The Shanty Awe: Signature architecture in shanty towns

THE SHANTY AWE Signature architecture in shanty towns

Iara Silva 12071790 Dissertation Synopsis U30099

Project Outline Overview Personal Motive Main Research Question

Structure Plan Introduction Angola and Portugal Family, Community and the Street Challenging Stereotypes Signature Styles Conclusion

Critical Bibliography Extended Bibliography

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The aim of this thesis is to define the architectural attributes of shanty towns, by identifying the signature components in terms of materials and forms, and how the built environment is affected by its cultural dynamics.

Shanty towns were defined by the United Nations as being “precarious, environmentally degraded, and unplanned areas of cities”, yet in 2014 the UN estimates that approximately 863 million people live in such hazardous conditions (State of the World’s Cities 2006/2007 – UN-Habitat, 2006).

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55% of Mumbai’s population lives in slums (Kirimba, 2013)

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The biggest favela in Brazil, Rocinha, is located in Rio de Janeiro with an estimated population of 150 thousand (Kirimba, 2013)

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The biggest slum in the world is Kibera situated in Kenya, and it is home for Ÿ of Nairobi’s population, 2.5 million people.

(Kirimba, 2013)

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Slums, Hoods, Ghettos, Favelas, Social Neighbourhoods, shanty towns, informal settlements, Musseques are spread across the world and known around the globe with several different names which change according to each idiom, but for the purposes of this thesis I will use the term ‘shanty town’ to refer to these dwellings.

Shanty towns /ʃæntɪˌtaʊn/

An area, usually on the edge of a big city, where poor people live in bad conditions, often in buildings that they have made themselves.

(Allen and Delahunty, 2002)

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Dem a loot, dem a shoot, dem a wail A Shanty Town Dem rudely get a probation A Shanty Town And rudely a bomb up th town A Shanty Town

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These shanty towns can either be small selfbuilt cities, such as the Brazilian favelas; to being buildings which lack certain spatial qualities, pluming for example, known as vertical slums like the Tower of David; to government-planned communities, like the American hoods or Ghettos, represented in films that coincidentally portray an undomesticated world of drugs, guns and violence.

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‘’A bicycle shed is a building; Lincoln Cathedral is a piece of architecture. Nearly everything that encloses space sufficient for a human being to move in is a buildings, architecture applies only to buildings designed with aesthetic appeal’’ (Pevsner, 1963). Shanty towns are perceived as nothing but ‘buildings’, as ignored portions of land that have nothing to offer, this stance completely disregards their distinct inherited beauty and their palette of aesthetic design characteristics.

In a society where identity, be it personal or cultural, has become diminished, and has gone unnoticed due to the captivating, blinding bright lights of the globalised world, the notion of the self has been lost. Or has it?

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This dissertation is going to focus on shanty towns. Hoping to strip them away from the prejudices and stereotypes created to mask one of the creations of mankind which, in these times of globalisation, succeeds in maintaining its originality. Here real communities flourish in the middle of constantly changing times, where cultural identity was never lost, and social interaction shapes lives and architectural surroundings.

Through the analysis and comparison of the shanty towns in Luanda, Angola, to the ones in Lisbon, Portugal - understanding their relation with the rest of the city without disregarding the social aspect of the shanty town - I am going to establish an applicable connection between shanty towns worldwide. I will identify the architectural similarities between them, as well as the preconceived ideas surrounding them and the impact that such stereotypes have on the perception of these communities.

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*Muxima Uami – Auto-ethnographic inspiration *"My heart'"in Kimbundu Angola's national language

The topic of this thesis is personally motivated. I am Portuguese with Angolan parents. Although I was raised in Portugal I never felt like I fit in with the Portuguese culture, I was aware of it, I could easily identify it but I never felt like it was my own. The values my parents transmitted to me were Angolan, hence why, even though I was not raised there I always felt like I belonged there – I could relate, to every single person, we had this unspoken bond.

Focusing on the informal settlements of Luanda and establishing the connection with the Lisbon ones, is my way of physically exemplifying my relation with my Angolan culture.

The first time I visited Angola, I was only a child but I remembered being amazed by almost everything, the lifestyle was obviously different, a bit challenging. Luanda (the capital) was at the time extremely dangerous, it still is, but perhaps I am used to it now. This element of danger has rarely stopped anyone from living and enjoying their lives without constantly looking over their shoulders.

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The Angolan culture is a very open one: which is in contrast to the Portuguese culture where everyone is extremely private.

For example, in Angola if you need to visit someone you would, without warning them and this wouldn’t be considered as rude, whereas in the Portuguese culture, an invitation is mandatory.

This sharing environment can easily be found in all informal settlements, as the selfbuilt, community spaces provide the means for an environment of openness to occur, an example of that is the informal nurseries often created, where a mother can trust a neighbour to take care of her children, for a small fee, whilst she goes to work.

The first time I entered Kouva da Moura (a Portuguese informal settlement), I did not feel out of place, I did not feel uncomfortable, I did not feel uneasiness upon entering the shanty town, despite being told about all the awful events that occur. Instead the Angolan, or African if you will, atmosphere of sharing surrounded me, hence it was possible to completely feel at home. Everything seemed natural.

Curiously repeated in the Portuguese ghettos that open culture, which is so familiar to me from the values and ideals which were imbued to me by my parents. Those behaviours which I could never find in ‘my’ Portuguese culture were easily found within every corner of that shanty town and just as easily found upon stepping out of a plane, on visiting Angola. It is also found, untouched in the Angolan slums.

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Main Research Question Fig.19-21

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Identifying the defining architectural characteristics of shanty towns, through the investigation and analysis of its unwritten construction rules, which generate in a culmination of social values.

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*Tukulula - Introduction *"Introduce" in Kimbundu 1000 words

The introduction will outline what a shanty-town is, describing the core characteristics in terms of materials, formation, environmental but also in terms of social infrastructure. I will outline the criticisms against them and the problems associated with them in an attempt to separate myth from reality.

The key case studies, Chicala in Luanda, and Kouva da Moura, in Lisbon will be introduced.

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*Ngola e Putu *"Angola and Portugal" in Kimbundu

1500 words

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I will briefly describe the history of Luanda and of Lisbon, and their relationship with each other, in an attempt to contextualise the relationship between the two case-studies. I shall also analyse the place of the shanty towns within each city in order to understand how they fit in it, and how the city fits around them.

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*Jindandu, Riembu e Nzunga -Family, Community and the Street *"Family, neighbourhood and street" in Kimbundu 1500 words

‘’In streets and city spaces of poor quality, only the bare minimum of activity takes place. People hurry home’’ (Gehl, 2011)

In this chapter, I will be discussing the positive aspects of shanty towns, examining how and where people interact, community identities and the sharing of resources.

I will demonstrate how many of these characteristics are considered desirable by European planning theorists, such as Jahn Gehl, as well as other published books of several other authors who have stipulated in writing, what constitutes good or bad architecture. I will also examine some of the architectural elements found in shanty towns, and consider how the materials used are often sustainably sourced and up-cycled, making shanty towns more environmentally sensitive than the majority or modern housing developments.

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*Ukumbu - Challenging Stereotypes *"Presumptions" in Kimbundu 1500 words

Tracing back to the introduction, and the history of each location, I will analyse the reasons why shanty towns are the target of such bad publicity, without romanticising shanty towns I will further enquire how the aforementioned stereotypes are propagated with an aim to shatter the myths with descriptions of everyday events in shanty towns.

I shall understand how each government perceives these spaces and their attitudes towards them. I will finalise this chapter with an analysis of data collected from questionnaires, made by me and distributed through England, Portugal and Angola in an attempt to gather an updated statistic of the opinions of the general population towards shanty towns.

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*Kuuaba Dgoho - Signature Styles *"Unique Beauty" in Kimbundu 1500 words

Shanty towns are built with a limited palette of materials which were identified in a previous chapter; those elements create the signature attributes of shanty towns and are used by every dweller.

In this chapter I will analyse how the sense of space and the identity of home is created with the use of a limited array of materials and how originality is maintained though the inventive and adaptive mind of the dweller.

Using theorists who support the arguments of phenomenology and critical regionalism, such as Christopher Alexander, I shall argue that it is the sense of community which creates the captivating genius loci – sense of place.

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*Rizubilu - Conclusion *"Conclusion" in Kimbundu 900 words

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I shall provide the evidence to illustrate the architectural elements and aesthetic values of shanty towns, as well as the impact they have in the community which encourages model behaviours, idealised across western culture as being hallmarks of a successfully integrated sustainable community.

This concluding chapter will summarise what these arguments are and reflect on how we could learn from those attributes of the shanty town.

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Critical Bibliography Alexander, C., Ishikawa, S. and Silverstein, M. (1977). A pattern language. New York: Oxford University Press.

Description of signatures regardless of culture, Christopher Alexander delays on the types of architectural details that are alluring to any human being.

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Alexander, C. (1979). The timeless way of building. New York: Oxford University Press.

This book illustrates how architectural patterns are elaborated, and repeated throughout the years. It associates the self, the ego and the community in the construction process and it delves into the limitations which make the process possible.

Cumberlidge, C. and Musgrave, L. (2007). vEW. London: Thames & Hudson.

It presents and explains the newly acquired global sensibility, towards sustainability, self-sufficiency and local resources.

Gehl, J. (2011). Life between buildings. Washington, DC: Island Press.

This book describes how the exterior space should be step up in order to stimulate and incite social engagement.

Locatelli, F. and Nugent, P. (2009). African cities. Leiden: Brill.

The chapter: ‘Angolan Cities: Urban Re-Segregation’, expands on the post-civil-war period when the rehabilitation of the country was underway, explaining the planning process of the Angolan cities, such as Luanda.

Moorman, M. (2008). Intonations. A social history of music and nation in Luanda, Angola, from 1945 to recent times.

Athens: Ohio University Press.

This book discusses the life and urban culture in the Angolan shanty towns.

Moreira, P. (2012). Chicala is not a small neighbourhood.

Porto: Paulo Moreira.

It identifies, characterizes and analysis the chicala shanty town.

Pevsner, N. (1968). The sources of modern architecture and design. New York: F.A. Praeger.

This is defines, according to Pevsner what ‘good architecture’ is supposed to be.

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Extended Bibliography Books Alexander, C. (2004). The Nature of order. An essay on the art of building and the nature of the universe. Book 4. Berkeley, Calif.: Center for Environmental Structure.

Allen, R. and Delahunty, A. (2002). In: Oxford Student's Dictionary of English, 8th ed. Oxford: Cornelsen.

40 Buire, C. (2013). The Dream and Real Life: What is happening in the outskirts of Luanda. 1st ed. [ebook] Luanda: Development Workshop Angola. Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/ DevelopmentWorkshopAngola/the-dream-and-real-life-what-ishappening-in-the-outskirts-of-luanda-chol-buire-25102013 [Accessed 18 Sep. 2014].

Dekker, D. (1967). 007 (Shanty Town). [7-inch single] Kingston: Pyramid. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=ZqgWuMcHc3g [Accessed 19 Oct. 2014].

Gehl, J. (2010). Cities for people. Washington, DC: Island Press.

Hambi, N. (2004). Small Change: about the art of practice and the limits of planning in cities. London: Earthscan.

Heywood, P. (2011). Community planning. Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.

Kirimba, W. (2013). Musseque study in Luanda, Cazenga case-study.

1st ed. [ebook] Luanda: Development Workshop Angola. Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/DevelopmentWorkshopAngola/estudomusseque-em-luanda-caso-cazenga-weba-kirimba [Accessed 22 Oct. 2014].

Lloyd, P. (1979). Slums of hope?. New York: St. Martin's Press Pevsner, N. (1963). An outline of European architecture.

Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books.

State of the World's Cities 2006/2007 - UN-Habitat. (2006). 1st ed. [ebook] London: Earthscan. Available at: http://unhabitat.org/?wpdmact= process&did=OTAyLmhvdGxpbms= [Accessed 20 Aug. 2014].

Image Reference FIG.1

Esquire, (2009). JR. [image] Available at: http:// www.esquire.com/features/best-and-brightest-2009/jr-guerrillaphotographer-1209 [Accessed 21 Oct. 2014].

FIG.2 Bothager, M. (2008). Market. [image] Available at: http:// michaelbothager.dk/maximum-city-maximum-slum/ [Accessed 22 Oct. 2014].

FIG.3 Joaquina, V. (2013). Rocinha no Rio de Janeiro. [image] Available at: http://www.localnomad.com/pt/blog/2013/08/13/tour-nafavela-da-rocinha-no-rio-de-janeiro/ [Accessed 22 Oct. 2014].

FIG.4 Wrigley, S. (2012). What is Kibera?. [image] Available at: http://www.stevenwrigley.com/kibera-slums/ [Accessed 22 Oct. 2014].

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FIG.5-14 007 shanty town. (2014). [video] Available at: http://www. youtube.com/watch?v=ZqgWuMcHc3g [Accessed 22 Oct. 2014].

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Boyz N the Hood. (1991). [image] Available at: http:// www.listal.com/viewimage/5193970 [Accessed 22 Oct. 2014].

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New Jack City. (1991). [image] Available at: http://www. listal.com/viewimage/5193971 [Accessed 22 Oct. 2014].

FIG.17

Juice. (1992). [image] Available at: http://www.listal.com/ viewimage/5193979 [Accessed 22 Oct. 2014].

FIG.18

Friday. (1995). [image] Available at: http://www.listal.com/ viewimage/5193972 [Accessed 22 Oct. 2014].

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Kouva da Moura. (2014). Author's Own Image.

Films City of God. (2002). [DVD] Brazil: Fernando Meirelles.

Our World: Living with slums. (2011). [DVD] London: BBC News Resurrecting Luanda's Ghost City: City of "Musseques".

(2013). [video] Canada: Francisco Panzo, M.Arch., B.Arch., Dipl.A.T.