After investigating the architecture of informal settlements, the ETH Zurich Master of Advanced Studies Program in Urban Design at the Chair of Marc Angélil and directed by Charlotte Malterre-Barthes in collaboration with local partner CLUSTER, proposed new designs for affordable housing units in the neighborhood of Ard al-Liwa. Selected projects show how different housing layouts and rearranging existing building components can lead to new urban forms that allow public spaces to emerge. By altering the typology of informal housing via a simple recombination of existing architectural and structural elements, the projects aim to enhance the living quality of single units and establish collective urban formations that ultimately improve entire districts.

Team:
Students from MAS Urban Design 2015-2016-2017, Prof. Dr. Marc Angélil, Charlotte Malterre-Barthes (Director) and Something Fantastic (Julian Schubert, Elena Schütz, and Leo Streich) in collaboration with CLUSTER (Omar Nagati, Beth Stryker).
Exhibition by MAS Urban Design – ETH Zurich: Marc Angélil, Charlotte Malterre-Barthes, and Something Fantastic in collaboration with CLUSTER Cairo.
Exhibition in Cairo organized by CLUSTER and MAS Urban Design- ETH Zurich in partnership with Artellewa (Hamdy Reda).
The Ard al-Liwa Homes: Designs by Young Architects exhibition was supported by Pro Helvetia Cairo, and ETH MAS Urban Design, and presented as part of Making the Sustainable City.