Community Architecture

Planning 2: What is Community Architecture, Its components and its identity?
What is Community Architecture?
Community group of people in a common settlement with particular characteristics in common

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Architecture art and science of designing and constructing buildings
Community Architecture is a movement that argues for the importance of user involvement in the
design, construction, and management of the environment.
“architecture carried out with the active participation of the end-users”
Community Design Architecture Principles
A. Design for Emergence Community Architecture

 Spontaneity and individual and group creativity
 Member initiatives and experimentation
 Various forms of member-to-member interactions
 Opportunities for group formation at the lowest possible transaction cost
B. Productive Conversations
 sustain networks of coherent dialogues and productive inquiries
 promote the synergy of real time and delayed time dialogues
C. Innovation Focus
 should open up new possibilities to the community
Performance Dimensions
Vitality – the degree to which the form of the places supports the functions, biological requirements and
capabilities of human being (example: Structures, Environment)
Sense – The degree to which places can be clearly perceived or structured in time and space by users
(example: Signage, Way finding, Signs and Symbols, Mental Maps)
Fit – The degree to which the form and capacity of spaces matches the pattern of behaviours that
people engage in or want to engage in (example: District, Public Spaces, Land use, Flexibility of Spaces)
Access – The ability to reach other persons, activities, resources, services, information, or places
including the quantity and diversity of elements that can be reached. (example: Path walks, Networks,
Roads, Streets)
Control – The degree to which those who use, or reside in places can create and manage access to
spaces activities. (example: Enclosures, Security, Buffer Areas)
Efficiency and Justice – what is the relative cost of achieving a particular degree of vitality, sense, fit,
access or control? Who is getting how much of it?
Image of a City
The Elements of a City by Kevin Lynch

Path – Node – Landmark – Edge – District
Path - Major and minor routes of circulation to move about.

Nodes – Centers of activity
Districts – Components neighbourhood or large portions/areas of the city that are distinct from another
area
Edges – termination of districts
Landmarks – Prominent visual features of a city
Community Architecture is based on a democratic system of decision-making that advocates the

inclusion of community members in issues concerning their built environment. It has already been
witnessed in the past that heteronomous and paternalistic approaches of the governments and
professionals have failed to provide satisfactory solutions to the housing problem. Community
Architecture on the other hand has shown in many cases that involving people in their own projects can
yield several social and economic benefits that are not possible in the conventional approach. To sum it
all, Community Architecture has provided alternative design and development approaches in the form
of the following three priorities:
a) to save what already exists within a neighborhood, based on the community’s wishes. There
should be a minimum destruction of community networks, both in rehabilitation or new
construction.
b) demands that the community members be included in the design process of both the
rehabilitation and new construction. It is an established fact that the end-users are most
familiar with their needs and requirements, which is also directly related to the success of a
project.
c) acknowledges the involvement of the community members in the decision-making and
management of the community-based projects
Many theoreticians see the movement as a reaction to the disastrous failures of modern architecture
and planning schemes. The important lesson that community architects claim to have learned from
these failures is that participation is a better process than anticipation with regard to the users and their
environmental needs.
Three fundamental claims of Community Architecture:

a) User participation leads to greater user satisfaction.
b) User participation is more economical, at least in the long-term.
c) User participation produces psychological and sociological benefits.
Community architecture is a “movement” because it represents a tendency or trend toward a theory of
architecture. It is a movement concerned primarily with the action of making architecture--the process
rather than the product.
"The aim of community architecture is to improve the quality of the environment by involving
people in the design and management of the buildings and spaces they inhabit."
- the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in 1986,
"Examination of the literature about community architecture suggests that while there is no
commonly accepted definition, the term signifies the recognition, among some sections of the
architectural profession, of a demand from the public to play a larger part in shaping the
environment. Central to this is a belief that user participation in architectural design will lead to
buildings that will be more satisfactory for their occupants."
- Tom Woolley (Oxford Polytechnic University)
"Architecture carried out with the active participation of the end users. Term also used to
describe a movement embracing community planning, community landscape, and other
activities involving community technical aid."
- Architectural journalists Charles Knevitt and Nick Wates, co-authors of the recent
(1987) book, Community Architecture: How People Are Creating Their Own Environment
"Community architecture means that the people who inhabit it are involved in and may even
be instigators of, its creation and its management as well. The inhabitants are the clients; and
the architect works for, or at least with them--in contrast to the typical situation where architect
and user never meet."
- architectural journalist, Peter Buchanan
One of the earliest pioneers of the community architecture

movement and probably its most skilled politician and proponent is Dr.
Roderick Peter Hackney, better known as Rod Hackney. Hackney was
elected to the position of president of the RIBA in 1986 and was elected
president of the International Union of Architects (UIA) shortly thereafter.
Hackney's election is seen by many as a kind of coup d'etat for the
community architecture movement. Hackney defines community
architecture in very broad and inclusive terms.
"Community architecture is the architecture of the community."
By which he means that it involves every facet of creating and

managing the environment in which people live. Hackney has also insisted
that there are no rules to community architecture. He claims it is really
more "an attitude of mind" that inspires architects to take on work directly with their lower-income
user-clients.
What Makes Community Architecture Different?
Conventional architecture Community architecture
Users are passive recipients of Users are - or are treated as -

an environment Users are - or the clients. They are offered (or
are treated as - the clients. They take) control of commissioning,
are conceived, executed, designing, developing,
managed and evaluated by managing and evaluating their
offered (or take) control of environment, and may
commissioning. others: sometimes be physically
Status of user
corporate, public or private involved in construction.
sector designing. developing,
managing and evaluating
landowners and developers
with professional their
environment. and may
sometimes be 'experts'.
Remote, arm's length. Little if Creative alliance and working

any direct contact. Experts - partnership. Experts are
commissioned by landowners commissioned by. and are
and developers - occasionally accountable to users or behave
User/expert relationship
make superficial attempts to as if they are.
define and consult end-users.
but their attitudes are mostly
paternalistic and patronizing.
Provider, neutral bureaucrat. Enabler, facilitator and 'social

61itist, 'one of them', entrepreneur', educator, 'one of
manipulator of people to fit the us', manipulator of the system
system, a professional in the to fit the people and challenger
Expert's role
institutional sense. Remote and of the status quo; a professional
inaccessible. as a competent and efficient
adviser. Locally based and
accessible.
Generally large and often Generally small. responsive and

cumbersome. Determined by determined by the nature of the
pattern of land ownership and project. the local building
Scale of project the need for efficient mass industry and the participants.
production and simple Large sites generally broken
management. down into manageable
packages.
Fashionable and wealthy Anywhere, but most likely to be
existing residential, commercial urban, or periphery of urban
and industrial areas preferred. areas: area of single or multiple
Otherwise a green-field site deprivation: derelict or
Location of project
with infrastructure (roads. decaying environment.
power, water supply and
drainage, etc.); i.e. no
constraints.
Likely to be a single function or Likely to be multi-functional.

two or three complementary
Use of project
activities (e.g. commercial, or
housing, or industrial).
Self-conscious about style: most Unselfconscious about style.

likely 'international' or 'modern Any 'style' may be adopted as
movement'. Increasingly one of appropriate. Most likely to be
the other fashionable and contextual'. 'regional' (place-
Design style
identifiable styles: Post-Modern. specific) with concern for
Hi-tech. Neo-vernacular or identity. Loose and sometimes
Classical Revival. Restrained and exuberant: often highly
sometimes frigid: utilitarian. decorative. using local artists.
Tendency towards: mass Tendency towards: small-scale

production, prefabrication, production, on-site
repetition, global supply of construction, individuality, local
Technology/ resources materials, machine- friendly supply of materials, user-
technology, 'clean sweep' and friendly (convivial) technology,
new build, machine intensive, re-use, recycling and
capital intensive. conservation. labor and time
intensive.
Static, slowly deteriorates, hard Flexible, slowly improving, easy

End product to manage and maintain, high- to manage and maintain, low-
energy consumption. energy consumption.
Private sector: return on Improvement of quality of life

investment (usually short- term) for individuals and
Primary motivation and narrow self-interest. communities. Better use of local
Public sector: social welfare and resources. Social investment.
party-political opportunism. Response to specific localized
needs and opportunities.
Experts: esteem from
professional peers. Response to
general national or regional gap
in market, or social needs and
opportunities.
Top-down, emphasis on product Bottom-up, emphasis on

rather than process, process rather than product,
bureaucratic, centralized with flexible, localized, holistic and
specialisms compartmentalized, multi- disciplinary, evolutionary,
Method of operation
stop-go, impersonal, continuous, personal, familiar,
anonymous, paper people management, setting
management, avoid setting a precedents, open.
precedent, secretive.
Totalitarian, technocratic and Pragmatic, humanitarian,

doctrinaire (Left or Right) big is responsive and flexible, small is
Ideology
beautiful, competition, survival beautiful, collaboration, mutual
of the fittest. aid.

Community Architecture

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Community Architecture

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Planning 2: What is Community Architecture, Its components and its identity?

What is Community Architecture?

Community group of people in a common settlement with particular characteristics in common

“architecture carried out with the active participation of the end-users”

Community Design Architecture Principles

A. Design for Emergence Community Architecture

The Elements of a City by Kevin Lynch

Path - Major and minor routes of circulation to move about.

Community Architecture is based on a democratic system of decision-making that advocates the

Three fundamental claims of Community Architecture:

One of the earliest pioneers of the community architecture

"Community architecture is the architecture of the community."

By which he means that it involves every facet of creating and

Conventional architecture Community architecture

Users are passive recipients of Users are - or are treated as -

Remote, arm's length. Little if Creative alliance and working

Provider, neutral bureaucrat. Enabler, facilitator and 'social

Generally large and often Generally small. responsive and

Likely to be a single function or Likely to be multi-functional.

Self-conscious about style: most Unselfconscious about style.

Tendency towards: mass Tendency towards: small-scale

Static, slowly deteriorates, hard Flexible, slowly improving, easy

Private sector: return on Improvement of quality of life

Top-down, emphasis on product Bottom-up, emphasis on

Totalitarian, technocratic and Pragmatic, humanitarian,

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