The Marginalised Majority

A proposal to create educational opportunities and empower the community of the informal settlement of Makoko

Introduction

Lagos is one of the fastest growing cities in the world, with a population growth of more than 80 persons per hour. With an estimated population of 21 million, two-thirds of them live in slums. One of these is Makoko, originally a fishing village, situated on the waterfront in central Lagos. Makoko lacks critical infrastructure, such as sanitation and educational opportunities. Similar to Nigeria in general, Makoko has a very religious population. Due to this, Makoko has forty churches, but only one school. This project explores the possibilities of re-using the existing church structures and transforming them into a hybrid typology, facilitating for education, while keeping a minimal impact on the original religious program. In addition to this, a new school is designed to replace the existing school, which is currently in a poor state and with limited capacity. 

This profile shows all the main drawings as shown on the exhibiton board. For the full presentation, see links.

The bigger picture

The UN predicts that 50% of the projected population growth until 2050 is going to come from Africa. Within Africa, every sixth African is Nigerian. One of the largest and fastest growing cities is Lagos, with a population of 21 million. Of these, about two-thirds live in slums.

Introducing Makoko

Field trip

Intervention #1
A Hybrid Typology

Intervention #2
The New School

Full presentation