A construção da individualidade. Na habitação para um maior número: a experiência de H. Fathy e B. Doshi

Abstract

The current study intends to use two authors, and subsequent works, as the cornerstone of a process to clarify the construction of housing "for the greatest number" as an individual and / or collective phenomenon, questioning the issue of individuality in the design of this type of buildings, taking into account it's inherent repetitive nature. The authors Hassan Fathy (Egypt, 1900-1989) and Balkrishna Doshi (India, 1927), although separated geographically, they share similar concerns, materializing them in substantially different ways. In the works of Hassan Fathy, the highlight is on New Gourna (1946-52), the relocation of an entire village, founded in a constructive system, earth brick , which combined with the sensitivity and admiration for the Egyptian tradition seeks a balance in the trinity client - architect - craftsman. The Aranya project (1983-86) of Balkrishna Doshi, a new expansion of a population cluster, distinguished by the use of the system's core, where some model houses are conceived, building on the others only the infrastructural core of the habitation. So, the project matrices are launched, a rule, which will be supplemented depending on the needs of the inhabitant. To the man the act of building his home is natural, however this direct relationship between the inhabitant and his influence on the living space is increasingly blurred, so, it's important to understand how the man builds his house. The idea of 'open work' and the quote where Hassan Fathy expresses the need for the inhabitant to build his home indefinitely, "according to an old superstition, the owner dies when his house is completely finished, so the prudent owner continued to change his home, always adding something and delaying the fatal placing of the capstone. ", illustrate the desire to restore the power of decision to the man, when defining his space to inhabit. Besides this concern, the need to understand the importance of the constructive system in the definition of the built form is added, to the major problem, searching simultaneously for realizations that would allow modification and a clear view of the architect's role in the different contexts.