Roofs. Local materials, simple technology, sophisticated ideas

“Housing problems are not restricted to the poor. The solutionswe want to put forward concern all societies. But since we haveto set priorities, emphasis was put on techniques accessiblefor the poor members of society. The general problems of housingcan be classified into three principal domains: that of social,environmental and technical criteria.”Written from the 1970s onwards, Roofs collectspractical information (tested for UNESCO bythe author himself) on the construction of roofsand shelters, which were intended to meet thematerial needs of the poor in the global South.It consists of manuals written independently ofeach other, and is happily representative of thematurity of Friedman, who in those years hadalready decided to focus his interventions onhow to include the inhabitants in the design oftheir habitat, because “participation is notspontaneous and cannot be claimed out ofthe blue.” While Utopies réalisables (literally,“Achievable Utopias,” 1975 - no English editionto date) r