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Geoffrey A. Kornegay

Proposal for a Professional Study

In partial completion of the requirements for the Master of Architecture degree

at Texas A&M University

ARCHITECTURAL INFRASTRUCTURE

Expected graduation date

May 2012

Members of the Graduate Advisory Committee

Dr. Peter Lang, Chair, ARCH

peterlang@gmail.com

Dr. Cecilia Giusti, Member, LAUP

CGiusti@arch.tamu.edu

Dr. Jesse Saginor, Member, LAUP

jsaginor@arch.tamu.edu

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Table of Contents

Project Abstract 3

Background

Hyper Urbanization 4

Informal Settlements 5

The Case of Mexico City 7

Three Types of Infrastructure 7

Case Studies

Grotão - Fábrica de Música 9

Living Rooms on the Border 12

Parque Ecologico Lago de Texcoco 14

Goals and Evaluative Criteria 16

Project Description 17

Building Codes 19

References 20

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PROJECT ABSTRACT

Over the course of half a century of “slum fixing,” and “urban revitalization,” the world

has seen a broad spectrum of answers to the question, “what should we do for the urban

poor?” From the short sighted “tabula rasa” to concrete mega-blocks of the hyper-modernists,

each theory, though well intentioned, had flaws. More recent approaches encourage less

intervention and more basic support. This method is gaining ground, but can fall short of

providing a complete solution. By understanding not only the physical needs of informal

settlements, but also the economic and social needs, a more complete approach can be taken

to encourage positive growth in depressed areas. This approach will be utilized in the design of

an “Architectural Infrastructure” facility in the Neza-Chalco-Itza settlement of Mexico City. By

addressing all three categories of needs in a holistic manner, a design solution can be reached

that truly meets the needs of the communtiy.

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PROJECT BACKGROUND

Hyper Urbanization

According to the United Nations’ Department of Economic and Social Affairs, sometime

between 2005 and 2010, the population of the world reached a critical milestone and now, for

the first time in history, more than half of the planet resides in an urban area. (UN-DESA, 2009)

The same report estimates that by 2050, nearly 70% of the world will live in a city – 6.3 billion

people. In an interview with the BCC, Hania Zlotnik, the director of the UN’s Population Division

said, “Most of the urbanization is happening at the lower level… Our surveys and projections

indicate that all urban growth over the next 25 years will be in developing countries. In

developed countries, urbanization will remain the same or decline.” (BBC, 2005)

Over the course of the next several decades, rural citizens of developing countries will

continue to pour into cities at unprecedented rates. In its Population Challenges and

Development Goals, the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs lists 22 countries that

accounted for 75% of the world’s population growth from 2000 – 2005. 21 of those countries

are a part of the developing world, with the lone exception being the United States. This report

also provides several eye opening projections, including those in Figure 1, showing negligible

population change in the developed world from 2005 – 2030, 2.2% annual growth of urban

population in the developing world, and negative population change in rural areas. It also

asserts that, “Particularly rapid growth is expected in the group of 50 countries classified as the

least developed. By mid-century, the population of the least developed countries could more

than double in size.” (UN-DESA, 2005)

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Figure 1. Selected Indicators for the Urban and Rural Population, 1950 – 2030. (UN-DESA, 2005)

Informal Settlements

The UN’s HABITAT group reports that there are currently 1 billion people living in

informal settlements around the world, accounting for 1/6th of humanity. This number is

expected to double by 2030, at which time 1 in 4 people will belong to this group. Most of this

growth is expected to take place in cities of the developing world with populations between 1

and 5 million – cities which are largely unprepared for such growth. (UN HABITAT, 2007) As

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seen in Figure 2, there are already more than two dozen nations with 5 million or more people

living in informal settlements, all of them in the developing world.

Figure 2. Population of Urban Informal Settlements by Nation – (UN HABITAT, 2010)

In his book, Shadow Cities, Robert Neuwirth asserts that the majority of this population,

“…are simply people who came to the city, needed a place to live that they and their families

could afford, and, not being able to find it in the private market, built it for themselves on land

that wasn’t theirs…. These squatters mix more concrete than any developer. They lay more

brick than any government. They have created a huge hidden economy – an unofficial system

of squatter landlords and squatter tenants, squatter merchants and squatter consumers,

squatter builders and squatter laborers, squatter brokers and squatter investors, squatter

teachers and squatter schoolkids, squatter beggars and squatter millionaires. Squatters are the

largest builders of housing in the world – and they are creating the cities of tomorrow.”

(Neuwirth, 2005, pg.10)

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The Case of Mexico City

For its Global Report on poverty in 2003, the UN’s HABITAT group published,

Understanding Slums: Case Studies, a series of in-depth looks at the most impoverished

informal settlements in the world. Though the data is now several years old, it still provides the

most complete analysis of this specific location.

Mexico City faces all of the same problems with poverty, pollution, and infrastructure

that any mega-city would but is unique in that its difficulties are exacerbated by the land itself.

The entire city is built in a basin that has no natural outlet for drainage and whose water system

has been manipulated by humans for over 500 years. Some areas of the city are flood-prone

and today 30% of the city’s potable water must be brought in from sources over 100km away.

“Water is undoubtedly the major environmental problem facing the city as a whole; and the

lack of sufficient clean water is one of the major component factors defining slum housing.”

(Connelly, 2003, pg. 4)

The most prevalent, and often the most rudimentary, form of informal housing in the city

is the colonias populares. They are characterized by a lack of services, building permits, and

titles, high flood and landslide risk, and are often built haphazardly. This type of housing

represents about half of the urbanized area of Mexico City and houses more than 60% of its

population. (Connelly, 2003, pg.13)These areas are active business centers, home to micro-

economies that support their inhabitants. It is estimated that at least 40% of the economic

activity in the city is informal, thriving on cash transactions by people who make a living as

small scale venders and who pay no taxes. (Sudjic, 2005)

Three Types of Infrastructure

The notion of infrastructure has proven itself difficult to organize. Many immediately

assume the word is in reference to traditional physical infrastructure, such as electrical service

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and roadways, and never consider any other possible contexts. Others merely differentiate

between “hard,” (the aforementioned physical) and “soft,” infrastructure, which includes

governmental infrastructures such as law enforcement, (Casey, 2005) but this is still too

simplistic. Due to the complexity of this “soft,” subgroup, I prefer to further separate “social

infrastructure” such as healthcare, education, civic and public interaction systems, and

“economic infrastructure” which would traditionally be considered formal banking institutions,

but in the context of informal settlements, is often the simple purchase, sale, and trade of real

goods.

Basic standards for “hard” infrastructure have been established for decades, making

financial feasibility the only hurdle for its implementation and expansion in economically

depressed parts of the world. While this physical system is vital to the improvement of informal

living conditions, it must not exist in a vacuum. “Hard” infrastructure must be considered as an

investment in conjunction with its social and economic counterparts. This “Social Capital” is

defined by The World Bank as “the institutions, relationships, and norms that shape the quality

and quantity of a society's social interactions. Increasing evidence shows that social cohesion

is critical for societies to prosper economically and for development to be sustainable. Social

capital is not just the sum of the institutions which underpin a society – it is the glue that holds

them together.” (World Bank, 2011)

To address the issues faced by informal settlements, we must understand that these

forms of infrastructure do not function independently. Any intervention, improvement, or

imposition must consider the implications on all three systems, and designers must address

projects of every scale from a holistic point of view. By creating places, systems, and programs

that operate to improve each type of infrastructure, we can ensure that needs are met on all

three fronts.

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CASE STUDIES

Case Study 1: Grotão - Fábrica de Música

Architect: Urban Think Tank

Location: Sao Paulo, Brazil

Client: SEHAB, City of Sao Paulo Housing Authority

This multi-function public building is under construction in the Paraisópolis informal

settlement of São Paulo, Brazil. Its program includes classroom and performance space for a

pre-existing music school program, small sports facilities, public space, urban agriculture,

commercial space, a transportation link, and a small amount of replacement housing. This is

clearly a vast undertaking, but by designing each space for multiple purposes, the program

can be condensed and the building can be occupied more efficiently.

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The site was formerly occupied by rudimentary housing equally dense as that

surrounding the facility. A small section of the housing was destroyed by a mudslide – a

common occurrence in this area of high erosion and steep terrain – creating a unique

opportunity for investment. The building and site improvements create a new section profile for

the site and serve to reinforce the hillside and prevent further erosion while creating much

needed open space.

The project won the Holcim Gold Award for Sustainable Construction for its design

approach and integration of sustainable features at every scale. In its conclusions, the award

committee summarizes by stating, “The project utilizes site orientation to provide a

combination of both passive and active systems for maximum efficiency and low cost. The

buildings and landscape work as one system that can effectively handle the varying conditions

of the wet/dry season cycle. Prevailing winds in combination with an in-floor cooling system

provide efficient tempering; the waste heat is stored in the terraces (as heat sink) during the

day and emitted through hybrid-PV panels at night. Excess heat is vented through a solar and

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wind supported chimney. Water is reused on site; what was once a danger is now a resource.

Wetlands filter the water through the site, which can be used for irrigation (in urban agriculture)

and gray-water applications or further filtered through rapid sand filtration. An on-site water tank

distributes excess water to the sewage system during the wet season and stores it for later use

during the dry season.” (Holcim, 2011)

Images: Holcim Foundation – www.holcimfoundation.org

Informantion: Urban Think Tank – www.utt.com

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Case Study 2: Living Rooms at the Border

Architect: Estudio Teddy Cruz

Location: San Ysidro, California, USA

Client: Casa Familiar

This experimental community model is not just a proposal for a building, but rather a

small scale reinvention of prototypical planning policy in United States. Along with non-profit

developer Casa Familiar, Teddy Cruz designed a housing project that embraces the informal

patterns and impromptu mixed-use development of the low income areas of Southern

California. Paired with this project is the designation of what he calls, “AHOZ: Affordable

Housing Overlay Zones” which create micro planning policy areas that allow for the inclusion of

program that would traditionally be considered a “non-conforming use.” This allows for

densification, which leads to affordability, and stimulates micro-economic activity in public

spaces.

The program includes housing, public space, workshops, a market, a community

center, community gardens, and group kitchens, but more importantly, it encourages the social

interaction between each of these spaces. In an interview with California Architect, Cruz says of

the project, “In a place where current regulation allows only one use, we propose five different

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uses that support one

another, suggesting a model

of social sustainability for the

neighborhood, one that

conveys density not as bulk

but as social choreography

and neighborhood

collaboration.”

Equally as important in Cruz’s design is the ability to utilize a single space for multiple

functions. Much of the ground level is left open as multi-function space to be used by the

community for both planned and spontaneous events. This opportunity is a vital part of the

culture of the neighborhood.

Images & Information: California-Architects - www.california-architects.com

MoMA - www.moma.org

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Case Study 3: Parque Ecologico Lago de Texcoco

Architect: Iñake Echeverria

Location: Mexico City, Mexico

Client: Department of Ecology and Natural Resources

Though this project is programmatically different, and on a larger scale than my

proposed project, it addresses many of the same issues by virtue of its location and public

nature. It represents a proposal for massive investment in urban ecology and social place-

making. Lake Texcoco is a largely abandoned zone, prone to flooding and neglected for

decades, surrounded by some of the most economically depressed areas of Mexico City.

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The UN’s Mexico City case study in Understanding Slums focuses on this area and

points to its water cycle problems and topography as key issues, stating. “[The] paradox of too

much and too little water has characterized Mexico City’s growth throughout its history and has

been a major factor in the urban segregation and the location of slums…. The steep slopes

surrounding the extinct lakes are undesirable for most conventional building uses, and have

provided a cheap alternative for unauthorized settlement.” (Connolly, 2003)

The project aims to reestablish the hydrological cycle of the area to prevent flooding

and to engage the surrounding communities through the provision of sports fields, trails,

museums, and other community facilities. It is intended to serve as a “social catalyst” for the

nearby informal settlements and encourage the reactivation of social, cultural, and educational

networks in an underdeveloped part of the city.

Images & Information: Iñake Echeverria - http://www.parquetexcoco.com

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GOALS AND EVALUATIVE CRITERIA

1. The program should consider physical, economic, and social infrastructure and provide

a holistic solution encompassing all three, not a series of individual solutions.

2. The facility should be adaptable for variable use in both short term (day-to-day) and

long term (year-to-year) to account for the changing needs of the community.

3. The project should provide high quality public space to allow for social interaction

amongst the members of the community.

4. The project should have a positive impact on the local environment by addressing site-

specific environmental problems and encourage local sustainability through education

and services to the community.

5. The project should provide opportunities for local “sweat equity” investment by the

community to create a “sense of ownership,” by the end users.

6. The culture of Mexico and informal settlements is very family oriented; therefore the

program should encourage use by all age groups separately and together.

7. Displacement of existing housing stock should be kept to an absolute minimum. Any

displacement should be accounted and compensated for.

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PROJECT DESCRIPTION

This project aims to create a prototype “Architectural Infrastructure,” to service the

unique needs of informal neighborhoods. It will sill serve as a “community center” which

addresses the needs of the physical community, the economic community, and the social

community. The intention is not to create a “stock” building to be used in all locations, but

rather to develop a framework that allows for variability and therefore implementation in areas

with differing needs.

The Neza-Chalco-Itza settlement of Mexico City will be used as a test site for this project

and the needs of this community will be used to develop the test program. As a specific site is

chosen, the issues facing the site and immediate vicinity will guide the program, but possible

features include:

Physical Infrastructure:

Water quality, delivery, and storage problems

Garbage collection and disposal

Power generation and distribution in the community

Mitigating flood risk and air quality problems relating to seasonal water level

change in the Texcoco Lake

Mitigating soils and landslide risk if located on one of the many unstable

hillsides

Transportation and access

Economic Infrastructure:

Public market

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Small scale financial institutions

Education facilities for teaching job skills and developing small business owners

Community garden or other public project space

Social Infrastructure

Public space both indoor and outdoor

Sports and recreational facilities

Performance and presentation space

Cultural space for art or other exhibition

Health clinic and related education facilities

Due to the nature of informal settlements and the people who live there, the service area

of this type of project is limited to, “acceptable walking distance,” as understood by the users

of the facility. This radial area and number of “targeted users,” will become the guidelines for

the development of a specific program. It will be used to develop the schedule of facilities to be

included in the project and the amount of built area dedicated to each use. To encourage

spatial efficiency and extended occupancy, facilities will be designed to allow complementary

uses to utilize a single space at differing times. This variable use of space should be

encouraged in both indoor facilities and outdoor open spaces to create a sense of constant

occupancy.

It is understood that this facility would be one of many spread out across a large

informal settlement. The goal is not to provide a single, massive solution for millions of people,

but rather a network of related (though not identical) facilities, within walking distance of each

other, to service the needs of a local community. As these needs vary throughout the

settlement, so should the manifestation of the “infrastructure,” provided.

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BUIDLING CODES

This project will comply with the current building code of the Federal District of Mexico

as well as additional standards of practice. Mexico is currently partnered with the ICC to revise

its building codes, but the active code is:

REGLAMENTO DE CONSTRUCCIONES PARA EL DISTRITO FEDERAL

Building Regulations for the Federal District

Published January 2004

This code is a bit convoluted and dated, so as a general guide, and to meet international

standards, ICC and other codes will be used as a higher benchmark where necessary. These

codes include:

IBC 2012 – Intenational Buidling Code

IECC 2012 – Interational Energy Conservation Code

ADA SAD – Americans with Disabilities Act Standards for Accessible Design

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REFERENCES

1. United Nations – Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2009,

World Urbanization Prospects – The 2009 Revision;

http://esa.un.org/unpd/wup/index.htm

2. United Nations – Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2005,

Population Challenges and Development Goals;

http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/pop_challenges/Population_Challenges.pdf

3. Whitehouse, David, 2005,

Half of Humanity Set to Go Urban, BBC;

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4561183.stm

4. United Nations – HABITAT, 2007,

Slum Dwellers to Double by 2030;

http://www.unhabitat.org/downloads/docs/4631_46759_GC%2021%20Slum%20dwellers%20to%

20double.pdf

5. United Nations Development Group, Data Collection 2010,

DevInfo Database;

http://devinfo.info/

6. Neurwirth, Robert, 2005,

Shadow Cities, Routlege;

7. Holcim Foundation, 2011,

Comment of the Holcim Awards jury Latin America – Relevance to Target Issues;

http://www.holcimfoundation.org/T1358/A11LAgoBR.htm

8. Connelly, Priscilla – UN HABITAT, 2003

Understanding Slums: Case Studies for the Global Report 2003

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dpu-projects/Global_Report/cities/mexico.htm

9. Sudjic, Dejan, BBC, 2006

Making Cities Work: Mexico City

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/5061626.stm

10. World Bank, 2011

What is Social Capital

http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTSOCIALDEVELOPMENT/EXTTSOCIA

LCAPITAL/0,,contentMDK:20185164~menuPK:418217~pagePK:148956~piPK:216618~theSite

PK:401015,00.html

11. Casey, Sharyn, The University of Queensland, 2005

Establishing Standards for Social Infrastructure

http://www.uq.edu.au/boilerhouse/docs/establishing%20standards%20web.pdf