I was looking at pictures of Africa they don't show you in the media. There are some mighty fine cities and large. I have only seen on TV the degradation and despair and military and why is every African leader who isn't pushing democracy a dictator? Anyway, when I see the big cities I want to go there and bask in the place.
I look at the enticing real estate offerings and realize it is kind of sick. With all the shambles and poverty for rural Africans, why does the escape from that equal the ostentatious display of wealth as if they read an ad, "now you too can have your own plantation, servants and live a little higher on the hog"....? I mean here is few limits you can do anything you wish. Of course I had a little nation building drummed into me in college, the utopian novel, black power and umoja ngoma (not by the school, of course).
I fell into the idea of using cargo containers as dwelling spaces. They resemble the corrugated shanty you see all over Africa. The modern container users seem not to prefer to alter them much. So when I see a single container home in contrast to surrounding homes they look quaint and ultra modern. In mass they look like a shanty town. I thought how can I change them so that an endless variety of configurations could be realized. Join them together with quonset huts and grain silos was the answer.
My first thought was not to mimic the western idea of housing as a standard. Since the glut of people live in less than that standard dwelling. Also something about how African cultures do things differently. So I strayed away from large personal spaces that compromised the communal space. If you have a big bedroom it takes away from the living room space. I ask why does every person need a personal apartment (bed, bath, kitchenette) in the house. I'm not saying every person gets a cubby hole and a mattress (a cell). My realization is that Africans respect the communal living more than of western folk.
I think about functional parts, bathroom, kitchen, lighting, utilities and open reconfigurable space. The cargo container becomes a basic unit, easy to set up, remove, and to alter with quonset arches and silo curves spanning spaces, breaking up straight walls, etc. Perhaps it is a little more compact than we would like. These parts are pre-manufactured and require less altering to surround space. I live in a house with nice rooms made small with overstuffed furniture. It is comfortable to the behind but looks cramped and small to the eyes. A lot of space is unused to be filled with junk.
Instead of down grading the typical western idea of a house, I am looking at upgrading the sheet steel shanty (hut), into a high tech dwelling unit or at least a more flexible way to enclose space. So, if you peruse my photos and see the dwelling unit concepts you have some idea where I am going with this line of thought.
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