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Living In Earth –
The Sustainability of Earth
Architecture in Uganda
(PhD Research
Abstract)
By presenting Ugandan
shelter within the framework of sustainable development this thesis
clarifies that the poverty prevalent in the country is also reflected in
the problem of inadequacy of architecture in both quantitative and
qualitative terms. This subsequently leads to the working premise of the
thesis which is that: earth architecture can help solve the Ugandan shelter
problem in a socially, environmentally and economically sustainable way.
To test the above premise, this
thesis embraces a Naturist/Emancipatory worldview in a four-stage research
design.
The first stage is
necessitated by lack of data on building materials in Uganda and
is aimed at generating that data. The generation of data will be done using
the quantitative approach of systems modelling and logical argumentation
(mathematical models).
In the second stage, the
systems analysis approach of Multi-attribute Utility Theory (MAUT) will be
used as a combinative tool whereby the quantitative data is used together
with supportive qualitative arguments to analyse each building material
vis-à-vis identified social, environmental and economic sustainability
sub-criteria. The result will be a single sustainability index for each
building technique. Based on this index, it will be possible to make
comparative conclusions on the sustainability of the building techniques.
Stage 3 will use the method
of logical argumentation to contextualise the findings of stages 1 and 2 by
giving their national and international ramifications.
Stage 4 will use Post
Occupancy Evaluation (POE) and focus group discussions to explore issues of
social acceptability of earth architecture in Uganda.
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