TRASHITECTURE 1

The Sea Side Ghetto

The first is a dwelling i found by the beach near a very busy high way by the sea. Constructed to be a fishmonger's stall, and later a storeroom, it is now home to a middle aged Rastafarian gentleman named Ras Idem alias Sea lion. His choice of location is based on the fact that he is still waiting for a ship to take him back to Africa, the fatherland. He wanted to escape the oppressors in Babylon (part of the city of Accra) and hopefully wait for the emancipation and repatriation back to his homeland.

The construction of the dwelling is interesting. Half of the building materials used are debris floating onto the beach. the corner posts are coconut tree stumps. The gable roof is made of dried Thatch from a nearby marshland held together by ropes on bamboo rafters. The interior is dense with the smell of mosquito repellent coils and marijuana. The structure is insulated by old leather bags and worn trampolines. The interior furniture is made of old wooden soda crates with cushion of old second-hand clothes.

All these aside, with an old lantern, and mosquito coils, the evening here is delightful sitting on a three legged chair with a battery powered radio straining an ear to listen to Reggae music drowned by the strong winds from the gulf of Guinea and the relentless attack of the waves rushing up against the shore.

Kojoderban

TRASHITECTURE

Introduction

I would like to interest you in a type of Architecture that you may not have considered yet as part of architecture. I say it is especially if it is a form of building growing ever increasingly in our urban environments.
This is Trashitecture. It is not to be confused with Primitive architecture, (there is nothing of the sort) or dwellings of a cave or bush man, nor are they slum dwellings. These are solitary structures often found standing alone. they are products of the basic instincts of the human race when desperate, stranded, abandoned, outlawed, confused or mentally disabled. they have no pre-designed process and are built with everything and anything available obtained from anywhere and put together anyhow by any means. Most of the materials used are discarded waste, used materials and objects from trash and garbage,looted or stolen or picked from scrapyards and construction sites. they are usually found in open spaces , green belts, near highways and on no man's land.
In literature , one is reminded of the house Robinson Crusoe built when he was shipwrecked or Ben Gunn of Treasure Island built for himself when he was marooned .
I will entreat you to examine them deeply, out of these we may gain ideas for green Architecture or discover a secret to low cost housing and most of all, the origin of squatter town and cities that have become a part of our urban environment.
I have chosen a few for discussion in the following posts.

Kojoderban