What defines informal architecture?

• Self-built out of economic need. As both market and government struggle to keep the formal architecture affordable, the disadvantaged population is left to create their own, informal, architecture. Informal architecture is the architecture of need. It consists of self-built structures, neighborhoods, and even entire cities, created with little to no involvement from architects, engineers, formal businesses, and government.

Why is it important for architects to study informal architecture?

• Programming. Informal architecture is consistently better at programming than formal architecture. The program of informal spaces comes unfiltered directly from the clients whereas the program of formal spaces passes through the filter of architects, assumes their bias, and often detaches from the client’s needs. Many homeless prefer homeless camps to shelters. Slum residents rent out the apartments they were given and return to slums. Studying the informal architecture corrects our bias, bridges the programming gap, and allows us to serve our clients better.

• Social responsibility. Informal self-built architecture directly reflects the culture, personality, priorities, and way of life of the people who, due to varied factors, find themselves partially or entirely separated from the formal economy and architecture. By studying informal architecture we gain an in-depth understanding of societal needs and economic processes. It helps us consciously avoid reinforcing negative societal and economic trends (such as gentrification) in our practice.

What is my connection to informal?

• My origin. I spent my childhood in various informal self-built settlements, and I am intimately familiar with their workings. Informal provided me with my first design challenges, put me on the path to becoming an architect, and elevated my family to the middle class.

• X-factor. Informal architecture is where I search for the elusive x-factor that separates competent architecture from exceptional. The informal buildings may have design and technical flaws but remain special to their users. The informal buildings possess something that makes the users happy inhabiting them. This x-factor is why many fight so hard for their informal communities. The x-factor is something we routinely miss when we formalize the informal. What could the x-factor be? Is it only programming or something more?

Travel-Study Plans

Short-Term: Homelessness in the US.

• See the completed research here.

Long-Term: Informal across the world*

• Private Sector. Russia. The country of my national origin has a rich informal typology called Private Sector. The Private Sector is born in tensions between the private and public construction in the communist USSR. Private Sector successfully survived the transition to the market economy and continues to exist today as a place to weather frequent economic storms.

• Urban villages. China. Rapid urbanization in China trapped some villages from all sides and forced them to expand upward. I discovered urban villages in my research for my Master’s Final Project. Urban Villages are among the densest urban places on earth. The now-demolished Kowloon Walled City is a famous example of this typology.

• Neza. Mexico. A fascinating example of a slum slowly transforming into a formal city. The transformation happened from the bottom up, also a rare occurrence. Today, it can hardly be classified as a slum, but it should be studied as a success story of self-built cities. Neza is haunted by the bad reputation that it inherited from its development years. Today the city is considered safe by its residents.

• Dharavi. India. Currently, the most densely populated place on Earth, the largest and oldest slum in the world, housing one million people in less than one square mile. Mumbai, near which the Dharavi is located, has as many as 55% of its population living in the slums, making this typology hard to miss.

• Morro da Providência. Brazile. Famous favela (local word for slum), sprawling on the hills of Rio de Janeiro. Known for its high crime level and sharp segregation from the formal city. The better side and the culture of favelas can be safely explored only as a part of a tour. Wandering the streets on your own is not advised.

• Kibera. Kenya. Among the poorest large slums in the world. It represents the life and architecture of absolute poverty, where people live on less than $1 a day.

  *Locations are listed from most to least approachable and safe. The first location is easy, as I grew up there, understand the culture well, and have numerous points of contact. The last location is the most challenging and will require a lot of preparation, careful planning, preliminary research, and a guide.