Green Model Village

RESPONSE TO TOR

The Rwanda Development Board published a TERMS OF REFERENCE document for a INTEGRATED SMART GREEN VILLAGE in Kinigi. This was the prompt for this studio. 

In order to protect the Mountain Gorilla population, the Volcanoes National Park plans to extend its boundaries. In doing so, those living within the expansion zone will relocate. This provides an opportunity to rethink the potentials of a model village.  

We started with excessive research to identify the opportunities and challenges. The first assignment included analysis of socio-economic, ecological, and topographic conditions in the region. We then choose a site to plan the village. Then each student designed a building as a part of the village.

High-density housing was the building type I chose for this project.

High Slope

Rwanda is known as the LAND OF A THOUSAND HILLS.
The topography is dramatic and the utilization of this land is impressive. With the transition from pasture to cropland in the last few decades, the utilization of high slope areas has increased. The consequences of this include deforestation and increased erosion, both problems that is increasing in severity.

High Density

The efforts to preserve and conserve land, coupled with the increase in population have created an exponential need for housing. The existing housing patterns around Kinigi and our selected site are rural, yet the cropland patterns are dense with small lots and single-room dwellings. The challenge to provide high-density housing in this area is one of lifestyle. The significance of land and the ability to grow to produce is deeply embedded in the ideology of this area. Despite the amenities of existing model villages, access to land remains highly valued.

Concept

By using the topographic slope a building might be able to increase density while still offering access to farmable and grazable land. Just as a trail traverses up a steep slope by switching back and forth, so might a building that shares a footprint, half on the land and half on the building downhill. This row by row construction lends to a system that grows as the rows proceeds up the slope.

This system may be applied to multiple sites, responding to the site’s topography and negotiating between the footprint of each building and the occupiable space under and around each row.

The hinge conditions that connect the buildings could allow for communal amenities such as childcare, small markets, communal kitchens, and spaces to congregate. Each row behaves as a bridge connecting the natural slope and the roof of the adjacent building, allowing farmable plots for each resident.