Torre David. Informal Vertical Communities

30/11/2012. With photographs by Iwan Baan
metalocus, CANDELA OLIVA

While we wait for the Christmas holidays, we can't help thinking about the presents we would love to receive. How about an interesting book like "Torre David: Informal Vertical Communities"? The launch date is december 10th, and Iwan Baan has shared with us some of the photographs that illustrate the project by Urban-Think Tank. It was awarded with the Golden Lion in the XIII Venice Biennale.

Portada. Cortesía de Lars Müller Publishers.

Portada. Cortesía de Lars Müller Publishers.

Sección por Urban-Think Tank. Cortesía de Lars Müller Publishers.

Vista del interior. Fotografía ©Iwan Baan. Cortesía de Iwan Baan y Lars Müller Publishers.

Improvised gym in the rooftop. Photography © Iwan Baan. Courtesy of Iwan Baan and Lars Müller Publishers.

Interior view. Photography © Iwan Baan. Courtesy of Iwan Baan and Lars Müller Publishers.

Exterior view. Photography © Iwan Baan. Courtesy of Iwan Baan and Lars Müller Publishers.

Diagrama de programa por Urban-Think Tank. Cortesía de Lars Müller Publishers.

Diagrama de circulación por Urban-Think Tank. Cortesía de Lars Müller Publishers.

Análisis de viento por Urban-Think Tank. Cortesía de Lars Müller Publishers.

Diagrama de distribución del agua por Urban-Think Tank. Cortesía de Lars Müller Publishers.

Planta en perspectiva por Urban-Think Tank. Cortesía de Lars Müller Publishers.

Torre David, a 45-story skyscraper in Caracas, has remained uncompleted since the Venezuelan economy collapsed in 1994. Today, it is the improvised home to more than 750 families living in an extra-legal and tenuous squat, that some have called a “vertical slum.”

Urban-Think Tank, the authors of Torre David: Informal Vertical Communities, spent a year studying the physical and social organization of this ruin-become home. Richly illustrated with photographs by Iwan Baan, the book documents the residents’ occupation of the tower and how, in the absence of formal infrastructure, they organize themselves to provide for daily needs, with a hair salon, a gym, grocery shops, and more. The authors of this thought-provoking work investigate informal vertical communities and the architecture that supports them and issue a call for action: to see in informal settlements a potential for innovation and experimentation, with the goal of putting design in service to a more equitable and sustainable future.

TORRE DAVID. Informal Vertical Communities.