“The built environment works better if those who use it are actively and directly involved in its

creation and management”.

COMMUNITY ARCHITECTURE
Community, by definition, is people living in one particular area or people who are
considered as a unit because of their common interests, social group, or nationality. Though this
is a term that is frequently used but rarely defined, it is regarded as a group of people that have
similar political, religious, or environmental beliefs. Communities may be found in both formal
and informal settings in society, from highly developed districts to precarious settlements; these
seemingly unplanned and chaotic spaces can contain a strong underlying feeling of community. A
community that is designed properly entices people by providing them a sense of ownership over
the structures in which they work, play, and live.

Architecture, on the other hand, is concerned with the shaping of the physical environment.
As a result, it has an impact on the economic, political, spiritual, and psychological landscapes.
Since it is both a creative process and a finished result, studying only the finished product is
insufficient. The classical architectural ideals of commodity, stability, and delight must be present
not only in what is built, but also in the process of production and use. Architecture is a public art,
a public benefit, and a public service, as opposed to pure art, which is usually a mechanism created
solely to communicate an artist's inner intentions.

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 In the architecture profession, community is a word that is frequently used with design and
engagement. This means that in architecture, designing a community refers to architects working
alongside residents to collaboratively shape the built environment. It aims to enhance the culture,
heritage, and identity of a place by working with future and existing users. By letting the
community be involved in designing their space, it provides a sensitive moral dimension to
architecture, allowing inhabitants to have a stake in what is built around them.

Community Architecture is simply "architecture carried out with the direct involvement
of end users." it mostly entails researching current socioeconomic situations and consulting with
those who will utilize them. This alternative approach to the traditional architectural practice,
wherein the end users are not involved, may be traced back to self-help community efforts in poor
nations in the 1950s. Since then, community architecture has evolved in many forms across the
world with a similar objective, namely, public engagement in choices impacting their
environments and hence their lives.

This approach is based on a democratic system of decision-making that advocates the

inclusion of community members in issues concerning their built environment. In the past,
heteronomous and paternalistic methods by governments and experts have failed to deliver

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satisfying answers to the housing problem. Its goal is to improve a location's culture, tradition, and
identity. Community architecture is a method of defining neighborhoods, towns, villages, and
cities. The scope of community architecture is broad, since it includes both small and large-scale
projects, such as offices, housing, and community-dedicated structures, with the participation of
children, government officials, community residents, and so on.

HISTORY OF COMMUNITY ARCHITECTURE

In the 1970s, Walter Segal pioneered the concept

with his timber-framed housing system, which was
followed by other cases of restoration of existing
residences as well as new constructions in the 1980s. The
Black Road Area Improvement Project in Macclesfield,
Cheshire, under the capable direction of Rod Hackney,
the first community architect in Britain in 1974, laid the Ar. Walter Segal
groundwork for the "Community Architecture
Movement" in Britain.

Hackney lived on the black road in a dilapidated area

that had been designated for destruction as part of routine
local government practice at the time. He coordinated and
collaborated with local residents to not just conserve and
repair the buildings, but also to do it while honoring the
people's specific needs. His professional standing as an
architect enabled him to take on the task of questioning the
council's decisions, which other residents of the
neighborhood fully supported but were afraid to question,
and to respond to the council's proposal with his own respect
for the community's needs for self-help neighborhood
Ar. Rod Hackney
improvement. This then attracted the attention of Prince
Charles in 1984, which gave the needed boost and Royal Patronage to the community architecture
movement in Britain.

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COMMUNITY ARCHITECTURE IN PRACTICE

In general, there are no blueprints. Every location is distinct, and individuals must
determine what is best for them. Builders, on the other hand, were able to discover ten initiatives
that appear to make for success. These are based on the fundamental notion of user participation,
which is then applied to projects of various sizes and types.

Local Base

Most successful ventures begin with the establishment of a local office. This allows
professionals to develop the necessary empathy for the environment and the people for whom they
are building. Locals also have continual access to specialists through site offices. This office can
be utilized by architects, housing managers, social workers, construction workers, and, ultimately,
maintenance personnel.

Involvement

Getting the impacted community to band together and start working together is a critical
component of community architecture. This might start with a typical public gathering or a festival.
Surveys, both physical and social, can be used to collect input and disseminate results. This may
be accomplished by asking residents to gather and evaluate information on their community.

Creative Working Partnership

Creating a creative working collaboration between professionals and users to explore the
various possibilities makes it simpler for end-users to understand the design. Simple cardboard
models are typically the finest approach to focus their attention, their eyes, in signaling what they
want to see or happen in their spaces.

Creating User Oriented Organizations

To foster trust and open neighborhood forums, ad hoc groups such as residents, merchants,
or community associations are created. Professionals are also forming organizational groupings to
supply the new enabling abilities required by bringing together professionals from several
disciplines under one roof to work with community organizations.

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A Holistic Approach

To make things happen, one must do whatever is necessary to enhance the environment.
Buildings cannot be dealt with in isolation from everything else in their surroundings, whether it
is designing a building, hosting mountain trash campaigns, or opposing hazardous construction
projects. Other factors around the neighborhood must be considered when determining the quality
of the built environment.

Evolutionary Growth

In addition to being comprehensive, the service must be continual; managing the built
environment like a gardener; gradually establishing capacity, competence, and adopting major and
little efforts in as many areas as needed.

Physical Involvement in Building And Construction

Landscaping common spaces, remodeling one's own, a neighbor's home, or building a

home from the ground up will teach individuals how the built environment works, allowing them
to acquire confidence in doing so.

Appropriate Technology

It is much simpler for people to get engaged if the technology is simple to comprehend,
simple to modify and maintain, and if materials are simple to obtain by the users who will
eventually have to maintain the buildings or the community.

Environmental Education Programmes

Creating local history centers or architectural centers is one thousand and one ways to raise
public knowledge of the built environment and how to enhance it.

Celebrating

Celebrating does not only keep up morale but it would also keep the momentum going.

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EXAMPLES OF COMMUNITY ARCHITECTURE

LA BORDA, Spain

La Borda, a cooperative housing

project in Barcelona, Spain, was
constructed in collaboration with the local
community. A central courtyard in the
building's core offers a flexible gathering
place that invites people to mingle,
assemble, and connect. Residents may
Central Courtyard for socializing
interact and engage in public spaces such
as the laundry room and the kitchen-cum-dining room, which are part of the daily routines. The
polycarbonate roof collects solar energy during the winter and provides enhanced ventilation
during the summer. The Spanish cross-laminated wood gives the structure a natural, organic
character.

Sectional elevation of La Borda showing community spaces

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 THE SIX, Los Angeles

The six, a 52-unit affordable

housing complex for injured veterans,
was built with the goal of providing
maximum comfort and healing to
inhabitants, many of whom had been
homeless. The structure includes
individual studios and one-bedroom
apartments, as well as a common living
room, community meeting places, and a
A large public courtyard at second level
rooftop garden. The social and outdoor
areas foster a sense of camaraderie among inhabitants. The six is 50% more energy efficient than
a traditionally constructed structure due to ideal natural light and ventilation, as well as structural
alignment.

THE NIGHT MINISTRY, Chicago

Wheeler Kearns architects transformed an

old industrial plant in Bucktown into a headquarters
and refuge for members of the neighborhood who are
poor or homeless. The headquarters of the night
ministry have a serving kitchen and dining rooms,
administrative offices, conference rooms, and multi-
purpose programming areas. It sequesters the carbon
and embodied energy contained in the four-story structure by
reusing its heavy wood masonry. In order to save waste, the
flooring and windows were also recycled. Natural light
illuminates 95% of the building's public spaces.

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THE BARN, Sacramento

The barn pavilion in Sacramento's

once-struggling bridge district
has given the region along the
Sacramento River new life. The
curved form of the barn rises from
the street, drawing visitors into its
shady recesses. The public plaza
under the barn holds events, while inside you may shop, wine, and dine your way out to the
expansive open-air breezeway. The barn's multifunctionality and organic environment make it an
ideal gathering spot for the neighborhood.

GOOD JOB CENTER, Japan

Good Job Center is a Japanese

village developed by Onishimaki +
Hyakudayuki architects to collaborate art,
design, and business with differently-abled
people, offering them possibilities to live as
regular human beings. The workplaces
were created to allow the disabled to work,
use the environment, and participate in their
own way. The perspective of differently-abled people was
significant in this case since they had somewhat different
space requirements. The architect's major objective was
to strike a balance between them and build for diversity.

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CONCLUSION

Community architecture has provided alternative design and development approaches in

the form of the following several priorities. What already exists within a neighborhood must be
saved, based on the community’s wishes. Both in rehabilitation or new construction, there should
be a minimum destruction of community networks. The community must also be included in the
design process of both the rehabilitation and new construction. Since the end-users are the most
familiar when it comes to their needs and requirements, involving them directly relates to the
success of a project.

With this being said, community architecture demonstrated that including people in their
own projects may result in various social and economic advantages that are not achievable with
the traditional approach. It empowers people and gives them authority to own their surroundings,
as they play an important part in design.

It is also possible to conclude that the constructed environment formed through

participation is better made physically, lasts longer, is more suited to its use, resulting in
satisfaction, and is usually identified with by the users, resulting in better maintenance and care.
The way end-users see their built environment must be ingrained in the culture. Only when this is
achieved, as it is starting to be, will a significant improvement in the way human settlements are
established and maintained in a very short amount of time be achievable. (Wates, 2019)

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REFERENCES

Adams, S. (n.d). WHAT IS ‘COMMUNITY’ AND THE ROLE OF ARCHITECTURE IN

SHAPING COMMUNITIES?. Deroseesa. Retrieved from https://deroseesa.com/
architecture/what-is-community-and-the-role-of-architecture-in-shaping-communities/

Curl, J. (2018, May 21). Community Architecture. A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape
Architecture. Retrieved from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/
education/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/community-architecture

Faiza, M. (2005). Practice of Community Architecture: A Case Study of Zone of Opportunity

Housing Co-operative, (pp. 42-49). Montreal: School of Architecture McGill University.

Modi, K. (n.d). Co-designing with users- Building community architecture with the community.
Rethinking The Future. Retrieved from https://www.rethinkingthefuture.com/
architectural-community/a2556-co-designing-with-users-building-community-
architecture-with-the-community/

Wates, N. (2019, August 28). Community Architecture. Retrieved from https://www.slideshare.

net/nickwates/community-architecture-167235000.

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