Between Modular and Vernacular: How Combining Construction Techniques Can Bring Agility and Identity to Social Housing in the Global South

Ruca Dwellings / Undurraga Devés Arquitectos. © Guy WenborneThe opening scenes of the award-winning Brazilian film "City of God" (2002) portray a newly constructed housing complex situated on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. Subsequently, this complex evolves into a hub of poverty and violence. Despite the film being set in the 1960s, the housing development depicted was a recent construction.This choice made no difference because, despite the 40-year difference between the depicted