The prefabricated room bolts on to a variety of existing building types, which improves quality of living, reduces energy and water use and generally makes the building more sustainable.
The Plant Room team explained:-
“You get power by giving away power.”
“The audience is more wonderful than you think.”
- no one quote, but the idea that public buildings should not be designed for neglect.
“Why do universities need logos?”
“Cities need unauthorised acts of creativity”
“There’s a truth and honesty in brokeness.”
“The work I do is not a job.”
“The world is full of flowers, if you only have eyes to see.”
“You are an artist - that means you can always find your own way.”
“When the time and the luck arrive - always grab it.”
“It’s amazing how fast bad ideas travel.”
“The problem is the solution.”
“The resource we need is coordination.”
“Do we change the world to suit us - or change ourselves to suit the world?”
“This is how people had to work together to make a life.”
These principles are the exact opposite of those we see in many social housing projects, especially here in South Africa. Housing for poor people is usually located on cheap land. Cheap land is far from the centres of activity - far from work, schools and any of the other aspects of daily life.
Social housing is also usually so small and poorly constructed, and located so badly,that it decreases in value.
As Alejandro said - “It’s amazing how fast bad ideas travel”.
The problem is this. The informal settlement has a finite size, and too many families living upon it. Within the constraints of the budget, they could build
- Few medium size houses - and then most people have to leave, as there are no houses for them.
- Many tiny houses - but still not enough, too small, and these houses would be difficult to “expand” as families needs grew.
- Highrise buildings - which the inhabitants refused to contemplate, and which could also not be “expanded.”
The Elemental project’s solution was this. The project would plan for the “medium” size houses, but build only half the house. They would plan (and build) in such a way that more units could fit in, and that the families could easily expand into the “missing” half when they were able to do so.
In other words: Elemental built a system of row houses in which half of every unit is missing. But because they have built the part that requires the most expertise and investment - the load bearing structure, the roof and so on - the inhabitants could expand into the missing voids at a later stage - in any way they liked.
This also dealt with the pervading problem of social housing - the uniformity and lack of individuality.
But the heart of this project was the level at which the future inhabitants of this project were consulted.
“Can we have families understand the restrictions and help us establish priorities?”
I was particularly impressed with the projects commitment to consulting with the families who were to live in this project. Plans were not created for them, but with them - from the very beginning of the project.
For example, after explaining the project as Elemental envisioned it, they asked the “family leader” to write and draw their impressions of how the project might be, and used these to inform their own decisions.
Another example: a decision had to be made about the bathroom fittings. I had already been decided that the bathrooms would contain baths, not showers - consistent with the vision of creating properties based on middle-income standards.
The budget did not provide for both a bath, and a water heater. In contrast to what the Elemental team expected, all families chose the bath - something they had never had before, in which they could wash their children and their clothing in privacy. A water heater needed expensive fuel, which they might not have in the future.
Another aspect I found fascinating was the approach to interior decorating. Elemental left the interiors as stark and empty as they could, to provide a neutral “stage” in which the families could create their own homes. This is a contrast to Le Corbusier’s approach, in which the inhabitants had to conform to the architects vision.
This also constrasted with the Marcello Rosenbaum presentation in which he shared his “social housing make-overs”. Rosenbaum showed us project after project of poor housing made pretty -pathetic squats turned into magazine glossy interiors.
The “after” images in the Elemental project could be used as the “before” images in the Rosenbaum project - but they left me with a feeling of hope. Maybe Elemental have found a way to help people without depriving them of dignity.
How to make a Martha Flambe
You will need:
Preparations:
The speaker:
Mix bored housewife and Loads of dollars. Pour slowly over Country of overfed, dollar-bloated ignorant patriots and let it simmer. Dollars should start multiplying exponentionaly.
Making the Flambe
Take one auditorium.
Add delegates to taste
Let them sit for 5 minutes while you mix the speaker and bodyguard. Wait for speaker until it is ready. Slowly move speaker to front of auditorium making sure that bodyguard stays between speaker and delegates. Wait for murmur to subside.
Pour ignorance and arrogance over speaker while stirring in 30 minutes of self glorification.
(if done right about 10% of delegates should leave the auditorium. Do not worry as ignorance and arrogance will form a thick skin around speaker.
Mix in 20 minutes of glitter.
Switch of lights and use video presentation as self-glorification glazing. (another 30% percent of delegates may leave now).
Mixture should be highly flammable now and delegates should automatically start flaming the speaker.
Enjoy the roasting.
(caution – bitter taste left behind might cause other speakers to leak subtle snide remarks and comments– don’t worry as this is a natural outlet of feelings of contempt and annoyance).
So what went wrong?
I will admit this – I was secretly looking forward to seeing Martha Stewart. Not because I secretly love scrapbooking or jailhouse rocking but because I wanted to know how this ordinary woman made a fortune selling nonsense that anyone can find for free on the internet or at the local library.
She blew it and prompted probably the first mass walk-out ever at the Design Indaba. She can also add to her list of credits probably the first ever subject of a Twitcom.
I am not going to re-invent the wheel and will leave you with this excerpt from Louise Marsland’s page at Bizcommunity.
“
Delivering a presentation more suited to the Krugersdorp Vrouefederasie or the Belville Housewives Scrapbooking Circle, she managed to inspire a mass walkout in both auditoriums - practically unheard of in the history of Design Indaba, which is the industry's premier conference and expo showcase in the creative industries and an inspiration destination annually.
And so we get another twiord (twitter word): she was ‘twitter slapped' (twitapped?) by the twitterverse. Twerrible.
The complaints centred around that fact that she used her presentation as a sales pitch (given how she is about to launch her ‘Martha Stewart's Cupcakes' in South Africa) and spoke to these highly creative and key delegates with a lack of awareness that was astounding. With the likes of local agency heads and creative directors and world-renowned designers and architects in the audience, you don't talk about doing ‘glitter by numbers' pictures and show 29 pictures of yourself holding various farm life (unless that's part of your creative installation!). The laughter was cringe worthy indeed. The result was a walkout.”
Read the whole article here
people gathered around the twitterfeed reading the twitcom
Some of the tweets:
