Building adequate housing is a pressing issue worldwide. With close to a billion people currently living in slums, accommodating a growing population, and improving dwelling conditions is a critical issue for society.

This challenge cannot be solved with a one-size-fits-all approach. Every city, region and country demand their own housing models and prototypes. That’s why housing design needs to negotiate many aspects simultaneously to achieve sustainable urban environments and inclusive dwelling communities.

This course uncovers how social, economic and environmental factors are interrelated in the design of housing settlements. For this, the course dives into three key aspects that anyone involved in housing design should take into consideration: time, environment, and community. Each of these aspects will be examined through a specific design approach, respectively:

• Incrementality: How dwelling environments should be able to accommodate growth and change through time.
• Typology Mix: How design can be responsive to different patterns of inhabitation, aspirations and cultural backgrounds, creating inclusive dwelling environments.
• Clustering: What methods and strategies can shape the association of dwelling units in order to create meaningful communities.

Each of these themes will be discussed and explored through a built project that has been a recipient of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. For each of these projects, we will perform an analytical review using a method that we call “scalar analysis”. This means looking into these projects from different scales, as if for each scale we were using a different zoom lens. Using new video animations developed specifically for this course, each project will be discussed at four scales:

• Township: This is the wider zoom lens, when we look at the scale of the whole residential community.
• Neighbourhood: At this scale, we focus on an area that can be clearly defined in terms of its physical configuration and the social interactions of its residents.
• Cluster: This is the smaller scale of an association of dwelling units, where there is a clear physical and social connection between the dwellers.
• Dwelling: This is the scale of the individual residential unit, that performs as the physical support for the domestic practices of a household.

Module 2 – Incrementality

In this module the selected case study will be Aranya Low Cost Housing.

Here is some basic information about this project:

• Award Cycle: 1993-1995 Cycle
• Status: Award Recipient
• Country of origin: India
• Location: Indore, India
• Client: Indore Development Authority
• Architect: Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi/Vastu-Shilpa Foundation
• Designed: 1983; Completed: 1989

Module 3 – Typology Mix

In this module the selected case study will be Shushtar New Town.

Here is some basic information about this project:

• Award Cycle: 1984-1986 Cycle
• Status: Award Recipient
• Country of origin: Iran
• Location: Shushtar, Iran
• Client: Karoun Agro-Industries Corporation and Iran Housing Corporation
• Architect: DAZ Architects, Planners, and Engineers / Kamran Diba
• Designed: 1975; Completed: 1980 (first phase)

Module 4 – Clustering

In this module the selected case study will be Dar Lamane Housing.

Here is some basic information about this project:

• • Award Cycle: 1984-1986 Cycle
  • Status: Award Recipient
  • Country of origin: Morocco
  • Location: Casablanca, Morocco
  • Client: Compagnie Générale Immobilière
  • Architect: Abderrahim Charai and Abdelaziz Lazrak
  • Designed: 1980; Completed: 1983

Throughout the course, we will link the three afore-mentioned projects with other projects and developments from around the world, thereby expanding the debate even further from different regions.