DESIGN STUDIO, WS 17/18
Prof. Dr. Philipp Misselwitz, Nina Pawlicki, Moritz Ahlert

Urban Lab Medellín Berlin:
Co-producing housing

Globally, and particularly in the global south, the majority of urban housing stock occupied by economically weak households has not been built through state programmes or formal market delivery, but by households themselves. While global policies like the new UN Sustainable Development Goals are beginning to recognise the importance of ‘inclusive, resilient and sustainable cities’, housing policies in most countries do not build on vibrant self-provisioning practices as a means to achieving them, focusing instead on centralised delivery programmes and market dynamics. How can established binaries between programmed and self- provisioned (informal) housing be overcome and new co-designing approaches be forged?

The design studio will build on the Urban Code that was developed during the preceding semester for the neighbourhood of Moravia in Medellín (Colombia). The studio will now focus on the design of a neighbourhood extension, which has recently been acquired by the city. Students will develop affordable housing solutions using processoriented and participatory design approaches. The proposals will be presented to the municipal planning department and Medellin and form the basis for implementation. 

The studio is open to the students who already participated in the summer semester 2017 but limited spaces are available for new students to join. The required PIV will be offered by the Chair of Urban Resilience and Digitalisation, Prof. Jochen Rabe. The Urban Lab Medellín I Berlin project is a project by Habitat Unit and Urban Oasis, and has been made possible through funding from the Herrhausen Foundation.