studio Kigamboni

global perspectives edition 2O15-16 all editions

Parallel design studio Hasselt University (BE) – Ardhi University (TZ)

‘Blue Diamond of Tanzania’ is the one-liner that describes the government’s plan to transform the quiet village of Kigamboni into a Dubai-like city quarter with impressive boulevards and glass high-rises, facilitating Dar’s economic growth. As an alternative to this alienating transformation, 33 UH students and 65 Aru students, formulate new concepts for Kigamboni starting from its unique natural and cultural identity and embracing the community. At the same time, we keep the ambitions of the New Kigamboni city plan in mind.

MANGROVE PARK

Lore Smeets
Nature saves the city
Restoring the city’s wetland areas and replanting mangroves, to solve the threat of flooding, provide the city with a unique natural and sustainable layout, but also add breathing space and public meeting places for the community.
Keywords: flooding, mangrove, nursery, pavilion, wood

CAREFULLY INSIDE-OUT

Eloy Garcia
Care as a typology to densify
New typologies and urban spatial compositions to enable the informal settlement to densify, at its own pace, preserving the quintessential public space for daily interactions in the community.

Keywords: care, densification, public space, wooden structures, architectural identity, rammed earth

WASTE(,) THE FUTURE

Wouter Verdickt
Waste to empower a community
A sculptural, medium scale waste-to-energy plant not only visualizes Dar’s ambition to become one of Africa’s most sustainable and enjoyable cities, but also adds a public space, a café and a spectacular viewpoint over the Kivukoni waterfront.
Keywords: waste management, energy production, public space, sustainability, circular
more Mangrove park
With its two rainy seasons, delta town Dar es Salaam is regularly threatened by floods. Mangrove and upland forest deforestation, informal building and waste disposal in the floodplains, … only worsen the situation.By respecting the city’s natural typography, preserving wetland areas and replanting mangroves, the problem transforms into an urban opportunity. Mangrove parks not only provide the city with a unique natural and sustainable layout, but also add breathing space and public meeting places for the community. This pilotproject visualizes the positive impact of this new urban layer, in the area of Kigamboni. The park gets its final form in different phases. It starts with the connection of the inland floodplain to the sea and the installation of the first mangrove nursery zone. A composition of elegant wooden pavilions houses the first nursery, a research and awareness centre and a visitors area with a guest house. After the completion of the nursery program, it moves on to a next projectarea and the pavilions will be reactivated with new community programs. In the middle of this hectic city, where the trees grow, attract new birds and innercity wildlife, the wooden structures will become urban refuges, places to meet and relax, but above all, places to raise an awareness of the opportunity of living in harmony with the surroundings.


more Carefully inside-out
Care is one of the topics, raised by the community at the Kigamboni ++ digital platform to develop a city quarter from bottom up: care homes, small and medium scale medical practices, medical training centers… to facilitate the area’s healthy and sustainable growth, from the inside out/from within.
In this research by design project, care is the programmatic opportunity to explore new typologies and urban spatial compositions that enable the informal settlement to densify, at its own pace, preserving the quintessential public space for daily interactions in the community.Firstly, a subtle network of pedestrian links, in between the existing buildings and private plots, is defined. These lines - or axis - become the guides of future growth, organising new volumes and activities to embrace the public space and create liveable, safe areas without the use of the typical barbed wire walls or enclosures.The ground level of the project focuses on life between buildings, to strengthen the bonds of the inhabitants with the community. The concrete plinth allows large openings enabling the accessibility of the buildings. Rammed earth walls arise on top of this concrete plinth and provide a more eco-friendly building material. Facing the streets, the walls show a geometric pattern and give the building it’s worthy appearance, while the courtyards provide contrast with their sober wooden galleries that link the buildings together. This contrast between these two types of wall creates an onset toward defining public, semi-public and private spaces. The pitched roofs are a typological reference to the surrounding houses and provide a strong identity to the residential block as a whole.
In this lay-out, the volumes can vary in dimensions and height, tailored to its program and function, while adding positively to a coherent urban composition. Carefully ….


more Waste(,) the future
Waste management is a vital issue for a city, especially for a fast and informal growing city like Dar. To be successful, the intended medium scale waste-to-energy plant the government wants to built in Kigamboni has to be mentally adopted by the community itself. This is where the K++ platform comes in. The platform organizes communication between investors and community, creates awareness and spreads technical knowhow and education on the opportunities of waste processing. Located near the mouth of the harbour, this ‘landmark’ not only visualizes Dar’s ambition to become one of Africa’s most sustainable and enjoyable cities, but also adds a research centre, a public space and a café for the community. On top of that, visitors can freely enjoy a spectacular viewpoint over the Kivukoni waterfront. By only processing non-recyclable or non-compostable waste, this facility generates electricity for 30.000 homes. Local waste collection is ensured by providing the local communities and individuals a fee for their waste deposit at the centre. In addition to this, the waste-to-energy process provides in recycled ferrous materials and residual ashes which are useful in road construction. Through thorough analysis and research, the (usually linear) process of waste-to-energy finds its logic organisation and expression in a circular typology which creates an embraced outdoor space that overlooks the line of processing and triggers interesting spatial relations between ‘the factory’s heart’ and its environment. The chimney - being the most recognisable element of the project - is overdimensioned to act as the structural backbone for the cantilevered, elevated volume of the research centre. In its sculptural -yet highly efficient- volumetry, this plant provides mutual benefit for the city and the community.


overview 2016 kigamboni.pptx
team
studio team Hasselt Universityarch. Peggy Winkels, arch. Maria Leus, arch. Nicolas Coeckelberghs
studio team Ardhi University: dr. Daniel Mbisso, dr. Shubira Kalugila, dr. Swai Ombeni
related research teams: Arck Sustainability Research team, prof. dr. ir. arch. Griet Verbeeck
advisory team: prof. emeritus arch. Han Verschure, prof. Ir. Rob Cuyvers, prof. dr. arch. Els Hannes, arch. Jonas Knaepen, arch. Olivier de Schaetzen, prof. dr.ir.arch Griet Verbeeck, prof. Ir. Peter Op t Veld, prof. Ir. Robrecht Keersmaekers