M.Arch Thesis
Angola is one of the fastest urbanizing countries in Africa. Rapid urbanization, coupled with severe housing shortages, has produced sprawling informal settlements throughout the nation’s capital, Luanda.
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In the absence of a formal housing market, it has fallen to the government to address housing shortages. They consist of; Multi-Unit Housing for Middle to Upper Income, New Centralities. Relocation settlements. The bulk of these projects have been undertaken by foreign contractors and financed through loans against oil revenues.
Luanda’s expansion happened during two major periods of time. This expansion happened with minimal investment in housing and urban infrastructure
DENSITY STUDY
Samples of Neighborhood Fabric in
Luanda
Precedents for formal housing and applied it to the site to see what is applicable.
A catalog of figure grounds was made of the neighborhood types I visited and in Lauda and super-imposed on the site to compare Density.
DESIGN PROPOSAL
Vignettes
The design portion of the project explores a
model neighborhood for a micro-financed, not-for-profit
development that offers residents the opportunity to own
their units. It is intended as an alternative both to bottom-up,
informal settlements and top-down, high-rise, governmentsponsored
housing.
UNIT DESIGN
Incrementality
Incrementality has been incorporated into all units to accommodate flexibility. Living spaces on grade-level units can be converted into street-oriented
retail spaces, as can terraces. On upper
levels, at least one bedroom in each unit has been
left open as a terrace to reduce the construction
cost and pass the savings on to the buyer.
VINGNETTES
