Housing and health: a local and tailor-made low-tech approach to minimize diseases in a rising community of Haiti

With the slogan “Intelligently designed housing can dramatically improve people’s health”, the non-profit U.S. association Arch.H.I.Ve invited applications in 2010 for the implementation of five low-cost housing prototypes for families affected by AIDS and tuberculosis in Saint-Marc (Haiti). This was the opportunity for an Italian team of three architects, one doctor and one engineer, to submit a project inspired by construction methodologies able to harmonise elements of bioclimatic architecture with the psychophysical needs of the future occupants. ‘Shutter Dwelling’ was short-listed as one of the five winning projects, and its implementation is currently underway. It was inspired by a holistic approach to housing design which looks at a building as a whole generated by the interaction of three types of factors: energetic factors (air, sun and water), which guarantee the microclimatic suitability of indoor environments; viral factors, which prevent the spread of infections to other family members; functional factors, which facilitate the interaction of patients with the other occupants and the wider community. Taking its cue from that project, this paper seeks to contribute a new conception of housing design, suitable for ‘temporary’ dwellings. The approach it proposes takes into account traditional elements such as construction time, costs and reproducibility, but also caters for healthy, habitable environments, which preserve the social interactions of the occupants and are respectful of the local culture.