THE WOMAN´S CRAFT VILLAGE

Layeni, Loiyangalani Kenya

Dessau Graduate School of Architecture- Bauhaus Dessau, Germany

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

A Systems approach to Design Justice.

The Woman's village is a centre of refuge for women,

an advocacy centre, a social justice education centre

and a woman-robot collaboration research centre.

An interrogation of the 4th Industrial revolution, who it includes and who has access to it. Seeing as the next industrial revolution is deemed as a probable tool for development and human advancement it was important to highlight for whom with previous revolutions there has been minimal advancement.

 Social systems theory allows for interrogation of power structures within the context of Northern Kenyan societies and how this affects levels of access.By virtue of the Matrix of Domination(Coined by Black Feminist theorist Patricia Hill Collins to highlight the intersection of race, gender, class etc within stuctures of scoiety) it is evident that Women of colour in rural arid or semi arid areas are least likely to have access to the tools proposed for advancement.

Thus led to exploration of existing Woman only Villages, studied in research as Counter-systems which are responses to existing social systems but act as disruptive agents of change. Umoja Women's village in Samburu county, Kenya was the muse for the design project. A well known Matriarchal village in Kenya that was created by women escaping abuse from men and the toxic traditions within their communities.

The project employs various multidisciplinary levels of research to arrive at design strategies that align with the women's needs and proposes tools for empowerment through Architecture and technology.

A proper analysis of micro social systems and their existence within mega systems allows to find ways a specific Northern community lives and how its women occupy space. The sociological research leads to a critical analysis of Kenyan women and space and how a different approach to defining space can lead to women having more autonomy over the spaces they inhabit.

Different activities of women within a typical Kenyan village are analysed, these are mapped out and represented in relation to needs of various demographics of women. Using the open planning concept of the El Molo people of Turkana, a fluid system of flow of activities is explored, dividing the activities in Private, Public and Protected areas.

The material system is an ode to women led Architectural craft in Kenya,

• Earth Architecture forming the geometries of activities made by women from Southern Kenya.

• The light wooden structure forming the shading from light structures by the nomadic people of Northern Kenya.

• The woven panels and windows from weaving systems of women around Kenya.

A systemic approach to fabrication and construction allows for WOMAN ROBOT collaboration. The women are able to access the technical skills needed to further their systems of construction and craft. This gives potential for community based research on how best to further contextual vernacular architecture. Computation and parametric methods also learn from the variant crafts of the women, creating a feedback system of learning and improving by the women and the technical tools.

PROJECT VIDEO