Rapid urbanization and inadequate capability to cope with the housing needs of people in urban areas have contributed to the development of informal settlements. Living in these settlements often poses significant challenges to the health of the residents; inadequate sanitation, poor food storage facilities, inadequate waste management, poor quality of water, lack of access to clean energy for cooking and lighting. The challenges lead to exposure to indoor pollutions and a wider range of pathogens. Further, overcrowding can contribute to increased social problems.
Rwanda’s urban population has been rapidly growing, with 18.4 % of the population now living in urban areas. The urban population almost doubled from 1.49 million to 3.46 million between 2002 and 2015. Kigali city is the largest urban agglomeration (1,132,686 people in 2012 as per the national census) and is home to a major share (about half) of Rwanda’s urban population. Rapid urban growth in Kigali has led to the development of unplanned settlements, characterized by inferior living conditions such as limited access to infrastructure, limited plot accessibility, and rudimentary housing construction-materials, etc. These challenges pose a long-term risk to the quality of life for city residents.
It is against this backdrop that this studio introduces students to IDENTITY as an interpretation of cultural contexts, using an upgrading project aimed at ‘embracing informality’, which characterizes a significant proportion of Kigali’s housing and the housing culture of Kigali city. This is based on the fact that ‘the best way to predict the future is to design It’.
The Design object of this trimester will be a comprehensive housing upgrading project serving as example of embracing informality in Kigali. Through a participatory design approach, supported by lectures, readers, charrettes, guest lectures, field visits and community workshops, the students will be asked to develop a scheme that responds to community culture, across all scales of the existing urban landscape as well as the social behaviors of the community it is designed for. The familiar but complex environment the students will explore will help them to value their own cultural context and an appreciation of its role in housing.
The students will move from challenges to solutions, through site investigation and survey, from the concepts of a neighbourhood, a cluster, a household, a house and a basic space for an individual, to the aggregation of basic spaces and the design of their connections, while exploring the use of local materials and integrating the architecture object in the urban landscape.