Thesis Abstract Drawing

Midterm booklet

Have a look:

http://issuu.com/lauraduhachek/docs/sunday_booklet_thesis

Work in progress

This is some of the information I have gathered for my thesis

Thesis%20information

Good ideas presented in this video

Click on this link: Innovations for an Urban World: A Global Urban Summit

My take on Architecture...

I believe that...

Architecture is more than buildings which are design to protect the health, safety and welfare of the general public

It is more than just a space in which a human occupies

or four wall with a roof over head...

Architecture, I Believe is...

A cue to the world

it gives orientation,

it provides emotional connection.

it is the protector,

it is a piece of art.

In the scheme of things...

Architecture must explore every option,

It must Connect, work with, and embrace all the layers of the built and natural environments

It must take a holistic approach to any solution used to solve a problem

Architecture must have soul.

Research from José Matos Mar Santo an anthropologist

In the informal settlements even the smallest inefficiencies will trickle in over time and greatly slow down the urbanization progress and add to the health and safety concerns. If these inefficiencies are left unchecked for long enough, they will eventually compromise any goals towards sustainable communities. Research conducted by anthropologist, José Matos Mar Santos, that these "spontaneous settlements" were, in fact, solutions to grave urban problems. The informal settlements have vast amounts of inefficiencies that need to be addresses but they are part of the bigger solution towards a health habitable neighborhood. Further research by anthropologist, Susan Lobo, established that such settlements were civilly organized and rapidly assumed positive urban attributes under the squatters' own initiatives. One the major ways to combating and correcting the inefficiencies with in the informal settlements is through the emphasis on the settlers’ involvement and participation in all the planning and implementing upgrade processes. It is through the localized and sustainable design solutions, coupled with proper safe building techniques and planning eduction that the safety and health issues of the informal settlements can be reduced or eliminated.

Define Slum Classification

This is from a research paper I did on Lima, Peru:

The broad characterization of slums can be described as informal settlements with poor quality housing, limited access to services, and often on insecure land (Anonymous, 2003). Common association of the term “slum” refer to a place within the urban planned inner city which originally were laid out and built several decades ago in line with the then prevailing urban planning, zoning and construction standards, but which, over time, have progressively become physically dilapidated and overcrowded to the point where they became the near exclusive residential zone for lowest income groups (Anonymous, 2003).

The more common slum condition found in Lima, Peru specifically would be the ‘informal Settlement’. This would be the process of which land is land is invaded and subdivided, normally by squatters illegally, then they build housing units. These housing units are erected without formal permission and with materials and building standards that do not meet local building codes (Anonymous 2003).