AD I - Q2 - STUDIO:

ADDRESSING IN(FORM)ALITY
FORMALISATION, FORM & THE DWELLING

NC - ARCH TECH - 48734 -

TYGER VALLEY | CLAREMONT | ONLINE
09 05 2023
19 05 2023
02 06 2023
09 06 2023

IMAGE SOURCE: DALL·E 2023-04-14 10.17.37 - Densely packed Informal Settlements in South Africa with only one which has a neon green roof and only
which has a royal blue door
BRIEF DESCRIPTION: WHAT IS INFORMALITY?

Informality refers to the unplanned, unregulated, and often illegal development of

settlements, housing, and urban areas. In many parts of the world, particularly in developing
countries, informality is a significant and growing issue, with millions of people living in
substandard housing and precarious living conditions. In South Africa, informal settlements
are a common feature of many urban areas, with more than 10 million people living in
informal housing. The challenge for architects and urban planners is to develop strategies
and designs that can address the needs of these communities while promoting sustainability,
social justice, and economic development.

DESIGNING A LOW-COMPLEXITY UNIT:

The design of a low-complexity unit for informal settlements should prioritize affordability,
ease of construction, and structural stability. The unit should be designed to be easily
assembled using local materials and labor, and should be adaptable to different site
conditions and user needs. The unit should also incorporate sustainable features such as
passive solar design, rainwater harvesting, and use of renewable materials.

The proposed design should contain explorations of the following:

- Overarching Strategy on how to tackle current issues encountered at Informal

Settlements
- The design of a low complexity structure which can be easily assembled and
disassembled

OVERARCHING STRATEGY OF DEALING WITH INFORMALITY:

The overarching strategy for working with informality should prioritize community
participation, sustainability, and social justice. Students should engage with local
communities to understand their needs and priorities, and attempt to involve them in the
design and implementation process where possible. Interviews and site visits are to be
discussed with the programme co-ordinator for authorization. The strategy should also
prioritize sustainability by promoting the use of renewable materials, passive solar design, and
rainwater harvesting. Finally, the strategy should prioritize social justice by addressing issues
such as land tenure, access to basic services, and economic development.
PRECEDENT STUDIES:

Precedent studies are an essential part of the design process for architects and urban
planners working on projects related to informality. Studying successful examples of low-cost
housing and informal settlements from around the world can help to inform the design
process and identify best practices. One precedent study that is particularly relevant to
South Africa is the Upgrading of Informal Settlements Programme (UISP) in Cape Town. This
program, initiated in 1994, aimed to provide basic services such as water, sanitation, and
electricity to informal settlements and to improve living conditions. Through a collaborative
approach that involved local communities, NGOs, and government agencies, the UISP
successfully upgraded more than 100 informal settlements in Cape Town. Another example is
the Slum Networking Project in Ahmedabad, India, which involved the provision of basic
services such as water, sanitation, and electricity to informal settlements through the creation
of community-managed infrastructure. By studying these and other successful precedent
projects, architects and urban planners can gain insights into effective strategies for
addressing the challenges of informality.

APPLIED THEORIES TO DEALING WITH INFORMALITY

Architectural theories and practices that are relevant to designing for informality include:

Critical Regionalism as a Theory for Designing in Informal Contexts:

Critical Regionalism is a theory that emerged in the 1980s as a response to the perceived
homogenization of architecture and the loss of regional and cultural identity. The theory
proposes that architecture should respond to the specific cultural, social, and environmental
context of a place, rather than adopting a universal or global style. In the context of informal
settlements, critical regionalism can be a valuable approach for architects and urban
planners to design responsive, culturally appropriate, and sustainable solutions.

Critical regionalism in informal contexts emphasizes the importance of local materials,

building techniques, and vernacular architecture. By using locally available materials and
engaging with traditional building practices, architects and urban planners can create
buildings that are culturally sensitive and ecologically sustainable. This approach can also
help to create a sense of place and identity for residents of informal settlements.

Furthermore, critical regionalism in informal contexts emphasizes the importance of designing

for the specific climatic and environmental conditions of a place. In many informal
settlements, residents are exposed to extreme weather conditions such as floods, heat, and
wind. By designing buildings that respond to these conditions, architects and urban planners
can create structures that are more comfortable, safe, and resilient.

This theory is to be thoroughly investigated, studied and applied as a strategy toward

addressing informality in South Africa. Other theories which will also assist but are not
compulsory to utilise are:
Participatory Design: This approach involves working with local communities to understand
their needs and priorities and involving them in the design process. By engaging with
communities, architects and urban planners can develop designs that are more responsive
to local needs and can promote community participation and ownership.

Incremental Housing: This approach involves designing housing that can be built in stages,
allowing residents to add onto their homes as their needs and resources change.
Incremental housing can promote affordability and sustainability, and can help to address
the challenges of informality by providing a flexible and adaptable housing solution.

Adaptive Reuse: This approach involves repurposing existing buildings and structures for new
uses, rather than building new structures from scratch. Adaptive reuse can promote
sustainability and affordability, and can help to address the challenges of informality by
providing a more efficient and effective use of resources.

OUTCOMES:

At the end of the project, students must display the ability to:

1. Integrate various subject and cross disciplinary outcomes to produce a

low-complexity architectural design
2. Design an architectural concept which is informed by a theory and has theoretical
gravitas
3. Utilise a precedent to inform their design work and processes
4. Iterate through several designs at varying complexities to produce a refined
architectural concept which integrates ritual,space, materiality, tectonics and the site
5. Produce plans, sections, elevations and assembly drawings pertaining to their
specific architectural concept
6. Technically resolve an architectural section
7. Investigate alternate methods of construction
8. Build models which are based on their unique architectural concept
9. Produce a cohesive presentation explaining their design and process
10. Work cooperatively to produce a strategy toward dealing with a design project

CONSTRAINTS

The unit must investigate the following:

- Materiality: Conventional, Unconventional Building Materials

- Innovative Building Technologies (IBTs): Alternate building methods
- A maximum floor area of 40m2
RESOURCES:

The City of Cape Town has done extensive work on researching the phenomenon of
informality. The following diagrams and resources will helpful in determining strategies and
approaches toward completing this project:

IMAGE SOURCE: City of Cape Town - Informal Settlement Support Programme (ISSP) Poster and Leaflet

Informal Settlement Support Programme (ISSP) Poster and Leaflet:

1. https://www.westerncape.gov.za/assets/departments/human-settlements/docs/issp/
material/hs_informal_settlement_support_programme_leaflet_eng.pdf
2. https://www.westerncape.gov.za/dept/human-settlements/documents/public_info/I
/55520?toc_page=1

GROUPING & SELF-ORGANIZATION:

AS A COHORT:

Students should be broken into groups to facilitate collaboration and teamwork. Each group
should be assigned a specific task, such as developing a community participation strategy,
or researching the challenges of informality in a specific urban area. The groups should be
encouraged to share their findings and collaborate on solutions.

The result will be:

1. A group presentation on the strategies used to address informality in the greater

Western Cape area
2. 1 x Addressing Informality Strategy - max. 15 slides

Note that should one of the parties fail in their efforts, it will result in the deduction of the
entire group’s performance.
INDIVIDUALLY:
Each individual will be working on the following:

1. 1 (one) x Plan of a Low-Complexity Dwelling (1:100)

2. 1 (one) x Axonometric Assembly Drawing with BIM model (1:50)
3. 500 (five-hundred) x Iterations of the Low-Cost Dwelling
4. 1 (one) x Section Scale Model of the final 5 (five) selected model iterations attached
to a board backing with annotations (1:50)

IMAGE SOURCE: http://harrisyoungblood.oucreate.com/architecture/blogs/blog-post-9-3-15-29/

Individual scaled physical models must be appropriately and correctly scaled with
annotations present. This will form part of the AT - I final crit and related marks.

FORMAT:

Students are to create a GD folder where work is to be saved for access in the Individual’s
SUBMISSION folder for AD I - QUARTER 1 and be named after the brief: INFORMALITY -
FORMALIZATION, FORM & THE DWELLING. All work to be uploaded to the google drive folder
in the following formats:

1. The Group Presentation as a .pptx and .pdf file (each group member must have it
inserted into their individual files)
2. Individual presentation to utilise AutoCAD, Revit and Photoshop (or similar
photo-editing software) on 3 x A2 Landscape sheets
3. All work to be backed up on C4A memory stick and saved to Google Drive account.

ALL STUDENTS ARE TO UPLOAD THE WORK IN THEIR GOOGLE DRIVE FOLDERS AT EVERY STAGE OF
PROGRESS
HAND-IN REQUIREMENTS & DATES

● Group Strategy Presentations:

19 May 2023 @ 9h00 at respective campus
● Final Presentation of Playground Concept:
02 June 2023 @ 9h00 at respective campus
● Final Model Hand-in:
09 June 2023 @ 9h00 at respective campus

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
Students will be assessed individually and in groups based on the satisfactory achievement of
the above outcomes.

REFERENCES:

Assisted Content validation & creation + grammatical correction:

1. ChatGPT, 2023. OpenAi ChatGPT- GPT 3.5. [ONLINE] Available at:

https://chat.openai.com/chat (Accessed: 09 May 2023)