sigusnews
Experimental Course - Spring 2008
4.291/11.4190U 4.237G The Future Professional
"Double Population, Triple Area: All in 30 Years": Third World Urban Challenges Exploding the Future
The doubling of the Third World urban population - with a tripling of the urban footprint by 2030 - has forecast a vision of a frightening urban future. In the next 23 years, the land required for urban growth will equal that used in the past 6,000 years of human history. Moreover, this growth is projected to be predominantly low-rise, and inhabited by a largely poor population. The specter of informal massive squatter fringe settlements of the past has the potential to devastate our cities of the future. Speed and scale are the new challenges.
Lacking are viable proactive approaches for housing the low income population, and predictions for the future are grim if no innovative approaches are developed and implemented. Environmental concerns exacerbate the problem. We must develop powerful creative strategies if we are to avoid an unthinkable future.
This course is a challenge-based, hands-on brainstorming of Third World urban issues, drawing on experts to excite and challenge us through progressive levels of exploration. A culminating workshop abroad brought us back to reality.
The course included a 2-week field survey comparing planning strategies in Singapore - a highly controlled model - with the laissez-faire approach in Bangkok.
Creative? Energetic? Confident?
Join us if you are committed to meeting the challenge!
Click here for more information!
March 2007
Chumbe Island Coral Park Wins Prize
George Fiebig presented his prize-winning Chumbe Island Coral Park resort in Zanzibar. Mr. Fiebig is a young German architect practicing in Australia, with projects in Indonesia, Tanzania, Mozambique and Australia.
His prize-winning project links eco-interests with tourism, and with a very compelling architecture using natural materials.
www.chumbeisland.com
January 7-21, 2007
"Sweat! Design! Build!"
An International Two-Week Workshop in Louisiana
The workshop was a collaboration of students from throughout the MIT community and from universities abroad. Twenty students from MIT and abroad participated in 1-week of hands-on repair and rebuilding of hurricane damaged housing on the bayous of Louisiana, followed by 1-week of design and construction of housing elements for the on-going Lift House project.
Partner universities from previous international workshops each selected 2-3 students to participate. Workshop headquarters and accommodation were in the ‘Good Earth Volunteer Village’ in Houma, Louisiana.
The program was divided into 2 phases:
- 1-week active building where participants worked on repairing damaged houses and on completing the prototype Lift House in a ‘learn and do’ approach.
- Using their newly acquired skills and confidence, during the second week, the participants designed and built full-size sustainable and environmentally appropriate elements for the Lift House prototypes.
Additional activities included:
- An understanding of the bayou culture through tours and discussions with community groups.
- Field visits to the devastated areas of New Orleans with expert-led discussions on the rebuilding efforts
Faculty was drawn from the ongoing ‘Sustainable Housing on the Bayou Initiative’ of TRAC - a coastal Louisiana disaster recovery and preparedness organization, Oxfam America - an international aid organization, and the SIGUS Group in the School of Architecture and Planning at MIT.
click here for slideshow
October 2006
Pakistan Earthquake: Is It Forgotten?
Presentation by Charles A. Setchell; Shelter, Settlements, and Mitigation Advisor, USAID Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA). An up-to-date review of the efforts being made in rebuilding after the earthquake by the various national and international agencies.
July 8-22, 2006
Volunteer Weeks: Two Weeks of Rebuilding Houses on the Bayous of Louisiana
20 MIT volunteers rebuilt houses damaged by the 'evil hurricane sisters' Katrina and Rita. They worked with the local NGO TRAC (a disaster mitigation group) in Houma about 50 miles southwest of New Orleans, the last large town before the bayous of the coast. Housing was in 'iPods' (as we call them) and meals were communal. Just like summer camp!
www.trac4la.com
click here for slideshow
January 2006
Louisiana Lift House Initiative Started
The New Practitioner course of SIGUS explored innovative 'lift house' designs for rebuilding coastal regions of Louisiana. The international NGO Oxfam America and the local Louisiana group TRAC have welcomed us to jointly develop concepts for housing that meet the hurrican challenges. The student team developed affordable and appropriate housing concepts that exploited stilt housing approaches built by volunteer help and 'sweat equity' of the future owners. The design focused on both 'product' and rationalization of a 'process' of construction appropriate to the largely volunteer labor.
November 30, 2005
Visitors from University of Harbin, China
Professor Jin Guang-jun, Dean of the Harbin Institute of Technology at the new Shenzhen Graduate School, was hosted by SIGUS to meet other faculty and to tour the campus. Prof. Jin explored possibilities of collaborative activities between the schools including joint workshops, short-term visiting professors, and joint international conferences.
November 30, 2005
Documentary Fils on Banda Aceh
SIGUS sponsored the documentary film-maker Therese Condit in the showing of her film: “Banda Aceh, Indonesia: In The Wake of Tsunami, A Witness.” The film looks at the rebuilding situation, almost a year after the tsunami and its devastation, as most citizens of Banka Aceh have yet to see the promised relief funds materialize.
October 26; November 2; November 9, 2005
"Prep" Sessions for MIT $1K Competition
SIGUS led sessions to help individuals and groups brainstorm housing innovations for the MIT $1K Enterprise Competition. Focus was on the Katrina/Rita areas, and in other devastated countries. It has been noted that many technically elegant, environmentally sound, affordable innovations in housing have been proposed over the last 30 years, but few - if any - are mainstreamed and have real impact. Something is missing. The MIT $1K competition offered the opportunity to explore a market-oriented approach, linking a clear immediate need with bold innovations.
On-going
Katrina/Rita Initiatives
SIGUS has undertaken several events addressing the challenge of the hurricane disasters:
- The course 'Structuring Low-Income Housing Projects' is focusing its analysis on international development projects that have dealt with disasters, targeting lessons that may apply to the New Orleans region.
- Mentoring sessions will assist students and groups in preparing proposals related to housing innovations and the MIT $1K Competition. The goal is to development proposals from a market perspective that may apply to the disaster rebuilding.
- SIGUS has been asked by Oxfam USA to asses the rural housing destruction in southern Louisiana, and consider developing proposals for new housing designs and assisting in the construction of pilot projects.
September 29, 2005
Can Architects do the BOP?
A session at the Architectural Studies Colloquium explored the possible contributions to the unserved 'bottom of the pyramid' - the 'BOP'. With cities expecting to double in size in the next 20-25 years the issues are abvious and frightening. Special guest was Alyce Russo (MCP '89) of the firm Schall and Russo Planning Works, and together with SIGUS staff challenged the group to assess contributions and brainstorm possible ways to get involved.
September 23, 2005
SIGUS Highlights Program at MIT's IDF
A poster display and computer images were presented at the MIT's annual International Development Forum. TA Tracy Wharton discussed the program with visitors to the well-attended event.
May 17-19, 2005
SIGUS Speaker at Conference on Children hosted by World Bank and Arab Urban Development Institute in Dubai
Melody Tulier, a DUSP MCP graduate student, represented SIGUS in presenting a paper at the inernational conference "Urban Children and Youth in the Middle East and North Africa" in Dubai, UAE. The paper entitled, "Children, Participation, Global Challenges and Educational Priorities," highlighted the SIGUS workshop in San Cayetano which featured rapid interactive planning with families and children.
February 22-24, 2005
Keynote Speaker at Cairo Conference
Dr. Reinhard Goethert was a keynote speaker at the ARCHCAIRO 2005 Conference "Globalization and Beyond: Architecture, Communities and Settings." The conference was hosted by the Department of Architecture at Cairo University. His paper "Globalization, Practice and Education: Old Challenges, New Demands" called for a new model of education built around a 'learning-action' model.
February-April, 2005
Support to Studio in Australia
SIGUS is providing long-distance support to the studio "Design Response in the Aftermath of Disaster" offered at the University of South Wales in Sydney, Australia. The studio focuses on tsunami relief and rebuilding efforts in Sumatra, and is supported by a broader network of schools internationally.
www.fbe.unsw.edu.au/news
Coming Spring Break: March 21-26, 2005
Tsunami Challenge
How will you spend your Spring Break? Consider a 1 week 'Challenge' to brainstorm how to rehouse the families displaced by the Tsunami. How would you tackle the immediate large-scale demands, the limited materials, the disrupted community and the overstressed government's capabilities? Can there be more than a tent??? Form a team and contribute!
Two afternoons will feature presentations from architects recently returned from Indonesia. Mentoring sessions throughout the week will help develop ideas. Advisors are professionals from Sri Landa and Indonesia, as well as from the local expert community. A presentation at the end of the week will identify promising ideas. Representatives of the winning team will be sent to Washington, D.C. to present their ideas to the Disaster Mitigation Office of the US Agency for International Development. Open to teams and guests throughout the MIT community. An event hosted by SIGUS.
Learn More!
January 2005
Lima 2005 Workshop
"Three Decades of Squatter Dreams"
In 1969, four squatter communities were surveyed by MIT in Lima, Peru: Cuevas, El Ermitano, El Agustino, and Mendocita, and documented in the book, "Urban Dwelling Environments" (Caminos, Turner, Steffian; MIT Press, 1969). It is now 35+ years after: What happened? How did they manage? Do they still offer housing opportunities for the low income?
SIGUS revisited the settlements in January 2005, for a 2 week workshop to explore these questions. The workshop collaborated with students from the Facultad de Arquitectura Urbanismo y Artes (FAUA) in the Universidad Nacional de Ingenieria (UNI), and with NGOs working actively in the settlements. Four teams of students interviewed families and documented their house expansion. They were joined by two special groups: one explored the use of internet cafes in the squatter settlements, and another developed concepts for a self rish-assessment checklist for families to make informed decisions on earthquake risk. As a result, a collaboration was established with FAUA-UNI to promote joint research of students from MIT and UNI, and proposals are already being considered for the Summer of 2005.
NOVEMBER 11, 2004
Toni "El Suizo" Ruttimann
"The Humanitarian Bridgebuilder"
Toni "El Suizo" Ruttimann was hosted by several groups from MIT, including SIGUS. After an earthquake struck Ecuador in 1987, Toni left Switzerland immediately after graduating from high school, determined to help in any way he could. With no technical background, he invented a method of building suspension bridges by hand through community involvement, with little money, using steel cables and pipeline donated by oil companies. 17 years later, 234 bridges have been built across Latin America, Cambodia, and Vietnam, helping over 600,000 people.
NOVEMBER 3, 2004
San Cayetano Workshop Discussion
Students from the Albert Einstein University in El Salvador - Pamela, Carmen, Lily and Claudia - met with MIT students for two days to discuss the San Cayetano Workshop carried out jointly with SIGUS in the summer. The students have taken the workshop methodology and are developing it for their thesis focused on housing design. They continue to monitor and support the San Cayetano project, and plan to use the participatory approach in other settlements. The San Cayetano Workshop was funded by the MIT Service Learning Program, with additional contributions from local NGOs.
OCTOBER 18, 2004
Biresh Shah
SIGUS joined with the Aga Khan Program in hosting Biresh Shah, a colleague from Kathmandu, Nepal. Mr. Shah presented slides of the tensions of modernity and tradition in architecture in the design of buildings. Mr. Shah was a SIGUS colleague in 1988 when he received a SMArchs degree. He is a practicing architect and teaches at the Tribhhuwan University in Kathmandu. He is founder and director of ARCHIPLAN, an architecture and planning firm.
SEPTEMBER 24, 2004
Third Annual International Development Forum, MIT
SIGUS participated in the Third Annual International Development Forum at MIT. The Forum is a way of sharing information and celebrating the rich variety of activities at MIT throughout the year that contribute to international development. About 40+ MIT academic programs and student groups partipated in the Forum. The goal of the Forum is to highlight the ways that MIT makes a positive difference in the world and helps students gain skills and experiences that will equip them for the future.
web.mit.edu/idf
JUNE 2004
El Salvador Workshop
SIGUS partnered with 45 earthquake-displaced families in designing their resettlement community in a 1-week workshop. Both adults and children actively particpated in the workshop. Essentially, two workshops ran parallel with joint meetings at various points to exchange ideas. Three students from the Department of Architecture and Department of Urban Studies and Plannin participated (Gabriel Arboleda, Melody Tulier, Susana Williams), as well as staff from two local NGOs and students from local universities in El Salvador. Information was also collected on prototype houses which were offered to the displaced families. This information provided material for further study during the fall term at MIT in the course, "The New Practitioner." Preliminary field surveys from two 'site and services' low-cost developments from the 70s were also undertaken as further reference for the course at MIT. The workshop was made possible through funding from the MIT Service Learning Center and Trocaire, an Irish-Catholic NGO.
MARCH 2004
Global Open Learning Forum on Risk Education (GOLFRE)
SIGUS joined an international group of universities, research centers and NGOs as a founding partner in the "Global Open Learning Forum on Risk Education (or GOLFRE)." Representatives from India, Japan, Nepal, South Africa and the United Kingdom joined the network to tap the tacit knowledge, practical wisdom and human capital latent in the minds and practices of field workers as the principal resource for training and education. Susana Williams, a dual-degree student from MIT, participated in the SIGUS team.
Children, Traditions and Awareness
The preliminary work continues on exploring the use of 'shape grammars' as a teaching tool for schools. Children are seen as key 'change-agents' in discovering new designs using traditional elements. The key questions remains: how to confront the McDonaldization of the world.
New Publications
Several of the January Workshop reports are now available in CD format. Please inquire for specific workshop.
Upgrading Web Site and CD
A second version of the CD on "Upgrading Urban Communities: A Resource for Practitioners" has been completed. It is being distributed by the World Bank Thematic Group for Services to the Urban Poor, and is sponsored by the Cities Alliance and DFID.
web.mit.edu/urbanupgrading
Environmental Strategies for Cities
Website and CD
This is a prototype web site currently being developed by SIGUS for the World Bank. The work is planned together with the IIED (International Institute for Environment and Development), London.
web.mit.edu/urbanupgrading/urbanenvironment
Water and Sanitation for All Toolkit: A Practitioner's Companion
Website and CD
Under preparation for the Water Utility Partnership, a joint program of the Union of African Water Suppliers (UAWS), Regional Center for Low Cost Water and Sanitation (CREPA), and Training, Research and Networking for Development (TREND). Sponsored by the European Commission and the Water and Sanitation Program. The aim of the Toolkit is to provide sector practitioners, policy and decision-makers, access to information on current trends and knowledge gained from past experience regarding water supply and sanitation service delivery to low income areas. The Toolkit should enable readers to identify problems or challenges, and draw up a strategy for addressing these challenges using information and other resources assembled for this purpose.
web.mit.edu/urbanupgrading/waterandsanitation