Proluheke. Uma Nova Arquitectura de Terra no Namibe.

Abstract

This project, developed under the Integrated Master's Thesis in Architecture, comes from the discovery of a place, an oasis in rural Angola, a developing country, a space in which concepts of underdevelopment, sustainable and emergent architecture are objects of reflection. A local associative organization, Centro de Estudos do Deserto, studies and organizes activities seeking to offer a more comfortable lifestyle to the communities living there. Determined on giving more dignity to traditional housing of this population, they intend to develop the earth construction skills of young people. This was the starting point for this theoretical and practical research that seeks to understand how the architect can reconcile the demands and pressures of globalization with sustainable and respectful cultural values, traditions and local constraints to intervene on informal settlements of an underdeveloped country. The project ProLuheke proposes a earth house model that can be built on training local masons. For this purpose, a study was undertaken analyzing the whole process that follows the project development, from contextualization, analysis and knowledge of the site, to the project design. This dissertation is organized into three chapters arising from the work methodology. Initially, and in order to clarify the context of the place which differs from where I live in, and in order to fulfill the required preparation such a project entails, the general context of Angola is presented. The site is identified, and an investigation into the socio-economic, environmental and architectural contexts is given. Still in the first chapter, within the local characterization, the climate and geology are analyzed taking into account the factors that influence soil formation, concluding with a reflection on best practices for intervening the architectural profile of Njambasana. The second chapter delves into the study of the earth as raw material for construction. Several architectural examples are presented built on different earth construction techniques, examined individually for choosing the most suitable ones for the site. Finally, we present the ProLuheke project, that seeks to be an active contribution to the development of community based on the principles of environmental, economic and cultural sustainability, in co- -operation with the local population. A model holding the basic ideal of architecture which Professor José Forjaz once defined for low-cost housing: "the most dificult project... where being creative becomes a moral imperative." (Forjaz, 1999)