In Chile, a middle-class family may inhabit a house of around 80 square meters, whereas a low-income family might be lucky enough to inhabit 40 square meters. They can?t afford a large ?good? house, and are henceforth often left with smaller homes or building blocks; but why not give them half a ?good? house, instead of a finished small house" In the 1970s a professor by the name John F.C. Turner, teaching at a new masters program at MIT called ?Urban Settlement Design In Developing Countries?, developed an idea surrounding the concept that people can build for themselves. 99% Invisible has covered a story, produced by Sam Greenspan, on how this idea has evolved, and what it has turned into: Half A House.  

Villa Verde in Constitución, Chile by Elemental. Image via 99 Percent Invisible
In Chile, a middle-class family may inhabit a house of around 80 square meters, whereas a low-income family might be lucky enough to inhabit 40 square meters. They can?t afford a large ?good? house, and are henceforth often left with smaller homes or building blocks; but why not give them half a ?good? house, instead of a finished small house" In the 1970s a professor by the name John F.C. Turner, teaching at a new masters program at MIT called ?Urban Settlement Design In Developing Countries?, developed an idea surrounding the concept that people can build for themselves. 99% Invisible has covered a story, produced by Sam Greenspan, on how this idea has evolved, an...