Improvisation in architecture a critical study of the Makoko fishing community of Lagos, Nigeria

This thesis proposes an urban reform and design meant to address the present living conditions in the Makoko area of Lagos, Nigeria. The approach to the design is governed by the results of experimental projects carried out throughout the course of the research into Improvisation through Poiesis--- the act of making. The project encompasses studies of the building materials available on site, as well as the development of strategic labor and cost efficient building techniques. In studying the implementation of improvisation in architecture, this thesis affirms that the allocation of boundaries during the process of improvisation differentiates the resulting product from a random combination of systems. Drawing on the fundamental characteristics of collage and assemblage, the process of design would be an embodiment of the idea of improvisation; the process and resulting product would inform the basis of the concept. This project is not the introduction of a modern architectural intervention on a site unprepared for such, but an attempt to introduce strategic solutions to cater to already existing urban problems. The resulting product of this thesis would prove that drawing on the preexisting; the process of improvisation can be used as a tool when addressing slum eradication problems in developing countries.