Social Housing For The Harmonious Integration of Indigenous Populations Into Congolese Society: The Case of the Republic of Congo

Alain Symphorien NDONGO, Destin Gemetone ETOU, Christian TATHY — Tue, 30 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0800

Based on the premise that all people are equal before the law, the Republic of Congo Brazzaville has adopted laws and texts prohibiting all forms of discrimination against indigenous peoples. This is an important step towards their integration into Bantu society, instead of remaining victims of marginalisation, discrimination and inhuman and degrading treatment. Despite occupying large equatorial forests and vast territories of very low density, the indigenous population has not yet appropriated its land and natural resources. To this day, housing estates in the Congo's cities obey the principles inherited from the colonial period, including the distribution of populations according to social status and membership of a community or ethnic group; just as the existing housing stock includes dwellings and flats for westernised Bantu populations and foreigners. Having left the forest, indigenous communities now live in precarious and unhealthy villages and neighbourhoods on the outskirts of urban and rural communities. So there is an urgent need to rethink the habitat that will promote harmonious cohabitation between Bantus, indigenous peoples and foreigners. On the basis of demographic data, the study proposes a typical social housing model for indigenous households, with floor areas ranging from 75 m² to 220 m². The use of locally manufactured building materials and the participation of the beneficiaries in terms of labour will enable local people to master construction techniques on the one hand, and to optimise construction costs on the other.

Window Design for Mosquito Control: An Architectural Solution for Reducing Malaria Burden in Tropical African Homes

Jideofor Akubue — Fri, 03 May 2024 00:00:00 +0800

Housing design in tropical regions of Africa necessitates that windows are created for natural ventilation and aeration of indoor spaces. However, the menace of malaria carrying mosquitos makes natural ventilation more risky that comforting. Naturally in most buildings in this region, windows are designed to integrate both the functions of passive (natural) ventilation and mosquito repelling, which is achieved by the adoption of mosquito netted-screens. However, review of existing mosquito screening designs identified in the study region, indicates the existence of interlude periods between operating the netted screens and opening of windows panels. These minute interlude periods when the windows are exposed to the open environment, is responsible for the admittance of mosquitos and other harmful insects. This study presents a design option for mosquito screening which provides homes with constant aeration periods and zero contact with vectors via the windows. While a typical/conventional window design in this region consists of Mosquito screening systems (MSS) comprising of two or more layers of openings which harbor tendencies of exposure to the outdoor malaria vectors, the optimized design presented in this study nullifies this tendency of exposure. During the course of operating the netted and main window panels of a typical two layered MSS, the interlude period provides sufficient time frame (mostly within the range of 10 seconds) for the influx of vectors, this timeframe is totally eliminated by the optimized MSS, which provided zero obstruction timeframe while operating the system. Comparative review of the screening systems showed significant mosquito repelling capability by the optimized MSS compared to conventional ones. This is a significant result as most homes in tropical environments depend largely on open windows for natural cooling and ventilation and thus, the option of operating windows without interruption from the MSS is indispensable in achieving mosquito-free indoor spaces.

Journal of Architectural Environment & Structural Engineering Research

Social Housing For The Harmonious Integration of Indigenous Populations Into Congolese Society: The Case of the Republic of Congo

Window Design for Mosquito Control: An Architectural Solution for Reducing Malaria Burden in Tropical African Homes