Spontaneous Living Spaces: a research project on places' culture of living

The ongoing urbanization process creates a movement of people from the rural to the urban environment and when dwellings are not enough self-building becomes a spontaneous answer to the need of a home. In this process the builders and dwellers do not completely adapt to existing living patterns, but they import their own culture of living within the city. Therefore, cities get enriched by new typologies and technologies and new forms of living are born from a rural/urban cultural background representing the needs of a contemporary society. Spontaneous Living Spaces is a research project that focuses on the diversity of the cultures of living and considers their spontaneous forms as heritage, to be protected and enhanced, especially in their intangible knowledge and social and environmental relationships. It documents and analyses the places’ culture of living through a variety of tools from the architectural survey to the photo-reportage. The work is aimed at recognizing the cultural importance of these parts of urban fabric and providing the tools for Municipalities, planners and designers to work with full awareness of the local culture of living. Since 2011 the project developed three case studies: Jardim Filhos da Terra a favela in Sao Paulo (Brazil), Pok Fu Lam, a low-density neighbourhood in Hong Kong (China) and four selected neighbourhoods of Pemba (Mozambique). The project is open to new cases for the creation of an atlas of the spontaneous culture of living.