GRADUATOIN TU DELFT: BUILDING TOWARDS COMMUNITY

 

Who: Ir. Michiel Smits

Studio: Explorelab 11

Location: Mount Elgon (western Kenya)

Client: Mount Elgon Orchards & Back2africa

Date: 07-2011

size:

• - 18 acres
• - 7 communities
• - 100 households
• - 1000/1500 inhabitants

 

Description

 

Due to my involvement on Mount Elgon the past 2.5 years I decided to conduct an inquiry into the problem of the current projects. During 5 years, locally operating organizations in collaboration with the owner, realised several projects. After I became involved as a consultant, I noticed that most projects were being realised without contributions from the local inhabitants, nether were they adapted to the local building traditions. This is partly due to the fact that the inhabitants of the region remain dependent on externally initiated projects. This keeps the population dependent on the west and this does not yield a sustainable solution, particularly in the longer term.

 

By conducting a research locally for half a year and by talking with residents and developers, I had a solid foundation for my thesis. The conclusions, in particular the development guidelines set out herein, were integrated into this new habitat. The main objective of this project was, for the people themselves to develop the projects and for the organizations to merely have a supervisory role in this process.

 

If you are interested in the research or other end-products of this project, please send an email by clicking on the logo on the main page. You will receive the download link asap via email.