| dc.description.abstract | Since Kenya gained its independence in 1963, new
residential-estates and renovations have been planned,
designed constructed and occupied. Yet, to date, very few
of these developments have been evaluated against the
housing needs of residents and developers to avoid
replicating past mistakes or improve on successful projects.
There is no official requirement to evaluate the projects
against user needs. The designer it has been assumed knows
what the client needs. Though Post Occupancy Evaluation
(POE) has nearly a forty-year history, in Kenya it has not
been widely practiced and welcomed. This study seeks to
explore the correlation between design shortcomings and
the changes and extensions done by the residents of
Buruburu estate. It is a post occupancy survey of the estate
investigating' the success of the original intentions of the
design team against the present situation on the ground. The
author has endeavored to identify and isolate the spatial and
physical changes made by the users through empirical
studies, observations and personal interviews with the
residents. A literature review of the current developments in
Post Occupancy Evaluation has formed the framework
under which the research has been carried out. The author
recognizes the invaluable contributions of influential critics'
such as Wolfgang F.E. Preiser, C.C. Marcus, Alice
Coleman, Oscar Newman, and J F Turner and selectively
applies most of their ideas in the assessment of the project.
Buruburu estate is one of the earliest and largest estates in
Kenya allowing for a wide variety in study. The project
architects; MMI have been singled out for scrutiny and I
. must beg their indulgence for the one-sided questioning of
their original design intentions.
Time has a great influence in determining the success of
any project. It is now twenty-two years since the completion
of the Buruburu project, its present state could be due to
factors the designers, and planners would not have
envisioned. This study intends to illuminate the need for
designers, developers, planners, government housing
officials and policy makers to be connected with the
feelings, needs, wishes and priorities of the users. The
expressions of these requirements are well evidenced by the
bold attempts seen in the changes done by owners and users
of these buildings despite strict regulations and byelaw
requirements by the local authorities. | en_US |
