Gonzalo Lizarralde: Brown Bag Lecture

“The Invisible Houses: Rethinking and Designing Low-Cost Housing in Developing Countries.”  There is an increased interest among architects, urban specialists and design professionals to contribute to solve “the housing problem” in developing countries. The Invisible Houses  takes us on a journey through the slums and informal settlements of South Africa, India, Colombia, Honduras, El Salvador, Cuba, Haiti and many other countries of the Global South, revealing the challenges of, and opportunities for, improving the fate of millions of poor families. Stressing the limitations of current approaches to housing development, Gonzalo Lizarralde examines the short-, mid- and long-term consequences of housing intervention. The book covers—among others—the issues of planning, design, infrastructure and project management; it explains the different variables that need to be addressed and it explains the causes of common failures and mistakes, while outlining successful strategies based on embracing a sustained engagement with the complexity of processes that are generally invisible.