ELEMENTAL

Alejandro Aravena ELE­MEN­TAL is a for pro­fit com­pany with so­cial in­ter­est, who­se sha­rehol­ders are the Uni­ver­si­dad Ca­tó­li­ca de Chi­le, CO­PEC (Chi­lean Oil Com­pany) and the Ele­men­tal foun­ders. Its field of ac­tion is the city: the de­ve­lop­ment of hou­sing, pu­blic spa­ce, in­fras­truc­tu­re and trans­por­ta­tion pro­jects that can per­form as an ef­fec­ti­ve and ef­fi­cient up­gra­de in the qua­lity of li­fe of the poor. ELE­MEN­TAL ope­ra­tes in con­texts of scar­ce re­sour­ces, using the city as a sour­ce of equa­lity, and mo­reo­ver, as a short­cut to co­rrect inequa­li­ties. When Ele­men­tal be­gan in Har­vard Uni­ver­sity in 2000, so­cial hou­sing was as­so­cia­ted with a la­ck of eco­no­mic and pro­fes­sio­nal re­sour­ces that had ge­ne­ra­ted a la­ck of op­tions for poor fa­mi­lies. Ele­men­tal wan­ted to chan­ge this ne­ga­ti­ve as­so­cia­tion, using pro­fes­sio­nal ski­lls to work with so­cial hou­sing.

Ruud Visser. Architect. Along the river De Rotte in Rotterdam (The Netherlands) stands a wooden church from 1930. The 1930's church had ended its career as a religious sanctuary and was being used as a garage for fixing and selling cars. The church was totally covered with metal plates and looked like a hangar. A family came along and wanted to transform it. With the help of Ruud Visser Architects and Peter Boer, the church was adapted into a home fit for a family of four. Kim Dovey Informal Settlements This project seeks to understand the urban morphology of what are variously known as 'squatter', 'slum' or 'informal' housing settlements. These are problematic words: a ‘squatter’ lacks land tenure; a ‘slum’ lacks space, durability, water or sanitation; and ‘informal’ implies a lack of control over planning, design and construction. Yet this is the major form of new urban design on the planet – housing over a billion people and projected to double by about 2030. Many squatter settlements have developed over time into well-serviced neighbourhoods – no longer 'slums' and with varying levels of tenure and formality. The prospect is to understand how informal urbanism works and to aid the transformation from 'slums' to decent housing and from 'squatting' to secure tenure. Collaborators: Wing Raharjo, Ross King

Green Prefab Shed Homes: Small Space Living by Design Sheds do not sound like something you would want to live in, but as modern modular, mobile and miniature houses become increasingly popular sustainable living space options, well, even products dubbed with titles like the Big Shed and Little Shed is not such a bad idea. There is an art to designing smalls-space structures so they are convenient and compact but also comfortable and livable – and a certain lifestyle of simplicity sought by many that makes them a good match for some people.Plus, these designs by Dwelle are relatively affordable as home prices go: you can buy ones of these all-in-one buildings (and not worry about the hassles of construction) for between fifty and eighty thousand dollars. This surprisingly cheap and simple-yet-modern shed home is has its own living area complete with fireplace, elevated bedroom loft space and separated restroom and cooking areas.

House SNR The house is situated on a typical suburban plot and is framed between two edge gables. The house is based on a contemporary study of the archetype the "gable house" which is widely spread in SA, Australia and other countries. This type is usually a single story house connected to the ground with two side gables and a central entrance with a thatched pitch roof. This house takes these "classic" elements and adapts them to our times. The house's plan is a clean, crisp rectangular, raised above the street level and built in mixed technology.

Turner Prize 2015 The Turner Prize 2015 has been awarded to Assemble – a collective based in London who work across the fields of art, architecture and design –, it was announced at Tramway, Glasgow, in partnership with Tate. The jury has awarded the prize to Assemble who work in tandem with communities to realise a ground up approach to regeneration, city planning and development in opposition to corporate gentrification. They draw on long traditions of artistic and collective initiatives that experiment in art, design and architecture. In doing so they offer alternative models to how societies can work. The long term collaboration between Granby Four Streets and Assemble shows the importance of artistic practice being able to drive and shape urgent issues in the post-industrial era.

elenaastrid ' Large Landscapes ' ' New Horizons at UVA ' ' The Room Can Never Be Closed ' Jaigaon Jaigaon (Nepali: जयगाउँ) is a small town in Jalpaiguri district in the Indian state of West Bengal, near the Bhutan border. The town lies at the gateway to Bhutan – Phuentsholing, and is thus a very thriving place of trade. The main source of income for the vast majority of people here is through the Bhutanese citizens that come down to Jaigaon in order to buy their monthly and weekly ration. The main entrance to Bhutan is through Jaigaon.