This book shares the results of a decennial research aimed at finding housing solutions for unprivileged people in informal settlements of Brazil. To understand the spatial logics of these settlements, the author also lived in some of them. The participative observation revealed, that labour is the social practice which mostly designs, shapes and governs the spaces of informal settlements. The study shows how labour is a priority for people struggling with their physical survival, which overcomes those aesthetic, comfort and hygienic standards current architecture practice is entirely concerned about. Alongside the right to housing we must integrate the right to work, and labour must become the social variable in the design of housing solutions in the context of informal settlements. From theoretical discussions up to the operative realm of architecture in the global south, this book presents both the approach and challenges to better housing residents living in informal settlements.
