Afghan Compounds
During today's discussion on social housing and the development overtime of spaces for families it made me think back to some of the living conditions in Afghanistan. Not so much that the conditions are similar, but just the idea of social housing and the natural tendency to resort to it in drastic situations like what is in Afghanistan. The conditions are very much third world, which is hard to think of if you haven't seen it but it is the way that locals have been living for hundreds of years even through all of the development of the rest of the world. Much of the time in rural Afghanistan you will find what we call "compounds" made of mud and straw with sticks that would act as our re-bar in concrete. Within these compounds there are a series of enclosed spaces made of the same material but also a curved dome like roof to allow for heat to rise and exit (it actually works incredibly well). There are communal spaces in the center of the compound that the families use together. The separation of spaces provides more private "homes" for multiple families within the compound, safe from what lies outside of the walls of the overall compound.
These families have been living like this for generations. It is inherently how we as humans would live without technologies or education advancing in an environment where there is no real governance or law. The region has been in a war for hundreds of years, unable to benefit from any advancements in technology elsewhere in the world. And let's be honest, no one is going into rural Afghanistan to teach or build anything because of how dangerous it is. They haven't heard of the most recent Iphone or virus outbreak because their most advanced piece of technology might be a flip phone (more commonly a radio that operates on line of sight), let alone the concept of "social housing" and its benefits. So the locals continue to build what they have for years, and live in the confinements of their compounds with other families to help protect each other. I think that this creates an interesting living arrangement that really wasn't planned but more so acted upon because of the environment. And the compounds are continuously customized into ways that families see fit.
It might be a long shot for the relativity of this and the social housing that we are talking about in class, but it is something to think about in the natural desire to be with community and sharing space.
Below are some really bad photos of some compounds (taken with an old android phone in 2011)
Top photo - communal space within compound walls
Middle photo - some of the roof tops I referred to
Bottom photo - Inside a families home in the compound
These families have been living like this for generations. It is inherently how we as humans would live without technologies or education advancing in an environment where there is no real governance or law. The region has been in a war for hundreds of years, unable to benefit from any advancements in technology elsewhere in the world. And let's be honest, no one is going into rural Afghanistan to teach or build anything because of how dangerous it is. They haven't heard of the most recent Iphone or virus outbreak because their most advanced piece of technology might be a flip phone (more commonly a radio that operates on line of sight), let alone the concept of "social housing" and its benefits. So the locals continue to build what they have for years, and live in the confinements of their compounds with other families to help protect each other. I think that this creates an interesting living arrangement that really wasn't planned but more so acted upon because of the environment. And the compounds are continuously customized into ways that families see fit.
It might be a long shot for the relativity of this and the social housing that we are talking about in class, but it is something to think about in the natural desire to be with community and sharing space.
Below are some really bad photos of some compounds (taken with an old android phone in 2011)
Top photo - communal space within compound walls
Middle photo - some of the roof tops I referred to
Bottom photo - Inside a families home in the compound
What strikes me about this topic is the fact that these types of communities are working so well for what they need - protection, shared space, available material, domed roof for ventilation, etc. If an architect was to come in and build a social housing development, how would/could the community benefit? Rural / informal settlements have this strange beauty in which the people, not trained architects, find solutions to their climates and adapt their living spaces accordingly. As you said, what these people have been doing for generations is working. So even if they had the option to live in social housing, would they want to? Would it still work for their lifestyle?
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing - this is really fascinating. I think this an excellent real-life/ present-day example of what we were talking about in class. It's sad to learn that so many people are living in these conditions, but at the same time I find their building strategies remarkable.
ReplyDeleteYour comment about the technology and products they have vs what they care about is interesting. I'm always shocked how some of the most useless pieces of technology are the most accessible in every corner of the earth (smartphones and wifi) while the technologies that are basic human rights are the least accessible (clean running water). When I've traveled to countries like Haiti and Peru it's crazy to see people with hardly a roof over their head, no running water, no sanitation but a smartphone with internet access. They obviously have different costs in infrastructure but there is still a little bit of that situation that speaks to our societies and governments.
ReplyDelete