Author(s): Yutaka Sho & James Setzler
The assumed universal goal among designers working in the global South has been to serve those who have been excluded from accessing well-designed spaces. But in architectural projects in the global development industry in which wealthy funders in the global North exude more decision-making power than the end users, the local community is undermined, and 鈥渃ommunity鈥 becomes an empty marketing term. Unable to access the development funds, the end users build their own homes and towns. But the global development industry eliminates self-build structures, for they do not reflect the aesthetics of what developed buildings should look like. The industry is set up to diminish communities鈥 autonomous agencies. The paper asks, what is required for the end users/ self-builders to reconstruct a community, and how could architecture support them in this effort? And what is the new definition of community? The paper first reviews literature to understand a historical context in which development has become the responsibility of both individuals and the state. The paper proceeds to present the Is么oko Community Center in Rwanda as a case study to illustrate an architectural professional practice in the development industry. In conclusion, the paper argues that the end users鈥 architectural experiences of building and managing the community center allowed them to reclaim their 鈥渃ommunity,鈥 and to represent their development demands to the global development industry.
Volume Editors
ISBN
978-1-944214-49-4