A New Jorejick Residence

GETAMOCK, ARUSHA, TANZANIA

PROJECT TYPE: Open Design Competition (Archstorming.com / African House Competition), Group Entry
PROGRAM:  A multi-generational dwelling under 20,00 Euros for a rural family of fifteen. Project duration: five weeks.
COLLABORATORS: Samuel Feldman

Our proposal for a new Jorejick family home prioritizes the preservation of communal memory while fostering a new sense of collective rootedness. The design is organized into three distinct dwelling spaces, tied together by a series of communal courtyards framed around the site’s existing Acacia trees. The heart of the scheme is the central kitchen and outdoor gathering area, which features a foot pump-operated sink, communal table, and plein-air stove for the family to cook at during mealtimes and gather around throughout the day.

We imagine that the heads of the household, Maria and Bura, would inhabit the central volume, which would allow them to care both for the elder Maria, as well as for young Briston and Brian, who are provided an ensuite bed niche. The south volume is intended for the younger children, such as Virguita and Melania, as it simultaneously puts them in close proximity to Maria and Bura, yet offers them an intermediate stage of independence. The north volume houses the family’s school-age children in a dormitory arrangement, and contains a study space in the upper loft. This spatial arrangement is intended to remain flexible as the family grows and changes. Two showers are incorporated at either end of the scheme, using rainwater holding receptacles that are controlled by an operable lever. Gray-water from the shower is collected into additional cisterns below grade, which can be drawn to the surface by hand pump and used for agricultural and other purposes. We propose an inverted roofline to direct water to the showers and the central cistern from which potable water can be filtered and drawn.

Our proposal is sited directly adjacent to the family’s existing huts, allowing for their continued inhabitation during construction, and establishing a new threshold between the existing site path, cattle corral, and agricultural croplands. The North-South orientation of the building masses establishes a familial and spatial connection to Nico’s house, maximizes Easterly cross-ventilation, and allows for deep, comfortably shaded, inhabitable porticos. The durable, yet breathable material selection for the project—clay brick, composite structural wood posts, woven branch screens, and a corrugated steel roof—is based around both what can be easily procured from local suppliers, as well as what can be generated from the oxidic soil of the site itself. We propose utilizing the soil for on-site brick manufacturing, and call for the complete re-purposing of leftover, broken, and discarded bricks: the finer remnants can be recycled as aggregate for the home’s mortar and concrete work, and the larger pieces can be appropriated for use as patio ground pavers.