Traditional Architecture Patterns Adapted To A Sustainable Elderly Home

In Tanzania the rural housing condition is very bad.People build inadequate,unhealth houses with materials that needs frequent repair and contribute to an unsustainable development through long transportations and increased deforestation.The roofing is often made of materials with abhorrent thermal and acoustic properties.The local building techniques are slowly disappearing due to urbanization and government buildings in modern materials are emulated which leaves few alternatives.The demographic in Tanzania is changing with an increase in the elderly population.The care of old people in Tanzania is mainly within the family by family members only,however changes that come along with globalization is leading to increase in need of elderly homes and care.Thus,this thesis will examine how sustainable and self-sufficient elderly home in the rural areas of Tanzania can be built by adapting traditional architecture patterns with the purpose of creating a design proposal of a self-sufficient elderly home in Tanzania.The research also examines mainly on building materials,systems and techniques used in rural areas,as well as the culture and daily life in Tanzania.To answer the research questions a qualitative methodology has been deployed and a field study has been conducted in the rural area of Tanzania where interview and observations were made.The result of the study is presented in a design proposal for a sustainable elderly home situated in rural area of Tanzania.The use of burnt bricks fired with agricultural residue as local materials enables to use flat roofs.The layout of the new elderly home is designed with Tanzanian culture in mind and is supposed to convey a sense of family and community to provide the elderly with as normal a life as can be achieved.For the elderly home to be selfsufficient,it should be able to produce its own water,electricity and food.