[On] February 27th, 2010, (…) in Constitución, Chile (…) a magnitude of 8.8 (…) quake and the tsunami it produced completely crushed the town. By the time it was over, more than 500 people were dead, and about 80% of the Constitución’s buildings were ruined.
As part of the relief effort, an architecture firm called Elemental was hired to create a master plan for the city, which included new housing for people displaced in the disaster. But the structures that Elemental delivered were a radical and controversial approach toward housing.
They gave people half of a house. (…)
The approach has its roots in a building methodology made popular by the 1972 essay, “Housing is a Verb,” by architect John F.C. Turner. Turner made the case that housing ought not be a static unit that is packaged and handed over to people. Rather, housing should be conceived of as an ongoing project wherein residents are co-creators.

From: Half a House – 99% Invisible
As pointed out by Jason Kottke, « they’ve built How Buildings Learn into the process of home ownership ». More posts related to HBL.