Common solutions for permanently settling com- munities after war often address only housing or infrastructure, but ‘rarely address the social, [eco- nomic or environmental] dimensions’ 5 A perma- nent settlement that enables displaced people to co-exist with delicate wetlands while increasing their social and economic opportunities is desper- ately needed. An incremental design strategy that uses wa- ter infrastructure as the key social catalyst has the potential to develop an existing camp into a per- manent settlement, without displacing people yet again. Water infrastructure can generate impor- tant spatial relationships that are currently lacking – spaces for social gathering, commerce, produc- tion and permanent dwelling.(top) The first inter- vention in a camp is to bring water infrastructure to the site. The design has two systems: delivering potable water, and harvesting and collecting rain- water. Water delivery infrastructure is a linear system that uses the main access road as a social spine along which water distribution nodes, commercial buildings and social institutions aggregate. The water distribution nodes are points of social inter- action within the community, places of impromptu gathering and discussion. The water tower along
the spine is the signifier of the settlement’s market below, and a source of orientation in the landscape. Water harvesting infrastructure harnesses water by work- ing with the site topography. This system is a neighbour- hood water network, a catalyst for organising housing and agriculture at the block scale.(right) Instead of drain- ing rainwater into the wetland, a series of berms and ba- sins linked horizontally, harvest and infiltrate the water periodically. 6 The road network therefore also follows the contours of the land instead of the old colonial grid. Agriculture aligns along each berm, run-off is infiltrated in a basin, while stone or block retaining walls keep the berms from eroding. The berm infrastructure is a cor- ridor, a pedestrian pathway, connecting clusters of new permanent housing across each block.(below right) At the centre of each cluster is a stone-lined water collection courtyard. Troughs and cisterns harvest courtyard surface water during the rainy season, storing it for irrigation dur- ing the dry season. This system alleviates pressure on the wetlands by providing an alternative water source. Imple- mented together, these systems and networks support co- dependent programs.(below)
above right: incremental design strategy, site composite above: the basic block. These layers describe the integrated site system at the block scale. A (top layer) – water collection from roof B: housing clusters around courtyards paved with local stone. C: courtyards are catchment areas for storing rainwater in underground cisterns. D: agriculture aggregates next to basins for infiltrating cistern overflow and agriculture run-off. below: typical site section. These systems and networks support co- dependent programs.This segmented site section depicts conditions in the rainy season when water harvesting infrastructure is at work.
opposite :The berm infrastructure connects housing clusters and water collection courtyards. The basin, a resource with fruit trees and construction materials such as thatch grasses, also supports wildlife.
10 On Site review 22: WAR
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