Rhizome: a growing horizontal stem of affordable housing in Menen, Addis Ababa

Rhizome faces the poor living conditions of Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa. The project offers a robust alternative solution to top-down developments promoted by the governments in the Global Urban South. Instead of high-rise buildings, based on Western models, planned by the local government, a sy...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Arianna Fornasiero, Paolo Turconi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Stichting OpenAccess 2018-04-01
Series:Spool
Online Access:https://www.spool.ac/index.php/spool/article/view/91
_version_ 1811266017466253312
author Arianna Fornasiero
Paolo Turconi
author_facet Arianna Fornasiero
Paolo Turconi
author_sort Arianna Fornasiero
collection DOAJ
description Rhizome faces the poor living conditions of Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa. The project offers a robust alternative solution to top-down developments promoted by the governments in the Global Urban South. Instead of high-rise buildings, based on Western models, planned by the local government, a system of human-scale community-driven low-rise buildings is developed. The design can either be built in concrete, the most used material in the capital, or with local materials. Through interviewing the current inhabitants, redrawing and exploring their environment at all times of day, the essence of the site was grasped. The resulting project is technically feasible, economically competitive, and flexible in construction time and materials. The backbone of our project is the idea of residential compound, a physical and social structure composed by three elements: two incremental housing blocks and the circulation system. These are clustered together and can be rotated, mirrored and attached to each other creating a series of spaces that compose a hierarchical sequence of community spaces. This enacts a holistic strategy that bridges multiple scales, from the main urban streets, to the intimacy of the compound and, eventually, to the most private space of the dwelling.
first_indexed 2024-04-12T20:34:27Z
format Article
id doaj.art-faa48dd031c84df480096d9297bff560
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2215-0897
2215-0900
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-12T20:34:27Z
publishDate 2018-04-01
publisher Stichting OpenAccess
record_format Article
series Spool
spelling doaj.art-faa48dd031c84df480096d9297bff5602022-12-22T03:17:39ZengStichting OpenAccessSpool2215-08972215-09002018-04-0152-Rhizome: a growing horizontal stem of affordable housing in Menen, Addis AbabaArianna FornasieroPaolo Turconi Rhizome faces the poor living conditions of Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa. The project offers a robust alternative solution to top-down developments promoted by the governments in the Global Urban South. Instead of high-rise buildings, based on Western models, planned by the local government, a system of human-scale community-driven low-rise buildings is developed. The design can either be built in concrete, the most used material in the capital, or with local materials. Through interviewing the current inhabitants, redrawing and exploring their environment at all times of day, the essence of the site was grasped. The resulting project is technically feasible, economically competitive, and flexible in construction time and materials. The backbone of our project is the idea of residential compound, a physical and social structure composed by three elements: two incremental housing blocks and the circulation system. These are clustered together and can be rotated, mirrored and attached to each other creating a series of spaces that compose a hierarchical sequence of community spaces. This enacts a holistic strategy that bridges multiple scales, from the main urban streets, to the intimacy of the compound and, eventually, to the most private space of the dwelling. https://www.spool.ac/index.php/spool/article/view/91
spellingShingle Arianna Fornasiero
Paolo Turconi
Rhizome: a growing horizontal stem of affordable housing in Menen, Addis Ababa
Spool
title Rhizome: a growing horizontal stem of affordable housing in Menen, Addis Ababa
title_full Rhizome: a growing horizontal stem of affordable housing in Menen, Addis Ababa
title_fullStr Rhizome: a growing horizontal stem of affordable housing in Menen, Addis Ababa
title_full_unstemmed Rhizome: a growing horizontal stem of affordable housing in Menen, Addis Ababa
title_short Rhizome: a growing horizontal stem of affordable housing in Menen, Addis Ababa
title_sort rhizome a growing horizontal stem of affordable housing in menen addis ababa
url https://www.spool.ac/index.php/spool/article/view/91
work_keys_str_mv AT ariannafornasiero rhizomeagrowinghorizontalstemofaffordablehousinginmenenaddisababa
AT paoloturconi rhizomeagrowinghorizontalstemofaffordablehousinginmenenaddisababa