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2016 Skyscraper Competition

GuoChao Deng, Jiong Lin, You Zhou, Yang Li, GuoFu Wang, XiaoLong Liu
China

In the process of urbanization in Nigeria, the gap between the rich and the poor is widening gradually, which makes a large number of homeless people gathered in Gamma cocoa community and turned this community into a slum on the sea. It is a very extreme case in the process of urbanization in Africa. There is no traditional road, no land as well as modern architecture, but it has developed into a slum of about 200000 people. Surrounded by foul smelling of the sea, creaky wooden houses are everywhere, and each wooden house are crammed six to ten people who are completely ignored by the government. In the official map, Nigeria along the coast is uninhabited, including Gamma cocoa community.

Now the Gamma cocoa community may become the real unmanned area at any time. It’s possible that the region be swallowed up by the sea thanks to the rise of sea level caused by Global warming. Faced with such a situation, the government only adopts a measure of demolitions. There are no resettlement measures as well as subsidies, as a result, a great quantity of people became homeless and are scattered on various parts of Africa.

According to the present situation of the Gamma cocoa community, we put forward a proposal; we try to improve the dilemma by architecture. We will centralize the original tiled slums in high-rise buildings, which can not only solve the waste and pollution problems of the sea caused by traditional flat sea slum but also create a better, more secure and healthier living environment for the poor in the slum.

We also hope to unite all of us and construct a “desperate slum” into a “hopeful slum” by our hand. At the same time, we also hope to make propaganda to the world through our efforts,“ Nigeria along the coast are not uninhabited, we live here, we are not rubbish, we are as equal as you are, and we need to be respected by the government”

Fantasy After Construction
We use architecture to rebuild hope; we use architecture to construct a new Gamma cocoa community。The original residents can directly carry their houses to our high-rise buildings, there is no need to rebuild, only need a little transformation. We use local materials and adopt the traditional way of construction to make residents feel a sense of belonging when they move to high-rise buildings. We purify deep sea water to people living in our building, we also have a complete set of waste recycling mechanism so that our buildings can handle the waste and be self-sufficient. Our high-rise buildings provide a more complete and healthier community function. Residents will not only possess a private balcony, but they can own a lager public space for communication, recreation and entertainment. Let’s imagine a scene: you can enjoy the beautiful sunset on your balcony after dinner; you can also choose to chat with friends or take a walk in the center park. To conclude, we hope to improve residents’ living condition and unite them to construct a “desperate slum” into a “hopeful slum” by their own hand through our buildings.