House as Thesis: Fog House in Imizamo Yethu Follow-Up Analysis

Below is the progress I have made on my Follow-Up Analysis. 

Major Weaknesses

1.     Unclear Self-Organization

The Fog House is intended to be a combination of strategies that can be implemented in part or in whole by the residents of informal settlements that hav­e a high number of fog days per year, in regions such as the west coasts of North and South America, South Africa, and Japan for example. The project was critiqued for being too heavy handed and interpreted as a top down approach. I believe what was missing in providing a successful argument was a clear perspective drawing or render of the project in situ. The render that I did present (Figure 01) was critiqued for having the houses too close to the foreground for their integration to be discerned.

2.     ‘Checklist’ Architecture

The tactics used in the design of the Fog House were considered to be too pragmatic, as if each gesture corresponded to an item on a checklist. The design was interpreted as the kind of intervention that an NGO or developer would propose. I believe that a more extensive range of formal experiments in the tactical implementation would have aided my argument and resulted in a more intriguing architectural expression.

3.     Lack of Detailing

I understand that my project had a lack of detailing. Given more time, I would have liked to complete a wall section and critical details to depict the sandbag and wood wall assembly, as well as its connection to the ladder, the foundation and the fog net structure. I attempted to show the construction in my plans and sections, but a larger scale wall section and critical details would have been extremely beneficial in making my argument.

Major Strengths

1.     Thesis & Strategies

I believe that my thesis statement and three strategies are well written and unambiguous. Their inherent universality will help me to continue to build upon them in future design work by allowing me to apply them in any context. I aim to refine them as the semester progresses.

2.     Tactics

I believe my project is well resolved tactically; each gesture was carefully considered and aimed to integrate multiple strategies. For example, the foundation addressed both the issues of flood prevention and water storage, and the envelope was designed to be secure and sustainable, both environmentally and economically. I will continue to build upon this in future design work by exploring different tactics that can achieve the same goals using a minimal number of architectural gestures to achieve the greatest effect.

Opportunities Moving Forward

1.     Further Exploration of Interconnectivity

I have the opportunity moving forward to develop a further interconnectedness of resources in my design work. In project two my mandate will not be to design for the global south, but for an entirely different context and demographic. As expressed in my revised thesis statement, I do not believe that the paradigm of treating water at the source is an effective strategy for providing safe drinking water for everyone. There are ways to collect, store, and purify water at the micro scale that can be integrated into a larger system that serves the entire community. In doing this I aim to return control over the survival of underprivileged communities to community members from large water purification companies that ignore them in the name of profit.

2.     Architectural Expression

I have the opportunity to further explore the architectural expression of my design work in the next project. I will try to be more experimental in my work by selecting a context and user group that allows me more flexibility in an economic sense to use higher quality materials and more innovative technologies. The larger scale of the second project will also aid me in working toward a more intriguing architectural expression.

Conclusion

The three new authoritative research resources that I will be investigating are:

1.     France, R. L. (2002). Handbook of water sensitive planning and design. Boca Raton, Fla.: Lewis Publishers.

This resource is relevant in my continued investigation because it offers a comprehensive list of tactics related to water collection and management. It will better inform my design by giving me a number of basic tactics that I can improve upon.

2.     Moe, K. (2008). Integrated design in contemporary architecture. New York: Princeton Architectural Press.

This resource is relevant in my continued investigation it contains a number of projects that have successfully integrated multiple aspects of their design, particularly with regards to systems and sustainable practices. It will better inform my design by broadening my understanding of integrated design and also provide a number of precedents that may be applicable to my future design work.

3.     Moore, C. W., & Lidz, J. (1994). Water and architecture. New York: H.N. Abrams.

This resource is relevant in my continued investigation because it will provide me with a number of potential precedents in my next design project. It will better inform my design by giving me a greater understanding of the symbolic relationship between water and architecture and how to integrate the tectonic qualities of water into my design.

Refined Thesis Abstract

“Innovation does not consist in loading a building with technology and complicated systems but in developing simple, passive, yet sophisticated means that can be easily communicated to the people who use it and are intuitively operated.”

- Francesca Galeazzi, Arup Associates, London

The numbers of people who lack access to safe drinking water suffer and are killed needlessly from curable waterborne disease every day are daunting; nearly half of the entire world population suffer at any given time from a health problem caused by water and sanitation deficits. Architecture has the potential to integrate crucial water collection and storage strategies to make a significant improvement in this growing global phenomenon. I believe that access to safe drinking water is a fundamental human right, and that no other human being should have the power to withhold any of the elements critical to life from any other human being. There is an enormous imbalance of access to water weighted toward the wealthy, to the point that millions of people die each day from disease or dehydration.

Figure 01

References

Aquilino, M. J. (2010). Beyond shelter: architecture and human dignity. New York, NY: Metropolis Books :.

Bell, B., & Wakeford, K. (2008). Expanding architecture: design as activism. New York: Metropolis Books.

Current projects. (2014, January 21). Architecture for humanity. Retrieved February 6, 2014, from http://architectureforhumanity.org/projects

Design like you give a damn [2]: building change from the ground up. (2012). New York: Abrams.

Fog harvesting. (n.d.). ClimateTechWiki: a clean technology platform. Retrieved January 22, 2014, from http://climatetechwiki.org/content/fog-harvesting

Grotao Community Centre. (n.d.). Urban-think tank - interdisciplinary design studio. Retrieved January 21, 2014, from http://www.u-tt.com/projects_Grotao.html

Imizamo Yethu. (n.d.). Census 2011. Retrieved January 23, 2014, from http://census2011.adrianfrith.com/place/199043

Lepik, A. (2010). Small scale, big change: new architectures of social engagement. New York: Museum of Modern Art ;.

Meinhold, B. (2013). Urgent architecture: 40 sustainable housing solutions for a changing world. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.

Rainwater catchment. (n.d.). Architecture. Retrieved January 21, 2014, from http://www.architecture.com/SustainabilityHub/Designstrategies/Water/1-3-1-2-Rainwatercatchment.aspx

South Africa - Cape Town. (n.d.). World weather information service - cape town. Retrieved January 23, 2014, from http://worldweather.wmo.int/035/c00138.htm

Zaleski, A. (n.d.). Trudging through the township: on tour of imizamo yethu. Glimpse. Retrieved January 23, 2014, from http://archive.glimpse.org/people/blog/user/14125/2009/jun/7/trudging-through-the-township-on-tour-of-imizamo-y/

House as Thesis: Fog House in Imizamo Yethu

Water as Life

"Innovation does not consist in loading a building with technology and complicated systems but in developing simple, passive, yet sophisticated means that can be easily communicated to the people who use it and are intuitively operated." - Francesca Galeazzi, Arup Associates, London


Thesis Statement

The number of people who lack access to safe drinking water suffer and are killed needlessly from curable waterborne disease every day are daunting; nearly half of all people in developing countries suffer at any given time from a health problem caused by water and sanitation deficits. Architecture has the potential to integrate crucial water collection and storage strategies to make a significant improvement in this growing global phenomenon.

Strategies

1.     Develop multifunctional building components and spaces with sensitivity to vernacular and cultural implications.

In a slum condition, it is essential that all building elements have multiple functions. Efficiency is absolutely crucial to the success of the building: efficiency of resources, of materials, of space, etc. For example, there are no separate spaces for sleeping, eating, washing, and leisure as in North America. It is instead more suitable to design spaces for living, resting, and washing that allow for flexibility of space and of use. It is also crucial that the tactics used are sensitive to both the vernacular and cultural traditions of the site.

2.     Integrate and enforce connectivity of resources.

It is necessary for architecture in impoverished informal urban settlements to be completely void of active systems, and to collect or provide adequate resources for a building’s occupants. Informal urban settlements lend themselves to interconnected networks and systems. These systems can range from the intangible to the tangible, from social capital, to natural resource management. It is critical for all members of a community to combine their efforts to ameliorate living conditions for the whole community.

3.     Maximize surfaces for water and vapour collection.

The collection of water is typically limited to horizontal surfaces. I propose utilizing both the horizontal and vertical surfaces of the building to maximize the collection of rainwater and fog. Fog harvesting is being most widely practiced in South America, though there is experimentation in South Africa. Through the use of meshes and textures surfaces, the potential volume of fog harvested per square meter of surface area in South Africa can surpass 50 litres per day in the winter.

Architectural Precedents

Druk White Lotus School - Arup Associates

This precedent project located in Ladakh, India makes use of "innovative, clever low-tech" design strategies in the design of this school. The school is located in a fragile ecosystem, so the site strategies implemented achieve a nearly zero-impact system for water, energy, and waste management. In addition, the buildings are designed to celebrate Ladakh culture while being simple to build and operate using local materials.The specific tactics I am taking from this precedent are the design and arrangement of the compost toilets. The compost toilet block is clad with metal and painted black causing it to heat up and fumes to rise, which keeps the toilets well ventilated.

Grotão Community Centre and Park - Urban Think Tank

This precedent project located in Sao Paolo, Brazil integrates water collection and retention strategies into the site design at every level. The project fundamentally expresses a belief in universal access to infrastructure, water, sanitation, lighting, and public space. Each building element has a dual purpose and the project acts as a beacon to the peripheral community.

Thesis Precedent

Rachel D. Pressick

Architecture & Legitimacy: Strategies for the Development of Urban Informal Settlements

2010

Pressick’s thesis posits that for those engaging in constructive acts within the informal settlement, any architectural intervention must be a result of the preservation of the integrity of the informal fabric; a strategy that legitimizes the settlement’s density and scale, ensures the urban poor’s stake in the city, and maintains the settlement’s underlying networks that are vital to the life of the settlement.

Pressick’s thesis is most useful in her analysis of urban informal settlements at a variety of scales and contexts. She looks at the causes of urbanization and the effects that globalization are having on these informal settlements. She also uses an interesting strategy of categorizing architectural precedents and applying them to her intervention as networks (communal sanitation), lines (mixed-use warehouse buildings), and points (programmed amenities). I appreciate her urban design perspective in tackling the issue of improving informal urban settlements. Though the thesis does not focus specifically on the collection and storage of rainwater, Pressick implements a variety of applicable strategies throughout her proposal, from communal sanitation blocks to storm water management. Her bibliography has also proven to be an invaluable basis for my research.