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Bottom Up Participatory Approach
The design and construction of buildings must be conducted from the bottom up using a participatory approach.1
Architects can no longer operate on assumptions or accept orders from those transferring capital. The architect must become a bipartisan mediator between the benefactor, investor or government and the end user.
The community must be heavily integrated in the design process through questionnaires, meetings, and workshops to create opportunities for brainstorming ideas and understanding the community’s needs.2 Consultation creates awareness of individual and cultural nuances and desires that can lead to unique and exciting programmes.3
The community must also be given opportunity to be involved in the construction process. Whether simply selecting finishes or laying bricks, the act of constructing the building can lead to a strong sense of ownership and provides lifelong skills for future projects.
The project, Thread, in Sinthian, Senegal by Toshiko Mori Architect is an exemplar of this approach. The community, led by Dr Magueye Ba, working closely with the architects to achieve an outcome that met the community need for art, education and sport facilities, as well as a hub for community meetings and water capture from the roof.4 They participated in the construction of the thatched roof, brick walls and mosaic floors, leading to a tremendous uptake upon completion.5
The participatory approach can also be extended to the landscaping, gardening and urban forestry. The informality of this process allows for ad hoc, bricolage creativity that can add meaning for the end users and reduce the homogeneity of neoliberal buildings.6
[1] Esther Ruth Charlesworth, Humanitarian Architecture: 15 Stories of Architects Working after Disaster, (Routledge, 2014), 34.
[2] Richard John Bower, “Towards an articulation of architecture as a verb: learning from participatory development, subaltern identities and textual values,” (PhD thesis. University of Plymouth, 2014), 6. Accessed September 16, 2020. https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.635336
[3] Ibid., 183.
[4] “Thread: Artists Residency and Cultural Centre,” The Josef And Anni Albers Foundation, published 2017, http://thread-senegal.org/welcome#about
[5] Ibid.
[6] Charles Jencks, & Karl Kropf, Theories and Manifestoes of Contemporary Architecture, (Chichester, West Sussex: Academy Editions, 1997), 64-65.