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The Magoda Project

The Magoda Project is a series of eight prototype houses constructed in Magoda, a rural settlement in the Tanga region

Ingvartsen Arkitekter

The Magoda Project

  • Location

    Magoda Village, Tanga, Tanzania

  • Architects

    Ingvartsen Arkitekter

  • Project Team:

    Jakob Knudsen, Lorenz von Seidlein, William N. Kisinza, Konstantin Ikonomidis, Emi Bryan, Salum Mshamu and Kiondo Mgumi

  • Completion

    2014-2015

  • Photographs

    Konstantin Ikonomidis

The Magoda Project is a series of eight prototype houses constructed in Magoda, a rural settlement in the Tanga region of Tanzania. The project explores design elements of traditional Asian and African dwellings to generate a variety of new and improved housing designs, as a way to minimise diseases in rural Africa.

In sub-Saharan Africa, many infectious diseases including malaria are acquired in and around the home. There are great demands to improve the health of local residents, specifically through the space they spend the majority of their time in – the home. Low-cost houses prevalent in rural Africa usually have mud or brick walls with few windows. Airflow is minimal and basic facilities such as cooking areas, safe water supply and sanitation are usually absent or rudimentary.

The eight houses integrate Asian architectural features (to optimise airflow) with traditional African building methods familiar in the local area. Alongside collaboration with local engineers, labourers, doctors and sociologists, the final designs were materialised through precise research and observations of the local climate. The project consists of single or double storey houses clad in wood, bamboo or shade nets, with semi-outdoor kitchens, water-harvesting tanks and sanitation facilities.

«We must continue to have the courage to think innovatively and to challenge our thinking habits with systematic methods, which are based on the context. It is also vital to look at the interaction between the technological and aesthetic aspects of architecture, which will very probably become even more important in the years to come. The School must reach out even more to the outside world, other educational institutions and the business community.»
Jakob Brandtberg Knudsen / Ingvartsen Arkitekter
Head of KADK’s School of Architecture – Copenhagen

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