Pure Power, Tanzania, Eastern Africa

Pure Power in Tanzania, Eastern Africa

post updated 26 May 2026

Design: Hong-En,Lin

Location: Rujewa, Tanzania, eastern Africa

Renders: Hong-En,Lin

15 June 2023

Pure Power/Daily Combat Strategy for Water Collection

Hong-En, Lin introduces a Pure Power/Daily Combat Strategy for Water Collection in Africa, where water resources are often polluted, and where long distances to obtain water make the task difficult.

For many people, it can take one to three hours to get from home to a water source, but even then the water they obtain is often muddy. Water pollution is also a prevalent problem in Africa, and one of the primary causes of death is due to the consumption of contaminated water over time that contains bacteria and parasites that can cause illness. Given that poor environments prevent many people from accessing cleaner water, the designer’s goal is to assist them in that endeavor. Once addressed, access to cleaner water resources can also help improve water extraction, while ensuring the availability of clean drinking water and clean water for cooking and better food hygiene in regions of Africa.

Thoughts from the house
Housing is the most important source of shelter from the wind and rain, as well as a place for undertaking daily activities. It has been observed in Africa that family women still retain local traditional woven clothing. Most parts of the world have their own weaving culture. Under the circumstances of limited environmental conditions and budget, the designer has leveraged local weaving culture as an idea for combining the housing of local materials and dew collection to create cleaner, more economical housing with a cleaner water source.

Design Thinking and Creation
How do poor rural areas perceive local materials based on economic sustainability as effective use tools that can be extended to other places after 10 years and 20 years? In terms of architecture, bricks and wood, which are easily available locally, are used as the main building materials. The design of local objects can be simply accomplished through weaving and the power of a family. Joint weaving can enhance emotional well-being between family members while providing the ability to reduce budget expenditures and increase the temperature of hand-made buildings to create a closer family sense of belonging.

The bedroom space surrounds the public space so that the bedroom and the semi-outdoor space are closely connected, thus creating a daily living space where the family can gather. On the roof, a wooden structure is combined with a weaving device to collect dew. The weaving technique and structure are interwoven to form a structure that echoes the concept. The tolerable curvature of the wood structure is used as the support of the roof structure, and the structure of the roof is covered by weaving. The cladding of the roof is covered with structure, a waterproof layer (PVC), and a dew collection layer.

The structure can extract moisture from the air in the early morning, and can also collect rainwater, both of which can be stored after passing through a filtration system. As a result, the use of local weaving colors and simple construction methods can be leveraged and combined to create useful and interesting roof systems.

Pure Power in Tanzania, Eastern Africa – Building Information

Design: Hong-En,Lin – https://linktr.ee/H.9612

Base location: Africa/Tanzania
Construction materials: Concrete, clay bricks, bricks, bamboo, wood, PVC panels, catch nets, woven objects

Total area: 160 sqm
Type: Local Culture, Weaving Culture, Water Collector, Residential

Designer: Hong-En,Lin
Design time: 2020/06

Design Location: Taiwan/New Taipei City

About Hong-En, Lin
Designer Hong-En, Lin excels at transforming daily observation and life experience into the nourishment of creation in a variety of different fields. His work is founded on a variety of influences, including Taiwanese local culture, social issues, design theory, popular culture, art, and other fields. Hong-En, Lin dares to innovate, backed by expertise in architectural design, space design, photography, visual communication design, visual art, and multimedia.