Our mission is to ensure fair delivery of social infrastructure across different regions, defining an architecture that encompasses a ‘meaningful totality.’ Our work is guided by the belief that successful products and processes require both words and actions. Informal settlements have been a source of inspiration and testing grounds for U–TT’s planning, building, and teaching efforts. A key lesson learned is the importance of addressing the political and social aspects of informality, not just the physical changes. This calls for a holistic approach to architecture that engages the local community and considers internal hierarchies, cultures, values, race, gender, and local aesthetics. As a result we have embraced an ethnographic approach to our design process.

Challenges such as financial constraints or local politics often mean that we can only implement one transformative architectural concept in a building, typically integrated into structural elements. Ultimately, U–TT believes that this approach is the most sustainable way to create positive social change through clear, distinctive architecture that can be replicated and adapted.