![Urban Think Tank ; Empower Shack](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5717827940261df01639f131/1461666666888-7GTSBCIOK8VGIPGT60L0/2013_Em+%2817%29.jpg)
![](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5717827940261df01639f131/1461666842329-WKU9J02EAIKHF4M8AGNA/image-asset.jpeg)
Date :
September 2013 -
Description :
Reinterpretation of the South African Slum typology
Total size 64sqm
Location :
Khayelitsha, south africa
Zurich, Switzerland
During a 10 day workshop with Urban Think Tank ( Gold Lion winners 2012) we were asked to design and build a prototype for a cost effective alternative to the standard slum dwelling. The brief required the shack to be assembled in a single day and be adaptable and flexible, allowing for pre-existing materials to be incorporated into it’s design. Working under the title Empower Shack, the team organised a design-and-build workshop in Khayelitsha, a township in Cape Town that is one of the largest in South Africa, and developed a design for a low-cost two-storey shack for local resident Phumezo Tsibanto and his family.
![Construction at Workshop](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5717827940261df01639f131/1461605145093-J0Y6BQE3EKQ1IJNAMZCZ/2013_Em+%289%29.jpg)
![Interior of Prototype](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5717827940261df01639f131/1461605140150-356WZQ13WQE2U7INQIVW/2013_Em+%283%29.jpg)
![Sketch Typologies](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5717827940261df01639f131/1461605133078-5ZOFDRQ3LB6OZM6I0LU8/2013_Em+%2814%29.jpg)
he project is developed as an adapting response to urban informality, offering not only improved housing but a strategy that allows the citizens of self-built urban communities to dynamically structure their urban environment as an instant response to their needs. The empower shack was a largely collaborative project between U-TT, South African NGO Ikhayalami (‘my home’), swisspearl ag, transsolar, brillembourg ochoa foundation, meyer burger, the BLOCK ETH ITA research group, and video company.
![Typology Study](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5717827940261df01639f131/1461605141904-59OJ24U7DI1O1WDCJVJE/2013_Em+%2818%29.jpg)
A prototype was developed featuring a two story metal-clad modular wood frame structure that is economical for the residents and can be self-built. Jumping back in scale, the project also features a master plan that begins to structure informally developed neighbourhoods to include courtyards, public space, and improved circulation through a ‘blocking out’ system.
![Facade Variation](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5717827940261df01639f131/1461605121016-M8SKJSF75SA21DYAXB3Q/2013_Em+%2811%29.jpg)
![Digital Master planning Analysis](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5717827940261df01639f131/1461605129052-COP09Q8YW0DVD9P8QIMC/2013_Em+%2815%29.jpg)
This system of informal re-arrangement has been helped using a masterplanning app that can be used on digital hand-held devices and allows for a democratic process of spatial organisation Each home is allotted a determined amount of space that allows the structure to expand as the inhabitants need it, still fitting within a more organized framework.
![Digital Masterplanning App](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5717827940261df01639f131/1461605132599-OUKR6YYKIQTFAWUEVBZN/2013_Em+%2816%29.jpg)
![Built Prototype in SA](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5717827940261df01639f131/1461605138106-LMZ7XFFV8KV4NJK4OFDS/2013_Em+%281%29.jpg)
![Bedroom of Prototype](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5717827940261df01639f131/1461605144677-PXS5V0DD0GSNO1L1ZZIY/2013_Em+%284%29.jpg)
![Variation of Scheme](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5717827940261df01639f131/1461605181587-T4NZAOFC27AE3RNLSX2T/2013_Em+%2810%29.jpg)
![Urban Think Tank ; Empower Shack](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5717827940261df01639f131/1461666666888-7GTSBCIOK8VGIPGT60L0/2013_Em+%2817%29.jpg)
![Empower Shack](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5717827940261df01639f131/1461666842329-WKU9J02EAIKHF4M8AGNA/image-asset.jpeg)
![Construction at Workshop](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5717827940261df01639f131/1461605145093-J0Y6BQE3EKQ1IJNAMZCZ/2013_Em+%289%29.jpg)
![Interior of Prototype](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5717827940261df01639f131/1461605140150-356WZQ13WQE2U7INQIVW/2013_Em+%283%29.jpg)
![Sketch Typologies](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5717827940261df01639f131/1461605133078-5ZOFDRQ3LB6OZM6I0LU8/2013_Em+%2814%29.jpg)
![Typology Study](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5717827940261df01639f131/1461605141904-59OJ24U7DI1O1WDCJVJE/2013_Em+%2818%29.jpg)
![Facade Variation](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5717827940261df01639f131/1461605121016-M8SKJSF75SA21DYAXB3Q/2013_Em+%2811%29.jpg)
![Digital Master planning Analysis](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5717827940261df01639f131/1461605129052-COP09Q8YW0DVD9P8QIMC/2013_Em+%2815%29.jpg)
![Digital Masterplanning App](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5717827940261df01639f131/1461605132599-OUKR6YYKIQTFAWUEVBZN/2013_Em+%2816%29.jpg)
![Built Prototype in SA](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5717827940261df01639f131/1461605138106-LMZ7XFFV8KV4NJK4OFDS/2013_Em+%281%29.jpg)
![Bedroom of Prototype](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5717827940261df01639f131/1461605144677-PXS5V0DD0GSNO1L1ZZIY/2013_Em+%284%29.jpg)
![Variation of Scheme](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5717827940261df01639f131/1461605181587-T4NZAOFC27AE3RNLSX2T/2013_Em+%2810%29.jpg)
Date :
September 2013 -
Description :
Reinterpretation of the South African Slum typology
Total size 64sqm
Location :
Khayelitsha, south africa
Zurich, Switzerland
During a 10 day workshop with Urban Think Tank ( Gold Lion winners 2012) we were asked to design and build a prototype for a cost effective alternative to the standard slum dwelling. The brief required the shack to be assembled in a single day and be adaptable and flexible, allowing for pre-existing materials to be incorporated into it’s design. Working under the title Empower Shack, the team organised a design-and-build workshop in Khayelitsha, a township in Cape Town that is one of the largest in South Africa, and developed a design for a low-cost two-storey shack for local resident Phumezo Tsibanto and his family.
he project is developed as an adapting response to urban informality, offering not only improved housing but a strategy that allows the citizens of self-built urban communities to dynamically structure their urban environment as an instant response to their needs. The empower shack was a largely collaborative project between U-TT, South African NGO Ikhayalami (‘my home’), swisspearl ag, transsolar, brillembourg ochoa foundation, meyer burger, the BLOCK ETH ITA research group, and video company.
A prototype was developed featuring a two story metal-clad modular wood frame structure that is economical for the residents and can be self-built. Jumping back in scale, the project also features a master plan that begins to structure informally developed neighbourhoods to include courtyards, public space, and improved circulation through a ‘blocking out’ system.
This system of informal re-arrangement has been helped using a masterplanning app that can be used on digital hand-held devices and allows for a democratic process of spatial organisation Each home is allotted a determined amount of space that allows the structure to expand as the inhabitants need it, still fitting within a more organized framework.