Severe droughts make Djibouti, in the Horn of Africa, a country of huge problems. One is the scarcity of decent housing, and this project tries to deal with it in Tadjoura, through fifteen individual homes sponsored by SOS The Children International.

Addressing the extreme climate conditions of the region and the traditions of a community of nomadic customs, the project adopts the scheme of a casbah or medina: compact, shaded, and friendly in scale. This medina is conceived as a medina for children; that is, a safe environment, car-free, where narrow streets and small plazas make good playgrounds. Also as a medina where public and private, traditionally confused in nomadic communities, melt into one another. It is also a medina with natural vegetation in abundance, which creates a comfortable microclimate.

Finally, a medina inspired in vernacular construction solutions and materials, including the walls with thermal mass and inertia and the small openings protected against the sun.