Build your own house

In this article, Elizabeth "Betty" Spence, a white, left-wing, liberal architect from South Africa, is examined for her design research during early spatial apartheid. The article explores how Spence collaborated with disenfranchised Black township residents to create alternative housing options, drawing on her fragmented archive of publications and interviews. Spence's approach included observing how different residents, particularly women, utilized interior spaces. The article reveals that while her work addressed specific social, economic, and racial challenges in South Africa, it was influenced by both European design thinking and American-South African discussions on race relations. The article argues that Spence's focus on incremental housing, self-construction, and the process of building and homemaking in the townships was a form of political action that empowered residents to exercise self-determination within the context of modern urban life.

Abstract based directly on original source.