KUKU

KU ScholarWorks

  • myKU
  • Email
  • Enroll & Pay
  • KU Directory
    • Login
    View Item 
    •   KU ScholarWorks
    • Architecture & Design
    • Architecture & Design Scholarly Works
    • View Item
    •   KU ScholarWorks
    • Architecture & Design
    • Architecture & Design Scholarly Works
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Resettlement Housing Design: Moving Beyond the Vernacular Imagery

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    Silva_2011_Resettlement.pdf (561.9Kb)
    Issue Date
    2011
    Author
    Silva, Kapila Dharmasena
    Publisher
    Colombo Institute for the Advanced Study of Society and Culture and the Theertha International Artists' Collective
    Type
    Article
    Article Version
    Scholarly/refereed, publisher version
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract
    Research on resettlement projects for post-disaster recovery efforts or those affected by myriad social, economic and political reasons suggest that, in most cases, the housing solutions given reflect the ideals of the providers (state, donors, and designers) rather than the true needs of the displaced and their culture (I. Davis 2006, Oliver 1986 & 2006). On the part of the state agencies and donors, immediate provision of adequate numbers of shelters has been the imperative. Resettlement projects, provided mostly for underprivileged segments of the society, are undertaken as low-cost constructions, swiftly built to respond to an impending crisis of housing with aims of efficient use of finite resources of land, infrastructure, and finances. The resettlement thus tends be centrally controlled, turning the re-housed community into helpless passive recipients of relief. On the design front, designers of re-housing projects make efforts to develop settlements that evoke regional and vernacular imagery in its formal and visual appearance, assuming that the new settlements would create a familiar place for the community which is in harmony with its regional environmental identity. Research suggests that simply emulating forms of local buildings does not provide the desired benefits in resettlement housing (Oliver 1986, Rapoport 2005, Heath 2009). Evaluation of post-tsunami resettlement projects in Sri Lanka indicated that designers often, erroneously, subscribed to the view that rapid provision of housing units would effectively solve the resettlement needs (Silva 2007). Such misconceptions demand a critical rethinking of the way design and planning of resettlement projects are carried out. The reasons architects tend to capitalize on local building patterns indicate their belief that those vernacular buildings accurately represent what the displaced need. It also indicates the fact that the designers do not possess the type of knowledge required for handling resettlement planning and a framework of guiding principles. Many such projects have failed purely due to the inaccurate understanding of the vernacular context and its processes of building production (Rapoport 1983, 2005) and due to reducing a culture’s architectural expression to basic physical attributes divorced from their function and social meaning (Heath 2009). This paper argues that it is an understanding of the attributes of vernacular processes of housing, rather than the formal attributes of local houses, which would truly facilitate the creation of successful re-housing settlements. Based on a review of literature on resettlement housing and vernacular design, it first discusses some key objectives of resettlement programs. Those themes are then connected to the critical attributes of vernacular building processes in order to derive a set of principles that can be followed in re-housing efforts.
    Description
    This is the published version, made available with the permission of the publisher.
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/1808/15270
    Collections
    • Architecture & Design Scholarly Works [70]
    Citation
    Silva, Kapila Dharmasena. (2011) Resettlement Housing Design: Moving Beyond the Vernacular Imagery. South Asia Journal for Culture, Special Issue on Built Space: Social Issues in Architecture. Volume 5 & 6, 2011/2012, pp. 117-135.

    Items in KU ScholarWorks are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.


    We want to hear from you! Please share your stories about how Open Access to this item benefits YOU.


    Contact KU ScholarWorks
    785-864-8983
    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    785-864-8983

    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    Image Credits
     

     

    Browse

    All of KU ScholarWorksCommunities & CollectionsThis Collection

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics

    Contact KU ScholarWorks
    785-864-8983
    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    785-864-8983

    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    Image Credits
     

     

    The University of Kansas
      Contact KU ScholarWorks
    Lawrence, KS | Maps
     
    • Academics
    • Admission
    • Alumni
    • Athletics
    • Campuses
    • Giving
    • Jobs

    The University of Kansas prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, national origin, age, ancestry, disability, status as a veteran, sexual orientation, marital status, parental status, gender identity, gender expression and genetic information in the University’s programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies: Director of the Office of Institutional Opportunity and Access, IOA@ku.edu, 1246 W. Campus Road, Room 153A, Lawrence, KS, 66045, (785)864-6414, 711 TTY.

     Contact KU
    Lawrence, KS | Maps