Architecture has evolved throughout the years in different media and scales, but the notion of architecture for the users (people, animals, automobiles at times) has not changed. It has always been about how people interact, and use to its fullest potential. Architecture is never a man’s idea, it’s a collaboration between professionals, built and unbuilt environments, and user groups. A built environment’s success is when it is exploited to the most and echoes the identity of its context.
Social architecture has always focused on people, activity, and place. It moves beyond aesthetics and function to address societal challenges such as inequality, accessibility, and sustainability. When laymen, professionals, and users come together to create the building, social architecture is born. Thus, it brings the societal norms and needs of the hour to the limelight by delineating the problems and bringing about positive addresses.
Socially defined architecture seeks to improve built quality by making structures socially efficient and creating resilience among user groups. This discipline has been a source of debate in the architectural community, focusing on societal issues, neighbourhood improvements, and social inclusion. It is also linked to environmental responsibility, as social and ecological responsibility are interconnected. Disaster recovery projects, Revitalization of parks and squares, and Incremental housing projects have been the most common community-driven social architecture.
Importance of Community Involvement
As the term democracy states for the people, by the people and to the people, social architecture should be democratic and involve the participation of the community in leading a helping hand. This notion will help inculcate a sense of ownership and joy of fulfilment, which is important for the long-term success of a project. When the community is involved, the voices are heard and addressed. It can lead to more inclusive, sustainable, and culturally responsive designs tailored to the community’s needs and better fit within the local context. Moreover, Community involvement can provide opportunities to exchange techniques and vernacular skills.
Methods for Community Involvement
Iconic structures and socially successful built environments that have defined the city’s skyline and context are the ones that have been vocal about the community’s needs. Surveying has been a straightforward and effective way to engage the community, ensuring all voices are heard. Transparency, inclusivity, flexibility and education are the principles that community-driven social architecture relies on. Empowering communities by educating technical aspects in ways that are accessible to them also plays an important part in creating job opportunities and contributing to the economy. Additionally, informed and educated designs reduce the operational cost of the social infrastructure.
The Makoko Floating School
The Makoko Floating School, an innovative architectural and social project, to tackle the unique challenges of the Makoko community in Lagos, Nigeria developed in collaboration with the Makoko Waterfront Community. The Makoko Floating School uses local materials and resources to create architecture that reflects the community’s culture and locally available materials. The design is a triangular A-Frame section, with classrooms on the second tier partially enclosed with louvred slats. The structure is supported by plastic barrels that can be reused for storing excess rainwater from the catchment system.
Bang Nong Saeng Kindergarten
A community has always needed education, recreation, and multipurpose areas to grow and become socially fulfilling. Bang Nong Saeng Kindergarten is a result of an annual Design Build for the Community Workshop organized and sponsored by INDA Chulalongkorn University (Bangkok) together with other private companies from the region. Due to financial constraints, it was built modularly and housed students, foreign teachers, agricultural labourers, and community members on-site. On-site inhabitation during the construction by workers and students fostered an intimate creative environment, promoting social bonding among people of varying classes, generations, and backgrounds and learning from one another.
Crépissage
The Great Mosque of Djenné is the world’s largest mud-brick structure and a prominent example of Sudano-Sahelian architecture. Each year, during April in the Crépissage the residents of central Mail work together to preserve one of the most iconic structures in both Islamic & African architectural history. A celebration honouring the community, faith, and heritage is called Crépissage. Mud, a material ideally adapted to the harsh weather conditions, is used to create the whole city of Djenne. This is because the thick walls of the buildings keep them cool from the soil and the comparatively cold nights. Even though the mosque’s form varies somewhat every year, this massive renovation project guarantees that it will last the wet season. The mud used to make the bricks of the Djenne mosque is called banco, and it is made of clay, water, shea butter, powdered baobab tree, and rice husks.
Rohingya Refugee
The “Community Spaces in the Rohingya Refugee Response” project in Bangladesh, developed by BRAC and ActionAid, was one of six winners of the 2022 Aga Khan Award for Architecture. The project aimed to create dignified and functional spaces for Rohingya refugees, particularly women and girls, in the world’s largest refugee camp. The project consisted of six sustainably built structures, designed by architects Khwaja Fatmi, Rizvi Hassan, and Saad Ben Mostafa, and crafted using locally sourced materials like bamboo and straw. The interventions took place sequentially, one after another, according to the needs of the specific community and context. The sequence can be summed up as follows: breaking the gender stereotype in a conservative community, developing sustainable schemes to reduce waste in this unpredictable context, creating a dedicated space in a sterile environment, and involving community members in building healable spaces.
Reference:
- nleworks.com. (n.d.). MFS I – MAKOKO FLOATING SCHOOL – NLÉ. [online] Available at: https://nleworks.com/case/makoko-floating-school/.
- Pau Sarquella i Carmen Torres Arquitectes. (2019). BANG NONG SAENG KINDERGARTEN – Pau Sarquella i Carmen Torres Arquitectes. [online] Available at: https://www.sarquellatorres.com/6376671-bang-nong-saeng-kindergarten
- the.akdn. (n.d.). Community Spaces in Rohingya Refugee Response – AKDN. [online] Available at: https://the.akdn/en/how-we-work/our-agencies/aga-khan-trust-culture/akaa/community-spaces-rohingya-refugee-response.
