Ensemble and master plan
Phasing
campusschoolhospitalhousing complexsocial housing
It means designing a complete building or development from the start but building it in parts, so that each phase works on its own and the next is added without redoing what was done.
What it solves
It makes it possible to start with today’s money and needs and grow when more people or resources arrive. It avoids demolishing, moving pipes or cutting the structure at each extension.
Today
Define from the first phase the structure, routes and water and power networks of the complete development, with their connections planned. Make each phase end with a dignified facade and outdoor space and not a half-finished site.
Common mistake
Building the first phase in the middle of the site or with networks sized just for it, so that growing means breaking what already works.
Tomorrow
Building in stages lets the project learn from its users before the next phase goes up. It also makes it easier to reuse materials from the previous phase and for local trades to build in small batches.
Fact At Quinta Monroy, in Chile, each family received half a house with kitchen, bathroom, stair and structure, next to a space of similar size to complete it.
Where it comes from
- 1Supports theory Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1961
N. John Habraken proposed separating the support, the shared, durable structure, from the infill that each family changes over time. - 2PREVI Experimental Housing Project Lima, Peru, 1966 to 1974
Peruvian and foreign architects designed low-rise houses meant to grow. In the following decades families added floors, balconies and shops.
Masters
- Balkrishna Doshi Aranya Housing, Indore, India, 1989
He planned a neighborhood for about 60,000 people where lower-income families receive a lot with a plinth, a services core and one room to start. The layout and networks are already in place for each house to grow. - Alejandro Aravena Quinta Monroy, Iquique, Chile, 2004
He built the harder half of each home and left the other half for the families to complete. Growth is kept in order by the design.
Appears in the routes
See also
Also in Ensemble and master plan
Diagrams and texts by LDB Arquitectura. They are shared under the CC BY 4.0 license, which allows them to be used and adapted with credit to the source.