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Growing Up! THE SEARCH FOR HIGH-DENSITY MULTI-STORY INCREMENTAL HOUSING by Reinhard Goethert (Author, Editor), Matthias Nohn (Author, Editor) A Publication of Mundus Urbano and Fachbereich Architektur at TU Darmstadt, and The SIGUS Group at MIT as members of The Global University Consortium Exploring Incremental Housing. This publication contains…

An entrepreneur who co-founded Wise Systems, Layla Shaikley SMArchS ’13 may be better known for her viral video created to combat media stereotypes of Muslim women. Layla Shaikley SM ’13 began her master’s in architecture at MIT with a hunger to redevelop nations recovering…

Reinhard Goethert The evil sisters Katrina, Rita, Irene and their brother Ike have brought havoc to the southern US coasts in recent years. Massive flooding and high winds left extensive destruction with housing particularly hard hit. We have been overwhelmed with the havoc in…

The rapid urban population surge of the 60s driven largely from migration with resultant massive unauthorized city expansion provided challenges in finding effective housing interventions.  Upgrading programs became widespread despite high monetary and spatial costs. This brief overview focuses on a mimic of the…

Here is a frightening fact: the urban population in the developing world will double by 2030. The implications are staggering. One is that we have 20 years to build as much urban housing as was built in the past 6,000 years. Clearly we cannot…

"Learning about the incremental self-build construction process comparing formal and informal communities" A group of 5 students from the Global Practitioner class went to Quito, Ecuador, during Spring 2016. SIGUS will be presented the research and findings during Habitat III in October. Two communities…

"Las cajitas de fosforo: The Solanda Housing Project | 40 years later, a longitudinal field evaluation of social housing" SIGUS researchers carried out a field evaluation using mixed-methods approach and drone footage to understand the development of one of the largest affordable housing project…

"Refugees, Incremental Housing and Shelter in the 21st Century" SIGUS researchers Valeria Vidal, Sera Tolgay and Francis Goys won an Aga Khan Foundation travel grant to undertake research in Amman, Jordan this past summer. The lack of adequate and affordable rental housing stock to…

During the Independent Activities Period (IAP) at MIT during January, SIGUS  held two workshops developed around the Solar Updraft Tower concept as a way to generate sustainable electric power. The workshops exploited big building atriums, surrogate chimneys, with solar heat collecting aprons to generate…

Presentation by Anya Brickman Raredon from the Affordable Housing Institute, MCP 2011. She discussed AHI's 2015 INSTANT CITIES research, looking at how refugee camps persist for extended periods and should be designed accordingly. Zaatari, a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan will be used as…

The "ELECTRIC CITY" concept built on our "PowerAtrium" strategy proposes a method to exploit "hot air updrafts". It was accepted for presentation at the "ECOCITY WORLD SUMMIT 2015" in Abu Dhabi, 11-13 October.  The conference is a collaborative platform for researchers and academia, and…

SIGUS entered with its ongoing research on solar updraft power. The research focused on our Electric City concept, built on our previous TowerPower explorations based on solar tower principles. The Electric City conceptualizes buildings as energy generators, considering the atrium of big buildings as…

As part of the new initiative on application of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Disaster Assessment, Monitoring and Recovery, the SIGUS UAV Team attended the international disaster conference in New Orleans. (Note: UAV is the polite term for drones.) After the conference, the UVA Team…

SIGUS co-hosted a 2-week workshop on Planning Urban Expansion in Solo, Indonesia, June 1-12, 2015. It was a joint offering by the SIGUS Group at MIT, and the Sebelas Maret University, together with the Singapore/MIT University of Technology and Design  (SUTD) and the Technical…

Entrepreneur, architect, sculptor and author – a true Renaissance Man! – gave an overview of his wide range of interests. His factory designed and built all of the public telephone booths in Mexico, along with many memorials as well as innovative streetlights and other…

Dr. Reinhard Goethert and Dr. Martin Scoppa – the SIGUS Post-Doc from the MIT-Singapore program (SUTD) – attended the UN Habitat 6th International Conference 'RESPONSIVE URBANISM IN INFORMAL AREAS', hosted by Cairo University, November 25-27.  The conference was held in preparation for the National…

HAS THE TIME COME TO  SERIOUSLY CONSIDER DRONES IN RECOVERY? The panel focused on the inevitability of using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in disaster responses. The benefits seem to clearly outweigh concerns, and in a disaster situation UAVs could be overwhelmingly beneficial. The panel…

SIGUS was invited to present their "TowerPower" concept at  the MIT Energy Night at the MIT Museum, 17 October. Although they were asked to present last year's winning poster, this year an addition poster was prepared putting a 'face' to other  applicable chimneys that…

The long awaited biography of Horacio Caminos is now available! The book can be ordered from Lulu The introduction of the book can be downloaded here

The modification of abandoned chimneys into "solar chimneys" tap their energy potential using standard wind turbines. The TowerPower strategy overcomes the main cost component of a sufficiently tall chimney in achieving efficient airflow where height is an advantage for optimum stack effect. Many chimneys…

Three students engaged in field research in Fiji with two goals: documenting the rebuilding by home owners after recent cyclones; and documenting the rebuilding programs by the government and NGOs, primarily the Red Cross and Rotary International.  Of particular interest was to see the…

Mr. Charles Setchell, of the USAID Office of Foreign  Disaster Assistance, presented an "Update on Post-Earthquake Shelter Recovery  in Haiti"; focusing on the general theme "A Shelter Strategy for Haiti." (18 April 2012) He also engaged the Incremental Housing class  with one-on-one discussions on…

Incremental housing is the newly embraced proactive strategy of the global development community. This workshop explores context specific guidelines of incremental housing and site planning for Fiji's new Strategic Housing Policy. The strategy developed takes a broad perspective and could serve as a model…

Illac  Diaz presented his "Liter of Light" bottle recycling program and his Recycled  Bottle School projects in a presentation 10 April. Illac is a former student of the course and  alumni of the SPURS program at MIT, and presented his work which built on…

The community outreach brochures,  pamphlets, and children’s coloring books and CD prepared by TRAC – the  Terrebonne Readiness and Assistance Coalition – were presented to Dr. J.M. Yolene V. Surena, the Coordinator of the Disaster Risk Management unit in the rebuilding of Haiti. Dr.…

SIGUS  mounted a display at the 2011 International Development Fair at MIT 30  September. Three projects were presented  that are a current focus of SIGUS, and seek participation from students  throughout the Institute. – An "Off-Grid" Elevator for the bayous of  Louisiana. The project…

SIGUS is beginning the exploration of an innovative concept for urban areas constrained by steep slopes which limit expansion and are seen as high-risk development zones.   The innovative approach links an energy self-sufficient, ecology oriented sustainable model in a 'smart-city' approach. The project…

Mr. Charles Setchell of USAID – known as Mr. Disaster Shelter for the US Agency for International Development was our guest in an informal discussion on disasters, focusing on the situation in Haiti. Faculty and students from throughout the Cambridge academic community attended. Prof. Mark Goulthorpe started the discussion…

Incrementalize It! is a game to highlight the implications of incremental housing. It covers how it works and what are some aspects to keep in mind when making decisions. This includes where to put a starter core, how/where to expand, what materials one should use, etc. This game is…

 Calling all game developers!! Currently, we are in hopes of developing a game (first on the web, then moving it to a mobile platform), that will be used as a teaching tool for the general public, as well as for people in developing countries wishing to expand their…

The Open House for applicants to the Master of Architecture (MArch) Program or the Master of Science in Architecture Studies (SMArchS) Program was held on November 4th. To welcome potential incoming students, New SIGUS posters were added to the main archiecture corridor. These posters highlight the main principles…

SIGUS participated in the 9th Annual International Development Fair on September 24th. The Fair is traditionally held each year early in the fall semester and provides incoming and continuing MIT students, recent graduates and members of the MIT community an opportunity to learn about ways that they can become…

SIGUS exhibited its current research in incremental housing at the 5th Annual International Development Night at MIT on April 9, 2010. A lifesized Mr. SIGUS held the teaser: "Is housing the world as simple as 1-2-3?" which related to the three steps in incremental housing strategy: Establish a FRAME for…