london

I met with Jorge Fiori, Director of the Housing and Urbanism Programme at the AA (Architectural Association). He shared with me some of his views on the past and future of the involvement of architects in poverty alleviation and the upgrading of informal settlements:

As a reaction against the disastrous spatial determinism of the Modern movement, dialogue related to the ‘improving the lives of slum-dwellers’ has avoided any discussion of the spatial aspects of informal settlements, focussing entirely on the social and policy aspects of upgrading. This move away from discussing the urban and architectonic characteristics of informal settlements and using spatial and design techniques in their development was a result of very real concerns about the damage caused by a previous generation of large scale architectural interventions, usually of the demolish and relocate (or simply demolish) kind. A new generation of architects in the 60s and 70s recognised and celebrated the ingenuity and responsiveness of owner-built settlements.

While Fiori believes strongly in the importance of this movement, he argues that the total exclusion of a spatial understanding has severely limited the scope and success of slum upgrading projects to date. He argues that spatial analysis and tactics of upgrading be intergrated with social and political techniques to achieve a holistic result. He believes his balance has been exemplified by the Favela Bairro project undertaken by the municipal government of Rio de Janeiro since 1994.

Fiori describes the limitations of small scale, specific interventions as being too insular and ingnoring the crucial relationship of the settlement with the city as a whole. He believes that as important as making the city accessible to the residents of the slum is making the slum accessible to the rest of the city.