Berkeley Prize Essay Competition
DESIGN GUIDED BY CLIENTS' NEEDS: Applying Social Factors Research to Architecture
Honorable Mention
Oprah Omeka, Bachelor of Architectural Technology program at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Nairobi, Kenya for: “Communal Harmony in Architectural Design”
Habitat 67 Foundation Prize
Awarded to a studio project that demonstrates excellence in housing design.
Laureates
Catherine Juneau, Chaimaà Zriouil, Valerie Irungu and Oprah Omeka, Bachelor of Architecture program at University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada and Bachelor of Architectural Technology program at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Nairobi, Kenya for:
“Tesserae; Building Home One Step at a Time”
Luxury Living and Design Expo 2022 Prize
Awarded to the best stand in property design and development
3rd place
Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology for the Kaza Mwendo Low-Cost Housing Project
Awards and recognition
Self-build & Incrementality
Environmental Sustainability
Economic Development
Community Development
Collaborating with the representatives of the cooperative is central to develop housing proposals adapted to their socio-economic characteristics
Interactive lectures and presentations from the faculties, organizations and other key stakeholders, contributed to weekly sessions with the students and the members of Kaza Mwendo. Objectives, principles and solutions for the project were discussed every week. First, the group established the needs and aspirations of the members regarding their housing. Then, the members were invited to collaborate in the design process by sharing their views and giving feedback to the students throughout the workshop. The participatory design phase has been an enriching experience for all and reaffirmed the importance of user involvement to create relevant and sustainable housing solutions that respond to the existing reality.
The Kaza Mwendo Low-Cost Housing Project started as an international participatory design workshop. Bridging the African and the North American continents, the workshop supports a group of Nairobi's slum dwellers united by the desire to create for themselves a safe and sustainable place they can call HOME -
Established by two universities, the University of Montreal in Canada and the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology in Kenya, in collaboration with representatives of the Kaza Mwendo Housing Cooperative from the Kibera slum in Nairobi, the workshop focus on Design for development. It focuses on low-cost and incremental housing typologies with a self-build and socially sustainable approach.
The site for the project is located in Machakos County, a peri urban area, 60km from Nairobi, where the members of the KM cooperative have acquired a piece of land. Currently not connected to any services, the land has however been subdivided into plots by the city. Therefore, to respond to the off-grid context of the site as well as the social, cultural and economical needs of the Kaza Mwendo community, the urban planning and housing typologies aim to create a sustainable ecosystem that embraces a bioclimatic approach, local construction technologies, income generation strategies, security and community development guidelines, as well as the notion of shared resources for affordability.