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Abstract
Mega-slums are dynamic laboratories for urban pattern making. Instead of surveying about stable urban symbols represented by formal orders and regular geometries, this study explores the semantic meaning of informal urbanism associated with chaos or randomness and often ignored by critique and conventions. Slums are forms of ‘instant urbanity’ that underscore alternative ways of self-organisation, which include bottom-up strategies, autonomous urban dynamics and spatial activation by remaking.
Are slum patterns representing a lack of symbolism or, on contrary, rich, complex, and fluid urban idioms? Urban informality without planning offers immense opportunities to investigate resilient urban forms and languages as complex systems throughout self-ruled structures. Slums are not only the result of urban economic asymmetries and social marginalisation but the elementary construction of survival urbanism, a randomised, agile and transformative pattern system.
Slum making is a form of subsistence urbanity that constructs transitory, elusive or spontaneous geometries. They differ in sizes, magnitudes and geometries regarding cultural, climatic and topographic conditions. Slums are unstable systems in continuous transformation. This essay questions the stigmatisation of informalised urban patterns as ‘other’ unclassified codes by analysing a selection of twenty mega-slums in the Americas, Africa and Asia regarding semantics, urban and geometrical meanings. Their urban tissues contain various symbols that activate the every-day production of spaces. They can be visible or invisible; passive or active; and formal or informal. A taxonomic tree of slums was developed to compare and map slum regions to describe similarities and differences among the selected case studies. From this analysis, a profound discourse appeared between informal settlements: tissue-patterns at macro level and cell-patterns in micro urbanisation. Does the macro pattern inform the micro, or vice versa?
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Carmelo Zappulla
CARMELO ZAPPULLA
Department of Architecture (GIRAS, Research Group), Barcelona Architecture School, Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Av. Diagonal, 649-651, 08028 Barcelona, Spain. E-mail: [email protected].
Carmelo Zappulla is a PhD architect and founding partner of Barcelona based External Reference Architects. He argues that the use of patterns can connect architectural theory with practice, by representing, at the same time, the most relevant strains of research in contemporary design. He studied architecture at the Università degli Studi di Palermo, graduating with Honors and special mention, and holds a PhD (European Mention) with Honors from Universidad Politécnica de Catalunya, Barcelona. After working in Rotterdam and in London, he moved to Barcelona where he started collaborating with RCRA rquitectes and Foreign Office Architects. Together with Nacho Toribio, Zappulla runs, External Reference Architects, a firm active in design and research in the fields of sensorial spaces, interior design, architecture, and landscape design. He is currently faculty member at IAAC (Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia) and teacher at IED (Istituto Europeo di Design), where he is also the coordinator of the Master's Degree program in Interior Design. He is member of GIRAS - Research Group on Architecture: Project, Territory and Society at Polytechnic University of Catalonia. He collaborates with different architectural schools and institutions, including WSA (The Welsh School of Architecture), the Department of Architecture at Cardiff University, Wales, Uk. His work has been exhibited at the Biennale in Venice, during the 12th International Architecture Exhibition, at MAXXI, Rome, at Eme3, Barcelona, Europan 8, Oslo. His publications include articles and projects published in Future, Il Sole 24 ore, Blueprint, Materia, Frame, Dezeen, Domus, in the books Architect's notebook and Architectural process 2014 by Damdi Publishing co, among others.
Cristian Suau
CRISTIAN SUAU
Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, University of Strathclyde, 75 Montrose street, G11XJ, Glasgow, UK. E-mail: [email protected].
Dr Cristian SUAU is a Chilean-born Spanish architect. He holds a Ph.D. in Architecture and Master in Urban Design from Barcelona School of Architecture (ETSAB). He taught Architectural Design at the Welsh School of Architecture (2007-2013). Currently he is senior lecturer at the University of Strathclyde, Department of Architecture, Glasgow (UK) and the Glasgow Project Office director. In addition, he has tutored in the various European universities such as Universidad de Chile, Pontificia Catolica Universidad de Chile, Barcelona School of Architecture (ETSAB), Architectural Association (AA), Chalmers University (Sweden), University of Stuttgart (Germany); University of Ljubljana (Slovenia); University of Zagreb (Croatia); CTU Prague (Czech Republic) and Tianjin University (China). His research covers the fields of radical architecture, ecological urbanism, urban renewal, eco-design and non-conventional water technologies. His outputs have been disseminated in various international media and scientific events, design workshops and conferences. He is member in scientific networks such as DOCOMOMO, EAHN, ECLAS, AHRA and PLEA. Professionally Dr Suau was senior architect and project leader in the Office for Metropolitan Architecture in Rotterdam designing various projects such as Almere Homerus, Koningen Julianaplein, Prada Foundation and Prada Transfomer. He has obtained several international housing and urban design awards such as EUROPAN Norway (2006) and the international urban design award in Chile called ‘Bicentenario Chile: Rambla for Citizenship’ (2012). He is the principal of ECOFABRICA, a collaborative eco-design hub established in the UK and Chile: www.ecofab.org.
Alenka Fikfak
ALENKA FIKFAK
Chair of Urbanism, Faculty of Architecture, University of Ljubljana, Zoisova 12, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia. E-mail: [email protected].
Dr, MA in Architecture, PhD in Architecture and Urban Planning; senior lecturer. Head of Chair of urbanism UL FA, Head of management board UL FA, member of Chamber UL FA. Leading process of accreditation – urbanism study program, 2010–2012 (Bachelor and Master), re-accreditation of architecture (Unifed Master) study program, 2012–2013. Research experience: spatial and landscape planning, planning of small settlements, rurism and rural architecture, regulatory plans for the regulation of non-urban settlements, evolutionary constants of a settlement culture undergoing renovation, with particular reference to the coastal region, models for revitalisation of degraded landscape areas, analysis of trends of spatial development. EU projects/Programmes: Sustainable settlement models and typologies for transborder territories (2004); ALPTER – Terraced landscapes of the alpine arc, Interreg III B Alpine Space (2005–2006); Cultura 2000 Virtual museum of the European Transhumance (2006–2007); Competence Centre – Sustainable and Innovative Construction (2010-13); ESPON-Train (2012–2013); Restructuring of Study Programme in Architecture to Long-cycle Integrated Master in line with EU standards, Tempus, (2012–2015). She has organised more than 30 architectural and urbanistical workshops (presentations of the work and exhibitions) for different local communities in Slovenia – population of the students work on the local level. Active in organising International conferences of Spatial Planning development and Urbanism: Smart urbanism 2012, 2013, 2014; Symposium Men and space; Theory and critic's in Architecture: 60 architectural reviews in Europe, Member of different national and international scientific and art committees. Active in professional work in domain of urban planning and design. Participated in many national competitions, with first awards as “Urban design of the city center Ravne na Koroškem, 2009”.