The project “The Emergence of Dwelling” addresses the perspective on the idea of home, housing, and existence in Brazil, focusing on emergency situations. The project considers as a premise emergency dwellings not as temporary shelters, but as permanent ones, designed based on human needs, aiming to rescue the sense of home. In this context, the choice of modular, industrialized construction becomes a project condition that offers freedom and adaptability to dwelling. “The Emergence of Dwelling” is a manifesto to the Brazilian emergency context in which we live.
Emergency housing is a crucial component of global humanitarian response. Focusing on the constant state of emergency in Brazil, where such situations may arise from natural disasters, extreme poverty, social conflicts, homelessness, and the reception of foreign refugees, among other causes, Brazil can be considered an emergency-prone country. Within this Brazilian context, emergency housing often becomes the permanent residence for many families.
Currently, in settlements, there is a persistent condition of temporariness that Bauman describes as the “permanence of transience.” This notion of the “permanence of transience” underscores the ephemeral and fluid nature of these settlements, where the originally planned temporariness transforms into a lasting condition. Based on case studies and articles on emergency housing conducted in Brazil and globally, it is evident that, despite the permanent context of refugee settlements, the architecture of emergency housing is often marked by “foreign” solutions to the local territory and culture, derived from existing models. An example of this is the Minha Casa Minha Vida housing project, constructed by CDHU on the northern coast of São Paulo due to the rains in 2023.
In this context, my inspiration to design emergency housing in Brazil has been fueled by the discomfort with the prevailing perception of these structures as merely temporary solutions, rather than recognizing them as essential homes for individuals in situations of extreme vulnerability, who are striving to rebuild their lives. Drawing on Bauman’s concept of the “permanence of transience” and the phenomenological perspective of Pallasmaa, among others, I have been motivated to explore the urgent need to redefine and qualify these dwellings as true homes. It is therefore crucial to move beyond the limited notion of temporariness, ensuring that these homes provide not only shelter but also embody the complexity and significance of the lived experience for those who inhabit them. This commitment to redefining emergency housing as genuine homes lies at the heart of my work.
