Informality: Spontaneous Process in Dwelling - The Lima Case

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Date/Time:Thursday, 12 Apr 2012 from 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm
Location:Kocimski Auditorium, 101 College of Design
Cost:free
Contact:Clare Cardinal-Pett
Phone:515-294-8711
Channel:College of Design
Categories:Lectures
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Precarious, spontaneous housing on the peripheries of Lima, Peru, demonstrates how the search for beauty occupies a fundamental place in residents' priorities, emerging even before the most basic comforts have been addressed. Cristina Dreifuss-Serrano will describe the informal process through which people build their own cities-one house at a time-to meet their needs, and how they strive to make their dwellings beautiful.

The phenomena related to the rapid growth of cities, often linked to massive internal migrations, have a profound impact on many aspects of the established structure. Urban boundaries are blurred, and infrastructure and services (e.g., transportation and housing) frequently can't keep pace with the needs of emerging areas.

Throughout the world, citizens respond by building their own city. New environments appear, gradually growing from the requirements of the users/inhabitants. As their budgets allow, families add sections to their homes. Ornament is a key component of this kind of spontaneous architecture. When people construct their own dwellings without consulting a professional, they tend to incorporate decorative elements aimed at making the house "beautiful." While there is rarely a consensus on what this means, residents' preferences are displayed through a set of elements in the architecture of their homes.

About the Speaker
Cristina Dreifuss-Serrano is a faculty member in the School of Architecture, Urbanism and Arts at the National University of Engineering; the School of Architecture at the Peruvian University of Applied Sciences, and the School of Architecture at the University of Lima, all in Peru. She teaches art history, architectural history and theory, design studios and topics related to urbanism, housing and Peruvian architecture.

Dreifuss-Serrano received a doctoral degree in architecture from the Sapienza University of Rome in 2010. She is a member of the European Society for Aesthetics and the British Society for Aesthetics.