Design Sand Castles

Design Indaba 10 x 10: Sand-bag houses by MMA architects 4

Design Indaba is an annual conference which gathers the talent from across the creative industries. The institution, which incorporates events, media, education, training and business development, is well-established with a 12-year history.
In order to promote the design industries in South Africa and to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Design Indaba, some spin-off projects have been launched. These projects will be known collectively as Design Indaba 10 x 10’s and bring together Design Indaba alumni to create a brand image for others to benefit from.
These include the Design Indaba 10×10 Housing Project: A Design Indaba Community Project. Low-cost housing is an issue of huge social relevance in South Africa, as well as globally. The 10 x 10 Housing Project challenged 10 architectural teams to provide innovative and dynamic design solutions for the low-cost housing sector (on a completely pro-bono basis).
Each team consists of a South African architect working alongside an international architect, to create ten distinct designs to change the perception that low-cost housing is outside the realms of design innovation and architectural significance. This challenge will result in the construction of ten houses, and the production of a “users” manual, which will be presented to the Minister of Housing, and will provide open-source prototypes for the future.
The houses will be built in Freedom Park in Mitchell’s Plain, and given to ten families in need. This will truly “create a better future, by design” for ten of Cape Town’s most impoverished families. Sponsor PG Bison will pay for the cost of building the houses.
The brief to the architects specifies designing a house of at least 42 m2 with a budget of roughly €5,500.
Here, prototype Sandbag Houses by MMA architects, part of the 10×10 Housing Project, going up in late-March.
more: http://designindaba.blogspot.com/2008/02/design-indaba-10×10-ten-houses-for.html;
www.mmaarch.co.za/home.asp