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Essential question

How could architecture be used to address social issues in a community?

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As urban populations grow, the challenge of providing affordable housing has cities looking for innovative design solutions. This year, the highest award in architecture, the Pritzker Prize, goes to a Chilean architect named Alejandro Aravena whose design firm Elemental creates simple but practical solutions to address the housing shortage in Santiago and other cities in Chile. Aravena’s architectural style emphasizes energy efficiency, climate consciousness and social engagement. He calls his style of incremental housing “half a good house,” because the finished half of the unit provides basic living standards while another unfinished half allows room for the occupant to make improvements and increase the home’s value through sweat equity. To date, Elemental has built 2,500 of these units across Chile and Mexico. “In the end, a housing policy shouldn’t be a mere shelter against the environment. It should work as a tool to overcome poverty,” Aravena said.

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Key terms

architecture – the art or practice of designing and constructing buildings sweat equity —an interest or increased value in a property earned from labor toward upkeep or improvement

Warm up questions ( before watching the video)

1. What comes to mind when you think of the word architecture?


2. What types of architecture do you see around you each day?


3. Do you think the way buildings look in a community affects the way people think about their community?

Critical thinking questions ( after watching the video)

1. What was your favorite example of Alevano’s work?


2. Did you notice the playground in the video? What was unique about it? How might it affect the people living in that community?


3. How could Alejandro Alevano’s new urban housing design help to fight poverty?


4. Which do you think is more important, how a building looks or how it functions? Explain.


5. In addition to housing, what ways could architecture be used as a tool for social engagement in a community?