Yardmaster - 'Yard infrastructure furniture' - a design response to overcrowded housing in remote Indigenous Communities

Speaker: Christian Tietz

Affiliation: Univerisity of Western Sydney

Time: Tuesday 10/04/2012 from 14:00 to 15:00

Venue: Access Grid UWS. Presented from Penrith (Y239), accessible from Parramatta (EB.1.32) and Campbelltown (26.1.50).

Abstract:

Australia is a rich country but Aboriginal life expectancy is 17 years less than that of non indigenous Australians. Part of this contribution towards short life expectancy is also overcrowding, which is a chronic condition in remote Indigenous communities. It is the result of a desperate housing shortage, not a cultural preference. But more specifically it is the high failure rate of the essential health supporting services within a house, such as safe and reliable access to water and power (for example taps and power points). This high failure of these basic hardware items contributes to and severely impacts on housing occupant health as rampant transmission of communicable diseases and poor nutrition are resulting from this failure of being able to shower, wash kids, use bathrooms or laundries or being able to cook meals.

The design solution is providing reliable access to services within the yard area outside the house in order to take the pressure of the buildings and to allow for more variety in accessing important health supporting infrastructure.

Biography: To come.