Housing and Garifuna Culture: A Humanitarian Engineering Approach for Sustainable Development (#2059)

Authors

Lupi Chirinos, Andrea

Ponce, Andrea

Ochoa Perdomo, Valery A.

Abstract

This study addresses the housing challenges in the Garífuna community of Tornabé, emphasizing issues such as overcrowding, unemployment, and the lack of dignified housing. Its objective was to establish criteria for the design of sustainable social housing that respects Garífuna vernacular construction techniques, promoting the future design of culturally sensitive prototypes through key strategies based on community participation and humanitarian engineering. A non-experimental and mixed research approach was adopted, combining qualitative and quantitative techniques to explore and describe the housing problem. Participatory strategies such as workshops, surveys, and virtual focus groups were applied, facilitating the analysis of perceptions, needs, and community challenges. Data collection was complemented by expert feedback and validation of findings by the community. The active participation of the community reaffirmed the effectiveness of the collaborative approach and its impact on the proposal of relevant housing solutions. The findings highlighted priority needs, such as the expansion of modular housing spaces and improvements in kitchen areas. Three prototypes were proposed, integrating key principles and desirable characteristics of sustainable social housing, ranging from 52 m² to 134 m², with capacities for 2 to 12 people, in a proposal of 42 housing units for 120 beneficiaries. The study underscores the importance of community participation in housing design, the need to rescue vernacular construction techniques, and the application of humanitarian engineering and Design Thinking principles. It concludes that the combination of traditional knowledge and innovative design strategies is essential to generate housing proposals aligned with the needs and values of the Garífuna community.