Most
of the families that the Foundation is involved with come from regions
and housing which are in poor condition.
Starting
from the assumption that the causes of urban exclusion are
essentially economic in nature (although this is complicated by
many
different every day situations) we are carrying forward a building
project
to try and counter the problem.
Unsafe
accommodation is at the very centre (more than any other factor
of
daily life, because of its nature as a primary requirement) of the
different
situations that lead to the marginalization to which the poorest
sections of
society are vulnerable.
The
project seeks to develop the kind of accommodation which satisfies
basic
requirements regarding construction procedure, flexibility, efficiency,
budget constraints and effective use of resources.
The
flexibility of the ideal model ,which makes up a large part of the
project itself , is evident in the fact that most of the materials
used in
the construction process should satisfy the varying characteristic
requirements of each family, their economic situation and of the
existence
(or lack) of their previous accommodation.
The
Foundations involvement in this project indicates our desire to
construct a basic model of accommodation made up of materials which
will
come from donations and also bought on the market, according to
a budget to
be agreed first among the people who will be using them.
The
criteria to follow for the extensions and enlargements are worked
out
from the outline which was fixed during the first phase (with a
minimal
standard of habitability). The characteristics of this first residence
will
make further improvements possible without further construction
problems, in
line with family requirements and available economic resources.
We should
clarify that of the four original walls of the building, one or
two were
distinct as being "joining" walls. They came from the
architrave of a room
designed originally as part of a corridor leading to other rooms,
which were
added at a later date. The initial residence plan includes a bathroom
and a
"corner kitchen" (with a single brick-built partition)
which could be used
for various purposes, thus seeking to save on resources. The outer
stone
wall structures are also made up of cement blocks, a low-cost material
and
one which can be adapted by those who are actively taking part in
the
project. With this in mind, the Foundation has suggested the purchase
of a
building-block-making machine, capable of making between 250 and
300 per
day, used by two non-specialist operatives. If we imagine that 1200
such
blocks are required for the work in progress, we can see that in
four or
five days we could have enough blocks to construct an entire residence.
To
build ones own home, besides building something very valid in its
own
right, also represents an attempt to motivate self-esteem since
the
completion of every stage of the work signifies a victory, and the
satisfaction of seeing a project through to the end.
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