Living in Pemba Between Public and Private Space

The research, carried out in the framework of the PhD course in architectural, urban and interior design of the Politecnico of Milan, is aimed at understanding the main evolution lines that define the relationship between the house, the city and the main settlement trends, analysing how the traditional self-built architecture is evolving and creating new city patterns. The research focused on the case study of Pemba, an original Swahili settlement on the northern coast of Mozambique (Cabo Delgado region). The urban context of Pemba has limited dimensions but it is now expanding exponentially. One of the main features of this urban expansion is self-construction that is allowed and encouraged by the municipality. In a context in which the rural settlement model is still the prevailing one and in which the concept of city is not rooted as in the western tradition, the birth and growth of new cities allow for the development of new logics of settlement that are mixing the traditional rural spaces and functions with those of the contemporary urbanism. The phenomenon of urban evolution in Pemba can be analysed because this is an area where dimensions and speed of expansion are controllable. Here it is possible to detect variances and permanences compared to the rural models of settlement. In the course of this evolutionary process it is possible to understand which architectural and urban elements are to be valued as possible alternatives to the urban development. The survey of the living spaces patterns was carried out on site.