“Advancing the constructive framework of the city in the very formation of the urban habitat” – Holcim Awards Jury
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Project entry 2014 Africa Middle East - Incremental Construction: Low-cost modular housing scheme, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
The project is situated in an area earmarked for total renewal in a typical neighborhood of Addis Ababa, one of the fastest-growing cities in Africa. New constructions in the city predominantly use concrete frame and cast in-situ construction; and the city has banned natural materials from being used in buildings since 2009, limiting the solutions available for house construction. It aimed to investigate possibilities for an alternative urban housing unit in this context.
The project incorporates a series of features that promote the concept of sustainability beyond the common understanding of the term. The jury greatly valued the role of the university as a critical player in advancing the constructive framework of the city, engaging a series of stakeholders – city officials, local inhabitants, craftsmen, etc. – in the very formation of the urban habitat.
Last updated: June 13, 2014 Beirut, Lebanon
The project incorporates a series of features that promote the concept of sustainability beyond the common understanding of the term. The jury greatly valued the role of the university as a critical player in advancing the constructive framework of the city, engaging a series of stakeholders – city officials, local inhabitants, craftsmen, etc. – in the very formation of the urban habitat. While the project offers strategies for formalizing the informal, at the same time it learns from local construction practices and social customs to produce a new form of urban vernacular – a strategy that essentially informalizes the formal.