Paper short abstract:

This paper takes the urban space of the so-called underdevelopment countries as its main scenery. The concepts of underdevelopment, sustainability and emergency will be reviewed in the realm of architecture.

Paper long abstract:

A case study in the context of Nairobi, presented in the scope of an international architecture competition was the starting point for a theoretical and practical investigation that tries to reveal how can the architect conciliate the demands and pressures of globalization, with a growth that is sustainable and respectful of cultural values, traditions and local conditions, when intervening in informal settlements in an underdevelopment country.

Starting by an interpretation of this premise in the contemporary architecture field of study and the social and human responsibility of the architect as an intervenient in the modeling and organization of space. Analysis advances into the dimension and origin of the world's tragedy, drawing a portrait of the present geopolitical situation and showing the gaps rooted both in the urban organization and in the architectural design of cities.

The progress of the theoretical framework about the informal settlements, their formation and organization, and the search for answers both of architecture to the human emergencies as of the role of the architect in these contexts, was recovered in a second phase of practical investigation, with the opportunity to travel to Kenya.

The confrontation with the reality of the informal city presented a new perspective to the work, which resulted in the development of a new proposal of intervention in the slums of Nairobi - a building prototype, no further than a most simplified system of housing assemblage for self-construction, whose design was directly inspired by the observation of existing structures.