(In)formal Pattern Language in Egypt

Designing processes for informal settlements

(In)formal Pattern Language in Egypt

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    Designing processes for informal settlements, Cairo, Egypt

    Improvitecture optimizes existing conditions through urban acupuncture without destroying self-organized socio-cultural and economical networks and patterns. Tools and proposals use the same tactics of the (in)formal like compactness, incompleteness, hyperfunctionality, urban layering and resource centrality, to re-appropriate and blend with the built environment. Interventions are flexible, hybrid and expandable to comply with future informality and long-term adaptability.

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    Designing processes for informal settlements, Cairo, Egypt

    Optimization of waiting agricultural land: Interventions create a model for environmentally, economically and socially responsible cradle-to-cradle design. They propose urban farming, spaces for micro-economies, photovoltaic power generation, grey water usage, waste management and the integration of locally sourced and recycled construction materials.

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    Designing processes for informal settlements, Cairo, Egypt

    Context: Negotiating the formal [in]formal juxtaposition through the case study of Ard El Lewa.

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    Designing processes for informal settlements, Cairo, Egypt

    Designed replicable and open source tools in relation to the typologies of participation.

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    Designing processes for informal settlements, Cairo, Egypt

    Extracting local patterns from maps to create the 101 [in]complete pattern matrix.

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    Designing processes for informal settlements, Cairo, Egypt

    The Improvitecture generated by community members, architecture students and experts.

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    Designing processes for informal settlements, Cairo, Egypt

    Design proposal and optimization for urban voids.

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    Designing processes for informal settlements, Cairo, Egypt

    Optimization of urban voids through “Community Walls”.

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    Designing processes for informal settlements, Cairo, Egypt

    Design proposal and optimization for rooftops according to typology.

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    Designing processes for informal settlements, Cairo, Egypt

    Optimization of existing pigeon towers: A cradle-to-cradle approach.

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    Designing processes for informal settlements, Cairo, Egypt

    Nada Nafeh, The American University in Cairo, Egypt

  • Next generation Next Generation 3rd prize 2017–2018 Middle East Africa

Developing the new typology of Improvitecture©, this hybrid of improvisation, improvement and architecture is proposed as the architecture from, and for, informality and a catalyst for sustainable development.

Last updated: June 06, 2023

By Nada Nafeh - University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

Ideas: Economic & Social Empowerment

Architectural designer and urban researcher Nada Nafeh is re-thinking the role of the architect, urban designer, and citizens in the context of improvised settlements. Her research examines how sustainable urban growth and community empowerment can be optimized by transforming architecture from a focus on the “design of products” to the “design of processes” to create a more circular green economy across the array of conditions within the contemporary urban fabric.

Cairo

Project authors

Project updates

June 06, 2023 | Research in Practice Grant (RPG) update | Cairo, Egypt

A new role for architectural design in improvised settlements

After winning a Holcim Awards Next Generation prize in 2017 for (In)formal Pattern Language in Egypt, Nada Nafeh received a Research in Practice Grant (RPG) from the Holcim Foundation in 2018. The project extended her initial research undertaken at the University of Waterloo in Canada and The American University in Cairo, Egypt to propose an open-source, replicable, and transferable process and guide to empower citizens to take ownership of their built environment by using sustainable practices to optimize their socio-cultural and economic patterns.

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September 06, 2018 | L-Lab Presentation | Cairo, Egypt

[in]formal Pattern Language

Nada Nafeh, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada & The American University in Cairo (AUC), Cairo, Egypt

[in]formal Pattern Language: A Guide to Handmade Improvitecture©

Rapid urbanization and its constitution of undirected informal growth, expanding at an unprecedented scale and speed, is becoming one of the greatest urban challenges across the globe. In response, [in]formal Pattern Language introduces a new typology: Improvitecture©. This hybrid of improvisation, improvement and architecture is proposed as the architecture from, and for, informality and a catalyst for sustainable development. The project aims to propose a process and a guide that empower citizens to take ownership of their built environment and optimize their socio-cultural and economical patterns with sustainable practices.

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September 07, 2017 | Winners of the Holcim Awards 2017 for Middle East Africa | Nairobi, Kenya

Next Generation prizes: The future is in their hands

LafargeHolcim Awards 2017 for Middle East Africa prize handover ceremony, Nairobi

Nada Nafeh from Egypt received the third prize in this category. With her project, she aims to improve living conditions in informal settlements in Cairo.

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May 20, 2017 | Regional Jury Report – Middle East Africa | Cairo, Egypt

“Merging use patterns and architectural patterns in sustainable ways”

Designing processes for informal settlements, Cairo, Egypt

The jury admired the intellectual freshness of the author’s analytical approach to Cairo’s poverty-stricken districts. Particularly valued was the notion of an “(in) formal pattern language” that could guide users in improving their environment, a “language” that would not only allow people to take ownership of their specific neighborhood, but one that could also be easily transferred to similar sites in Cairo.

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March 21, 2017 | Statements on the sustainability of the project by the author | Cairo, Egypt

Project Entry 2017 for Middle East Africa

Designing processes for informal settlements, Cairo, Egypt

The proposed model mediates between bottom-up efforts and top-down expertise in an open, replicable and transferable way. Expanding architectural practice, the project introduces the Improvitecture© model that revolves about discovering and optimizing the potentials of self-organized processes and patterns.

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Related information

Related information

Location

pin Cairo, Cairo Governorate, Egypt

Cairo, Cairo Governorate, Egypt

News

Creating a toolkit for delivering sustainable urban growth

A new role for architectural design in improvised settlements

Cairo, Egypt

L-Lab Presentation

[in]formal Pattern Language

Cairo, Egypt

LafargeHolcim Awards 2017 for Middle East Africa prize handover ceremony, Nairobi

Winners of the Holcim Awards 2017 for Middle East Africa

Local solutions to enhance the quality of life

Nairobi, Kenya

Designing processes for informal settlements, Cairo, Egypt

“Merging use patterns and architectural patterns in sustainable ways”

Cairo, Egypt

Designing processes for informal settlements, Cairo, Egypt

Project Entry 2017 for Middle East Africa

Cairo, Egypt

Videos

Owning [up to] the Urban Speaker Series: Nada Nafeh

Watch Nada Nafeh describe the holistic, replicable, open-source and transferable process of her work as part of the UVA School of Architecture and Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan interview series.

Owning [up to] the Urban Speaker Series: Nada Nafeh

Watch Nada Nafeh describe the holistic, replicable, open-source and transferable process of her work as part of the UVA School of Architecture and Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan interview series.

“A holistic approach for long-term adaptability” – Sustainable design by Nada Nafeh

The design processes for informal settlements in Cairo is sustainable because it takes a long-term and holistic perspective says Nada Nafeh of The American University in Cairo. Her project to improve the conditions of poverty-stricken and fast-growing informal neighborhoods won a Next Generation 3rd prize.

“A holistic approach for long-term adaptability” – Sustainable design by Nada Nafeh

The design processes for informal settlements in Cairo is sustainable because it takes a long-term and holistic perspective says Nada Nafeh of The American University in Cairo. Her project to improve the conditions of poverty-stricken and fast-growing informal neighborhoods won a Next Generation 3rd prize.