Neighborhood of Seventy Low-Cost Houses: Field notes by Jeanne Ratcliffe

Santa Rosa de Cabal, Risaralda, Colombia

The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) - John A. Neilson, Professional Advisor; "Construyamos" La Camara De Vivienda Popular Por Autogestion Communitaria - Mr. Hernan Mesa, President

Christopher Alexander, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King, Artemis Anninou, Kleoniki Tsotropoulou, Fanta Lawrence, Seth Wachtel, Jeannie Radcliffe

Built by the families and local subcontractors under the management of Constuyamos and the Center for Environmental Structure

World Bank; Canadian Government (CETA); University of California

The step-by-step process on design consisted of discrete design phases, in the following order. 1) Site: The overall configuration of the project arose from the qualities and features of the land.The layout was done directly on the site, working with stakes and earth-moving equipment, in parallel to working with models. Common space in the form of central terraces, formed the central axis across the contours. Roads run on contours, perpendicular to the axis. The final layout was surveyed and presented as an initial subdivision map. 2) Streets: The forming of the streets was tightly connected to the "contribution" of each house to the formation of a larger whole, this being a public space --street, alley, terrace. Simple rules were followed with regards to the location of the main volume of each house and the determination of main levels -- sidewalk, front garden and main floor. As a result, the house volumes form a continuous street wall behind a front garden, while both house volume and width of parcel vary. The result of this phase was, besides giving shape to the streets and open public space, the plan and sections of foundation and retaining wall for each lot, and consequently the levels of the streets. This process was conducted with stakes on the site by the members of C.E.S. with representatives of Construyamos and the housing group. The detailed layout and lot subdivision was surveyed and presented. 3) House Design: Individual families working with a C.E.S. "layout coordinator" took over, working with stakes for the layout of their house directly on the individual site. Phase One of the House Layout: The first phase involves designing "five major centers": garden, veranda, comedor, final configuration of exterior volume, final configuration of front yard. Phase Two of the House Layout: The second phase is devoted to the interior layout of the house in detail: entering sequence, kitchen, sala, main stair, etc. 4) Construction: Members of the families were involved in the construction of the project. The first house was completed in Nov. 1990 to serve as a prototype house for the project as a whole.

Pattern language for the project by clients and C.E.S. Layout on the site by clients and C.E.S. Layout on the site by the families and C.E.S. Generative rules for urban growth process Design Development and Building Permit drawings done after layout D