Influence of house form on dweller-initiated transformations in urban housing

Abstract

Paper presented at the XXXIII IAHS World Congress on Housing, 27-30 September 2005,"Transforming Housing Environments through Design", University of Pretoria.

Dweller-initiated transformations in housing are grudgingly being recognized as an alternative mode of producing dwellings in cities, particularly in the developing world. However, the environments generated are often wanting, inviting designers in housing to redress their position. The paper investigates the inhibition of house-form on the quality of dweller-initiated transformations. Paired estate case study evaluations using observations, functional and spatial analyses in Nairobi, Kenya are used. It isolates typological strategies that encompass 1) grouping, 2) storeys, 3) courtyards and 4) detachment in unit(s) design and analyze the ensuing transformation type. The analysis is based on the resulting transformation type including; 1) function (residential or otherwise), 2) form and magnitude (plinth area, ground coverage and storeys) and 3) technology (permanence or temporal). The study confirms the inhibitions of form to dweller-initiated transformation in housing design strategy and proposes a strategic approach that envisages the phenomenon. It places the phenomenon in policy directions for housing production.