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Some examples of buildings and their social effects.Thanks to Wikipedia and all other sources *in paper*
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Small Scale, Big Change: Architecture can be a powerful tool for social changeBy Mark R. Gould
An exhibition of eleven contemporary architectural projects—schools, community centers and low cost
housing designed to improve the quality of life in underserved communities—is currently on view at
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City through Jan. 3, 2011.
Small Scale, Big Change: New Architectures of Social Engagement highlights projects on five
continents that use architecture as a powerful means for confronting social inequality. The sites
include the U.S., Chile, Venezuela, Brazil, France, Burkina Faso, South Africa, Bangladesh and Lebanon.
Andres Lepik, curator of contemporary architecture, and Margot Weller, curatorial assistant, organized
the exhibit for MoMA.
“Architecture can be a powerful instrument to affect social change. On a small scale, a well-designed
school can positively influence individual learning and help children to identify themselves as parts of
larger community. On a large scale, urban planning that offers not only the basic requirements of
housing, transportation, and commerce but also parks, public squares and cultural facilities can
increase the quality of life for all inhabitants, bolster civic pride and has a positive impact on a city’s
economy. But successful architecture…is far from reaching all segments of global society including
large parts of the population that do not even have housing that meets basic needs,” writes Andres
Lepik of MoMA.
“According to the United Nations, roughly one billion of the world’s population of some 6.75 billion
people live in extreme poverty, with an income of less than $150 per year and limited access to clean
water, education and health care….The past decade or so has seen a growing number of architects
take a new look at the economics of building for the underserved…”
Visit your library to obtain more information on this topic.
Small Scale, Big Change: New Architectures of Social Engagement
Andres Lepik
More info at MoMAstore.org »
Here are descriptions of some of the projects. For more details, visit the MoMa website.
South Africa: Museum
One of the centers of the anti apartheid movement, the township of Port Elizabeth wanted to build a
museum to memorialize the struggle for freedom. As the museum was being built, a local committee
insured local needs were being met. Unskilled workers from the area were hired. Built from concrete,
the museum is a functional site, harmonious with its surroundings. Further development will include
the building of housing, a library, a city archive and other communal space. More than 200 jobs were
created by the project.
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Rail line
In this high crime area with few public amenities, the architect proposed to elevate a major rail line
adjacent to the railroad to revive a long public park beneath it. The new space offered walkways,
bicycle paths and athletic fields. The raising of the rail line removes physical and psychological barriers
between the residents of this area and the rest of city.
Iquique, Chile: Low income housing
To create housing for nearly 100 low income households on a 1.25 acre site, a variation on a traditional
row house was developed. The row houses were built with concrete and equipped with the barest of
basics: Plumbing but no fittings for kitchen and bathroom. Residents moved in and began finishing
their spaces at their own expenses and at a pace that their income allowed. One thousand more
expandable units have been built in Latin America and one thousands are in development.
West African nation of Burkina Faso: Primary school
The small public school in a village of 2500 was in bad shape. Nearly half of the residents live below
the poverty line. The architect hoped to use eco-friendly building techniques to pilot future building
projects in the area. Traditional brick mud compressed by man powered machines was used. The
whole community worked together to build the school, and attendance is high. A library and a
woman’s center will be built in the future.
Bangladesh: Handmade school
Local unskilled laborers were trained in building techniques to construct the school from earth with
local clay, sand and straw added for durability. The completed school has thick earthen walls that
enclose three ground floor classrooms as well as a system of caves in which students play.
Los Angeles, CA: Inner-city arts center
Inner-City Arts is a refuge for at-risk children and impoverished youngsters who want to engage the
arts. A retrofitted and repurposed abandoned garage in Skid Row was developed on a one acre site.
The space has several airy areas, where youngsters gather to play and explore. The exterior stucco
walls are painted bright white, a color that sends a positive message, not one of neglect. The space
inspires creativity and promise.
Paris, France: Transformation of a housing project.
Midcentury modernist housing developments have long been criticized in Parris. Critics say they isolate
residents. Many such sites have been torn down in recent years. One of these sites is being retrofitted
and living space expanded to increase room for residents. Critics now say the space gives new life to
an old style of housing.
Lebanon: Housing for the fisherman of Tyre.
Chaos and combat have hit hard the areas where fishermen live. Most earn as little as $15 per day. A
parcel of land was donated, and a vibrant modern housing system created to give a sense of
community was built. The project, which covers nine residential blocks, turns the buidling inward,
creating a protected interior courtyard, offsetting chaotic conditions on the outside.
Caracas, Venezuela: Cable car system to link communities
In this city of five million people, many live in barrios or informal settlements. Because the barrios are
not recognized by the government, they do not receive civic services, including a connection to
the public transit. Plans to create a new cable car system have resulted in the building of five stations.
Regular services started earlier this year. Some 40,000 barrio dwellers have access to the system and
15,000 riders can use it daily. Another line is currently being planned.
You are here: Home > Projects >
HOUSING for the FISHERMEN of TYRE, Lebanon by Hashim Sarkis Studios
Project Details:
Location: Abbasiyeh, South Lebanon
Type: Housing - Residential
Client: Al Baqaa Housing Cooperative and the Association for the Development of Rural Areas in Southern Lebanon;
Yousif Khalil, Director
Donors: Greek Catholic Church of Tyre, Spanish Agency for International Cooperation, and several private donors
Architects: Hashim Sarkis Studios – www.hashimsarkis.com
Design Team: Hashim Sarkis, Anuraj Shah, Erkin Ozay, Ziad Jamaleddine, Paul Kaloustian, Brian Mulder, David Hill,
Cem Celik, Roberto Pasini, Tarek Salloum, Mete Sonmez
Structural Design: Mohamed Chahine and Mounir Mabsout
Project Manager: Mohamed Chahine
Electro-Mechanical: AURORA
Contractor: EBCO-Bitar
Date of Completion: May 2008
Budget: USD 1,800,000
Built-Up Area: 8,400 m2 (80 apartments at 75m2 +4 shops)
Recognition: MUSEUM of MODERN ART, Small Scale, Big Change; BOSTON SOCIETY of ARCHITECTS DESIGN
AWARD 2008; PHAIDON ATLAS of CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE; CITYSCAPE CITATION for HOUSING
Photos: Joumana Jamhouri
Illustration: Hashim Sarkis Studios
click image to enlarge - Interior courtyard
The fishermen’s community of Tyre, a city of 25,000 residents on the southern coast of Lebanon, has been suffering
from a housing shortage and overcrowding. Fishermen of Tyre belong to one of the most marginalized socio-
economic groups in the country. Their families have no access to health and social insurance programs or retirement
support schemes. An obsolete technology coupled with military and security considerations limit the possibility of
fishing far beyond the seashore and thus result in serious overfishing. A continuous drop in the catch has yielded a
systematic decline in the average income of many fishermen (15 USD per day decreasing to less than 7 USD during
the winter season and bad weather). The fishermen’s families in Tyre were did not to benefit from the construction
boom that the region witnessed during the last three decades, due to their lack of financial resources or urban
regulation and constraints in the old city quarters. Their small, old and damp houses have become overcrowded.
Public health experts testify to the high levels of asthmatic and rheumatic problems amongst the members of this
community.
Aerial View - click image to enlarge
In 1998, fishermen families from the city of Tyre organized themselves into the cooperative Al Baqaa.
Through their partnership with the Association for Rural Development in south Lebanon (ADR) they were able
to join efforts with the Greek Catholic Archdiocese of Tyre, the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation,
as well as generous Lebanese locals and expatriates to support a social housing project. The project aims to
provide housing to 80 families of young fishermen and at the same time to provide public spaces that serve as
a platform for developing other productive, social as well as educational activities.
click image to enlarge - View from residential balcony
Construction funding came from various local and international organizations. The new site measured 0.7 hectare
agricultural field outside Tyre, surrounded by tobacco fields, citrus orchards, a hospital, and chaotic development that
mushroomed illegally during the war. A new master plan for Tyre allowed development in this area and replaced the
agricultural road with a main road between Tyre and its hinterland. Most of the surrounding agricultural property was
already being subdivided for speculative construction. The site will therefore be one of the few large-scale parcels in
the area. Given the unpredictable conditions of the site and its distance from the city, the design introduces an
organizational frame for the surrounding streets, new parcels and a variety of scales of public space. The form is
made of an extended building (7.6 meters deep) that wraps on itself creating an internal road and a courtyard.
click image to enlarge - Lower Level Plan
The internal road prolongs the side street, provides access to the units and connects the two main access points. The
complex preserves the scale of the agricultural field as a collective open space. The open space provides a common
public garden and a playground. The courtyard is made up of two parts: a paved area with a collective water tank
underneath and a planted area. This difference in treatment creates a difference in temperature, thereby increasing
air movement during the hot summer days and enhancing cross-ventilation in the units. Instead of framing the parts
with trees, trees are used to mark the entrances to the paths between buildings.
click image to enlarge - View of streetfront and gatehouse
click image to enlarge - Interior courtyard elevation
The landscape filters through these gaps between the buildings to the exterior, and thereby the connection between
the interior open space and the street is emphasized. The trees are linked to the agricultural landscape: olives, a local
variety of the ficus, poplars, palms and oranges are used. The oranges are reminiscent of the orange groves in the
area and the poplars of the tree edges that defined waterways and created windbreaks. Each main floor unit has as
mall garden that can be used for planting. The roof can also be used for planting, in particular the trellises, which can
be used for grapevines – a very typical feature of the region’s houses. Car ownership is low among the co-op
members. One parking space for every two units is sufficient. A common van is used to commute to the port. Most
cars park on a piece of land separated from the main parcel by the new master plan. The parking will eventually be
moved underground with a community auditorium built on the corner to complement the open space and street
intersection.
click image to enlarge - Corner of interior courtyard
click image to enlarge - End facade
In order to avoid a closed, urban-block effect, the linear mass is broken down into a series of buildings separated by
gaps that are used for public circulation. These spaces provide variety within the building volume. The corners are
treated differently in response to various external conditions. For example, a small public space is created at the
intersection of the main road and the secondary road, where a waiting area and a bus stop is located and a small
thicket of ficus trees to shade the waiting area. Another small area along the main road between the building blocks
provides space for an outdoor café and a passage to the interior. A series of small passages lead from the outside
perimeter to the interior courtyard at the main corners, heightening the porosity of the project.
click image to enlarge - Corner passageway and bridges
click image to enlarge - Passageway to interior courtyard
The fishermen insisted on maintaining equality among the units. To meet this requirement, particularly in terms of
outdoor space and views, the units had to be different, depending on their location in plan. The project consists of 80
two-bedroom units, each about 86 square meters inside and about half the area in private outdoor space. The units
are arranged in three types of blocks or groupings. The first type consists of simple one-story flats (simplexes)
arranged around a common scissor stair. The second type of block consists of four duplexes, each duplex consisting
of an open floor plan for living spaces and a second floor for bedrooms. This type is located around the main open
space. All living floors have cross views and cross ventilation and are extended to the outside by private outdoors
spaces (gardens and porches for the lower units and balconies and roof gardens for the upper units). The third type is
a combination of duplexes and simplexes and is located at the corners of the main open space. There are nine total
blocks (A to I); each has a separate entrance with a letter from the Arabic alphabet marking its doorway.
click image to enlarge - Residential block types and configuration
click image to enlarge - Stairway to roof terrace
click image to enlarge - Railing detail in an interior shared stairway
The exterior façade colors are grey-blues, while the interior courtyard façades are yellow-oranges. At the corners,
these colors blend. Similarly colored surfaces form blocks that mediate between the overall building scale and smaller
elements like windows, doorways and balconies. The public stairs are left open on the sides in order to help ventilate
them and decrease the need for maintenance and electric lighting. In the simplex blocks, the balconies of the units
extend in front of the landings in order to shade them. The public stairs in the duplex buildings are reduced to one
long flight that runs through the building and is open on both sides.
click image to enlarge - Exterior elevations
click image to enlarge - Interior elevations
click image to enlarge - Side elevations
click image to enlarge - Stair sections