Undergraduate Category: Humanities and Arts Degree Seeking: BS in ...
Undergraduate Category: Humanities and Arts Degree Seeking: B.S. in Architecture Abstract ID#1486
DEVELOPING AFFORDABLE HOUSING in Botswana
UNIVERSAL ELEMENTS // Identifying Case Studies
Kristen Starheim
ABSTRACT
APPROACH
Low-quality, unaffordable housing is an issue that plagues many areas across the globe. Gaborone, Botswana is currently suffering from housing policies that have fallen short in creating affordable, vibrant neighborhoods. Residential districts on the city outskirts adhere to a single-unit-to-plot typology, which has proven both spatially and socially inefficient. The resulting urban fabric exhibits a sprawling, homogenous pattern that restricts the residents' sense of community and ability to expand.
Charles Correa, India, 1983
Affordability Hinges On
EFFICIENCY
INTRODUCTION
DENSIFICATION
My alternate framework for affordable housing attacks these existing shortcomings by hybridizing various successes of other housing initiatives and tailoring them to the context of Botswana. This design intervention emerged after extensive critical study of past affordable housing initiatives, as well as an in-depth analysis of Gaborone's demography, historical context, and cultural values. The proposed framework is based on three core intents: densification, incremental growth, and community empowerment. By integrating local materials and labor, effective structural strategies, and the ability to aggregate units for future growth, this framework provides an improved method for affordable and self-sustaining development.
INCREMENTAL GROWTH
SELF - BUILD
Empower Shack
Horizontal
Empower Shack, South Africa, 2004
EMPOWERMENT Vertical
GOAL This affordable housing framework has the potential to greatly improve housing conditions in Gaborone while simultaneously catalyzing community empowerment and facilitating future incremental growth. The proposed model can also be adapted to other contexts, thus combating unaffordable, inadequate housing on a global scale.
Belapur Housing
GOAL: Provide Affordable + Flexible Housing Model for Gaborone, Botswana
MODULAR FORM SHARED SERVICES
SENSE OF COMMUNITY
MATERIALITY
IMPROVED MOBILITY
SKILLS
SENSE OF OWNERSHIP
Quinta Monroy Elemental, Chile, 2008
PHASE 1 // Initial groundwork 10x10 Sandbag Homes Design Indaba, South Africa, 2009
Workers // Investors
PHASE 2 // Returning homes to locals DATA + RESULT // Vibrant and Affordable Neighborhood
Incremental Kaccha Homes
Gorensson/Balestra, India, 2009
Workers // Investors Families
PHASE 3 // Horizontal incremental growth
UNIVERSAL ELEMENTS // Extracted Toolbox Local Materials Structural Podium
Workers // Investors Families // Renters
Incremental Packed Services External Stair Structural Frame
PHASE 4 // Vertical incremental growth IMPACT Workers // Investors Families // Renters
This solves the problem of costly, low-quality housing, urban sprawl, and disempowerment. The unique feature about my innovation is that it provides a framework that draws on successes of housing initiatives of the past and applies learned lessons to improve Botswana’s existing housing issues.
DEVELOPING AFFORDABLE HOUSING in Botswana
UNIVERSAL ELEMENTS // Identifying Case Studies
Kristen Starheim
ABSTRACT
APPROACH
Low-quality, unaffordable housing is an issue that plagues many areas across the globe. Gaborone, Botswana is currently suffering from housing policies that have fallen short in creating affordable, vibrant neighborhoods. Residential districts on the city outskirts adhere to a single-unit-to-plot typology, which has proven both spatially and socially inefficient. The resulting urban fabric exhibits a sprawling, homogenous pattern that restricts the residents' sense of community and ability to expand.
Charles Correa, India, 1983
Affordability Hinges On
EFFICIENCY
INTRODUCTION
DENSIFICATION
My alternate framework for affordable housing attacks these existing shortcomings by hybridizing various successes of other housing initiatives and tailoring them to the context of Botswana. This design intervention emerged after extensive critical study of past affordable housing initiatives, as well as an in-depth analysis of Gaborone's demography, historical context, and cultural values. The proposed framework is based on three core intents: densification, incremental growth, and community empowerment. By integrating local materials and labor, effective structural strategies, and the ability to aggregate units for future growth, this framework provides an improved method for affordable and self-sustaining development.
INCREMENTAL GROWTH
SELF - BUILD
Empower Shack
Horizontal
Empower Shack, South Africa, 2004
EMPOWERMENT Vertical
GOAL This affordable housing framework has the potential to greatly improve housing conditions in Gaborone while simultaneously catalyzing community empowerment and facilitating future incremental growth. The proposed model can also be adapted to other contexts, thus combating unaffordable, inadequate housing on a global scale.
Belapur Housing
GOAL: Provide Affordable + Flexible Housing Model for Gaborone, Botswana
MODULAR FORM SHARED SERVICES
SENSE OF COMMUNITY
MATERIALITY
IMPROVED MOBILITY
SKILLS
SENSE OF OWNERSHIP
Quinta Monroy Elemental, Chile, 2008
PHASE 1 // Initial groundwork 10x10 Sandbag Homes Design Indaba, South Africa, 2009
Workers // Investors
PHASE 2 // Returning homes to locals DATA + RESULT // Vibrant and Affordable Neighborhood
Incremental Kaccha Homes
Gorensson/Balestra, India, 2009
Workers // Investors Families
PHASE 3 // Horizontal incremental growth
UNIVERSAL ELEMENTS // Extracted Toolbox Local Materials Structural Podium
Workers // Investors Families // Renters
Incremental Packed Services External Stair Structural Frame
PHASE 4 // Vertical incremental growth IMPACT Workers // Investors Families // Renters
This solves the problem of costly, low-quality housing, urban sprawl, and disempowerment. The unique feature about my innovation is that it provides a framework that draws on successes of housing initiatives of the past and applies learned lessons to improve Botswana’s existing housing issues.
