- Title
- Incremental housing: harnessing informality at Villa Verde
- Creator
- O'Brien, David; Carrasco, Sandra; Dovey, Kim
- Relation
- Archnet-IJAR Vol. 14, Issue 3, p. 345-358
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ARCH-10-2019-0237
- Publisher
- Emerald Publishing
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2020
- Description
- Purpose: This paper analyses the incremental housing process developed at Villa Verde, a housing project designed by the Chilean architecture firm Elemental, whose director Alejandro Aravena received the Pritzker Prize in 2016. This project is conceived within a social housing framework and designed as an affordable “half-house” to be incrementally extended by the owners. Design/methodology/approach: This paper is based on research undertaken in August 2017 with data obtained through site surveys, trace analysis, interviews with 32 residents and photographic surveys. The researchers mapped the modifications made by all households at Villa Verde in the four years after occupation. Findings: The strategy of designing a formal framework for informal additions has generally been successful with most houses undergoing substantial expansion to a high standard of construction. The paper raises concerns regarding the settlement's urban design, response to local climate and the quality of shared open space. We also find evidence of over-development as informal additions extend across front and rear yards that are in some cases fully enclosed. Originality/value: This project is critiqued within the context of a long series of architectural attempts to harness the productive capacities of self-help housing. Villa Verde engages the freedom to build in a self-organised manner within a formal framework. But what will stop these additions from escalating into a “slum”?
- Subject
- adaptation; aravena; elemental; incremental housing; SDG 10; SDG 11; Sustainable Development Goals
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1438944
- Identifier
- uon:40774
- Identifier
- ISSN:2631-6862
- Rights
- © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited. This AAM is provided for your own personal use only. It may not be used for resale, reprinting, systematic distribution, emailing, or for any other commercial purpose without the permission of the publisher.
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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Collections
Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities
Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
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