ABSTRACT
For the principled young designer, the Ina-Casa plan and its characteristic approach to urbanism and architecture provided an example of how popular and vernacular culture could be holistically integrated with design strategies grounded in functionalism as well as material and economic efficiency. The Ina-Casa project at Ponte Mammolo resonated with Scott Brown's long-standing interest in popular culture and folk art, which she traces to growing up in Johannesburg, South Africa in the 1930s and '40s under colonial rule. Vaccaro's design for Ponte Mammolo reflects a sense of the hybridity and mixing of architectural approaches that first interested Scott Brown in South Africa. Vaccaro's clothesline has a sincerity and humility in contrast to the aggressively ordinary antenna on the Guild Hall. The Ina-Casa theory of design advocated for urban design scaled to man and architectural designs that would enable every resident to locate his or her own home among the group.
