand clothes market is a sustainable market as the resources can be renewed regularly. Using a chain of houses to function as a ‘production line’ each household ‘s backyard or shop extension should be responsible for a certain stage in the process. Then collaboratively create a temporal market every season. The idea of a productuon chain between
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houses can be implemented with many models such as food production. Duration: Medium-term Plan Scale: PREVI housing Cluster Actors: Local Family Initiative and civil society
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Land Use Commercial Services
Users Local Citizens
Street Vendors
6. Public Plazas-Market Tables PREVI is rich in public plaza’s in between neighbourhood clusters but they appear to be underused or “dead” assets, the strategy of reviving temporal markets should be coupled by a flexible furniture design used by the local community. Given that there are multiple workshops at the Eastren side of the neighbourhood it can be suggested to implement the manufacturing of the simple table design inspired by origami to internally produce the product and even sell it to adjacent neighbourhoods.
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Duration: Short-term Plan Scale: Neighbourhoods Actors: Neighbourhood initiative and educational facilities
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1
Vending Tabletop 8
Storage Space 2
7
3
6
4
5
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Photo by Peter Land + Vending Table
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[4[ Conclusion
Conclusion PREVI being called the “successful failure” is absolutley true, as it sets examples to how can a neighbourhood exist independently and autonomously build itself all the way to the final stage of consolidation. However, the phenomenon of how PREVI came to be was mainly through an “income-generator” unit of the house. According to Time Builds it is either attached to the house at the early stages of the development or it occupied the space originally assigned for domestic use. This concludes the importance of a commercial unit in the survival cycle of the dwelling. This statement is indeed still valid on a more urban scale, between clusters and even between neighbourhoods. PREVI and surrounding neighbourhoods are very popular with convenient stores, restaurants, domestic services and workshops. Their existence is a great response to the residents’ needs however it is crucial to debate the sustainability of that open ended economic system. Thus a series of intervention marginally attempt to give the local residents’ (not only PREVI but the adjacent neighbourhoods) tools to maintain a shared and closed economy between them. This will allow the continous urban upgrade and will create social, community and financial capital as a responsive force to scarcities. Closed loop economies should strengthen what PREVI has already been doing which is autonomy, in addition it is crucial to think of it as an activator neighbourhood rather than a closed “society”. Opening -up PREVI should decrease any sense of gentrification between communities and allows a facilitated pooling of resources to be able to build an integrated center in an attempt to decentralise services and congestion off Lima’s center.
Global Intervention 1. Closed Economy Between Neighbourhoods As PREVI portrayed the efficiency of having a self owned shop integrated with the dwelling unit. Used to maintain the running costs of building their own house, the intervention suggests having a closed loop of merchandise trading from one neighbourhood to the other, for instance sharing storage spaces, transportation costs, common suppliers, and food production cycles.
Duration: Long-term Plan Scale: Neighbourhoods Actors: Neighbourhood initiative and civil society mobilization
2. Commerce Locality Internalizing commercial goods between neighbourhoods. Example: Food Outlets In order to decrease costs of transportation, supplies, and labor, a model to internally grow crops needed in backyards and exchanging them.
Duration: Long-term Plan Scale: Neighbourhoods Actors: Neighbourhood initiative and educational facilities
3. Pedestrian Axis Extension
4. Temporal Markets
Easing the pedestrian acess from PREVI to Cueto Fernandini neighbourhood. Duration: Long-term Plan Scale: Cueto Fernandini and PREVI Actors: Neighbourhood initiative and civil society + government
Temporal markets (example: Sunday Markets), will allow local entrepreneurs to arouse and encourage them to lead thei own business of merchandise and services. Duration: Short-term Plan Scale: Public Parks Neighbourhoods Actors: Neighbourhood initiative and civil society + government
5. Closed Production Markets Learning from PREVI; to internalize the income and resources , a second-hand clothes market is suggested. Second -hand clothes market is a sustainable market as the resources can be renewed regularly. Using a chain of houses to function as a ‘production line’ each household ‘s backyard or shop extension should be responsible for a certain stage in the process. Then collaboratively create a temporal market every season. The idea of a productuon chain between
houses can be implemented with many models such as food production. Duration: Medium-term Plan Scale: PREVI housing Cluster Actors: Local Family Initiative and civil society
6. Public Plazas-Market Tables PREVI is rich in public plaza’s in between neighbourhood clusters but they appear to be underused or “dead” assets, the strategy of reviving temporal markets should be coupled by a flexible furniture design used by the local community. Given that there are multiple workshops at the Eastren side of the neighbourhood it can be suggested to implement the manufacturing of the simple table design inspired by origami to internally produce the product and even sell it to adjacent neighbourhoods. Commercial Autonomy
Duration: Short-term Plan Scale: Neighbourhoods Actors: Neighbourhood initiative and educational facilities
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Bibliography and Refrences Boano, C, Vergara Perucich, F, & Ferrando, T. (2016). Half-happy architecture. Viceversa (4) Pp. 2016( .81-58), Viceversa (4) pp. 2016( .81-58). DAP. (n.d.). Retrieved January 2017 ,08, from http://www.architecturalpapers.ch/ index.php?ID=91 García-Huidobro, F., & Torriti, D. T. (2008). ¡El tiempo construye!: el Proyecto Experimental de Vivienda (PREVI) de Lima: génesis y desenlace = Time builds!: the Experimental Housing Project (PREVI), Lima: genesis and outcome. Barcelona: G. Gili. Generica Architecture Urban Design. (n.d.). Retrieved January 08, 2017, from http:// www.generica.com.mx/filter/Previ/PREVI-Peru-MOMA-NY Land, P. (2015). The Experimental Housing Project (PREVI), Lima: design and technology in a new neighborhood = El Proyecto Experimental de Vivienda (PREVI), Lima: diseño y tecnología en un nuevo barrio. Bogota, Colombia: Universidad de los Andes. PREVI Lima 1969 – Transfer. (n.d.). Retrieved January 08, 2017, from http://www. transfer-arch.com/counterpoint/previ-lima-1969/
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