The
2007 AMD + Architecture for Humanity Open Architecture Competition requested proposals for expanding
SIDAREC, an existing community center in Mukuru Kwa Njenga, a self-described informal slum settlement in Nairobi, Kenya. SIDAREC had been using limited infrastructure and a small building to provide
educational workshops, technology trainings, youth recreation, and a community radio station.
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| SIDAREC site plan |
Melissa Vandiver and I developed a proposal, selected as a finalist, which would create a new community center on the chosen site,
maximizing outdoor space for sports fields, food production, and amphitheater/stage/outdoor classroom space, as undeveloped land is at a minimum in Mukuru Kwa Njenga. Designed for housing a radio station, day care, internet cafe + photocopying facilities, library, computer training, and payphones, the structures promote flexibility and openness, providing connections to the outside and a building which can be
altered to suit varying needs as they present themselves in the future.
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| indoor and outdoor educational spaces |
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| flexible interior and exterior spaces |
The main SIDAREC site would function as a hub for further neighborhood outreach, as remote locations throughout the settlement could be developed through a series of low-cost
self-built seating and outdoor-classroom projects, providing
infrastructure for SIDAREC's educational programs while also creating
regular public gathering spaces that would help to point participants back to SIDAREC's main site and further programming.
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| example of potential self-built gathering spaces made from locally available materials |
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| creation of public educational spaces as SIDAREC reaches out and is reflected throughout the community |
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From our entry's
Open Architecture Network page:
When Mukuru Kwa Njenga describes itself as an informal slum settlement,
it implies serving as a home for its residents, by the people, lacking
many “official” city functions. This means that residents organize
themselves and define the infrastructure of the settlement through their
daily actions without an outside hand dictating moves. SIDAREC’s
involvements in Mukuru Kwa Njenga provides an example of a community
where the residents have already taken the first steps towards
empowering themselves towards a better future. Remote “satellite
stations” help to provide grounds for further spread of knowledge and
community interaction away from SIDAREC’s main site in the area, for
maximum benefit to the population. The satellites’ purpose is analogous
99.9 Ghetto FM’s role in the area: fostering amplified community
empowerment, education, and information exchange by reaching into and
drawing from the community itself.
