A Lived-in Shape Grammar: Parsing the Dwelling Activities in a Modernist Residential Building in Algiers

Abstract

Residents of a building transform it over time and play crucial roles in making its life cycles sustainable. Introducing formal methods to study the impact of residents' modifications in existing structures, we analyze Climat de France, a modern housing project in Algeria. Observing the distinction of designed and in-use contexts, we consider the building as it was once intended and as it is now lived in. We parse the south-west facade and define a shape grammar that consists of rules that represent and categorize the changes dwellers made on the original facade over time. We discuss residents' modifications as tools of autonomy and outcomes of territorial struggles. Findings are both expected and unexpected, such as the issues of climate control and the patterns of knowledge exchange, respectively. The study interweaves some of the social and physical dynamics that trigger and shape the residents' modifications, pointing out that shape grammars may be utilized to analyze the informal adaptations of a space by its users.