The proposed housing unit aspires to
enhance the collaboration
between local population and construction experts and also to combine strong and light
structures in
order to respond to fast and sustainable construction.
We choose to focus our research on Turkey,
and more precisely on the housing settlements “gecekundu” of Istanbul. The
“gecekundu” housing is constructed overnight : concrete, timber and
disused material serve the needs of fast construction.
We aim to improve the housing conditions of
such populations, by supplying them with knowledge and also letting them build
the house on their own along with the help of experts.
[DESIGN]
The design of this urban housing unit is
based on a concrete core
and a light wooden structure that
is attached and supported by it.
The concrete
core is a prefabricated box that
accommodates the kitchen and the bathroom, which are the basic utilities that
we would like to be accessible to every house. This box is supplied by a local
construction unit : in this way the local economy is developed too. There
is also the possibility for this unit to have a rainwater gathering unit in
order to provide an autonomy to the housing. This
unit serves as a primary element around which the house is constructed: the proposed structure is
wooden, light, simple and can be realized by a non- expert, in this case, the
families living in these houses. The living room and two bedrooms, one
for the parents and one for the children are thus constructed around the main
unit. The structure is elevated from the ground floor in order to prevent
problems of humidity, insects and mould.
The external dimensions are 15 x
7.20 m and the surface without the porch is 100 m2
[IN SITE COLLABORATION]
The prefabricated core unit is supplied by
a manufacturer. During
the installation, the collaboration of experts and the local population is
important. People
participate in building their own home, as they already used to do in Istanbul,
but the advice and the guidance on behalf of the experts help them learn and
understand the materials and the procedure in a thorough way.
[NATURAL DISASTER RESPONSE]
This housing unit is designed to resist to
natural phenomenons. The concrete unit provides shelter for the entire family
during extreme conditions such as earthquakes or hurricanes. In the extreme
case where the light structure does not survive the hazard, this unit serves as
the core for reconstruction : the house is reconstructed again very fast.
Additionaly, since the housing unit is elevated from the ground, it can resist
up to a certain level of floods.