Robert Neuwirth has been lecturing me and although I haven't finished hearing him out, I have already started thinking about a very interesting project. That project would be jumpstarting the lowest of the low income housing projects. In other words, what could be done to improve the quality of life of squatters from an architectural perspective? The first thing that comes to mind is to basically update the hut and the shanty as a more or less permanent kind of structure - a basic unit of housing whose design overcomes the most basic difficulties of squat housing.
The first thing that comes to mind is something about the size of a 3 x 5 x 2 meter stackable block of poured concrete with a drainage hole in a corner or in the center. Half of the roof is built in and the other half is open. There is an open door frame.
The primary use of this would be as a kind of structure that allows for extension, a building block that could become a primary kind of favela-lego building material which has features built into it that is highly adaptive. Something more than a brick, something less than a pre-fab.
I think about poured concrete because my first idea was for security and cleanability. I think I'd have a sense of security in concrete, but perhaps pressed wood or PVC or some other combination of materials would be much more appropriate. Again, I'm thinking of something that is fundamentally waterproof, antiseptic and portable.
The second idea that comes to mind is the reuse of shipping containers. I've actually seen this idea all over the place. Here's an excellent resource. These are fairly upscale but I could see that some downscale versions might work fairly well. Obviously there is some problem in getting these to the places where they should be. Here's a bit more detail about some basic how-to.
Nuewirth is a bit fascinated by the 'communitarian' aspects of drug-gang protection. His inversion of the aspects of law and order and his poetics about his encounter with the cops is, well, something I've heard a lot before. And so my spidey senses are tingling. So the second thing I do is second-guess my good intentions. What are the likely outcomes of giving away superior (we think) squat housing into current slums? Chances are that the big bad powerful guys who run things in these most ghetto of ghettoes would get them.
Maybe this is just a bad idea. The more I listen to this guy's video, the more I think so.
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