Replies

1. 
   Guest_ | Mar 07, 1999 10:54pm | #1

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   You are begging the question, if you assume that there is any ideal house design for the third world. This is exactly what modern architects tried and failed. The variables are many. There are extreme differences in climate, in indegenous materials, in availability of labor and other materials, in energy resources, in sanitation and water supplies, in vernacular tradition, and most importantly of all culture. If you are interested in third world architecture you should see Hassan Fathy's "Architectre for the Poor". In this case study he shows why imported solutions cannot replace local traditions in cultural architecture. The very particular solutions that work in this case in Egypt would not work elsewhere. It is cultural arrogance to assume that the most wasteful people on earth can solve problems of third world poverty through design. We can't even do it here.

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   Guest_ | Mar 07, 1999 11:02pm | #2

   *Touche' MikeWith our "success" so has grown our ego, and that is a very dangerous trait.

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   Guest_ | Mar 08, 1999 01:43am | #3

   *Im still trying to handle all the business in this world. By the way, is there such a thing as second world countries?Worldly,Pete Draganic

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   Guest_ | Mar 08, 1999 03:24am | #4

   *The terminology came about this way: The first world was the economically developed west and Japan. The second world was the communist block, at the time this included the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and China. The third world was the rest.

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   Guest_ | Mar 08, 1999 05:00am | #5

   *Caves are the only true economic home. There are 60,000,000 Chinese peasants living in caves today!There must be something good about them!Send a spade, instructions optional.Blue

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   Guest_ | Mar 09, 1999 08:34am | #6

   *Hi Jose,When I lived in Africa, there were some rectangular homes built by western aid groups - concrete floors, block walls and tin roofs.Local folks really liked them - for grain storage or animals.The traditional round homes look nicer, have thick straw roofs and hence some insulation, the packed dirt floors are more comfortable to bare feet.Not all western ideas were tossed:Simple mud-brick stoves with a 2' chimney and two holes for cooking pots were popular.Traditional three rock firepits required more wood for the same amount of cooking and more smoke got in ones eyes. And being built up a foot or so, there was less stooping to check that stewing okra, yum!Good health, Weogo

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   Guest_ | Mar 09, 1999 09:02pm | #7

   *A very good friend of mine worked for the Peace Corps on a small island in Fiji providing hurricane relief. His predessors built everyone on the island reinforced cinderblock houses on reinforced floating slabs. Hurricane proof! But several hurricanes later the rainfall was so great the soil experienced 'liqufaction', and these buildings slid down the slightest grade. They are now sculptures that commemerate American stupidity.My friend found he could assist much better by organizing work parties to rebuild the traditional thatch buildings after hurricanes. He stayed 8 years, then came back to the US to become a MD, returning to Fiji after his residency. Turns out that qualified doctors in the third world make the biggest difference of all...

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   gregn | Mar 11, 1999 05:59am | #8

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   I remember a related story from the late 70's. The U.S. government sent tons of powdered milk to underpriveleged folks somewhere in Africa. Unfortunately these folks were all lactose intolerant. They did, however, find that a rich mixture made a nice paint that kept there abodes cool in the heat.

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   Jose_R._Angulo | Mar 11, 1999 05:59am | #9

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   There is a big housing deficit on all
   third world countries, but normally it is said that this countries are not poor because there are plenty of natural resources, maybe is ideas what is needed could anyone here suggest an ideal house design, size and units, and an ideal way of construction, labor and materials.