iShack – New Design for Better Housing in Urban Slums

No, this isn’t the latest Apple product. The iShack is a new design for better housing for South Africans living in urban slums, co-created by slum residents and masters students from a local university. It’s an attempt to address one of the big challenges of life in sub-Saharan Africa, where 62 percent of city residents live in informal settlements.

In some ways, the features of the newly-improved shack seem simple, not revolutionary; the homes have solar panels to charge a few lights and a cell phone, walls insulated with hay and clay, and slanted roofs that can collect rainwater. But the designers argue that these simple changes are exactly the right place to start.

The project is supported by government, the HOPE project, Stellenbosch University, the Sustainability Institute at Lynedoch, and the Gates Foundation.

Images by Desmond Thompson and Anna Lusty courtesy of the Hope project.

http://www.good.is/posts/ishack-new-design-for-better-housing-in-urban-slums

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