The project is for the design and construction of a sustainable neighborhood, of 450 low-cost houses, earthquake resistant, complete with community facilities, based upon the concept of high-density, low-rise development with courtyard houses, which can grow and adjust over time to accommodate the changing needs of families.  New methods were developed to reduce unit costs and raise environmental standards.  Objectives of the project are improved designs, rationalized building methods and materials, dimensional standardization, and increased productivity with the use of new building equipment and plant. An international competition was organized for twenty six architects with engineers, thirteen from Peru and thirteen from other countries to obtain proposals for designs and building methods for twenty six clusters of houses.  The countries represented were Colombia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, India, Japan, Peru, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States.  The architect Peter Land conceived and carried out the project as UN Project Director in cooperation with the Government of Peru.

Peter Land, professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, received his professional education at the Architectural Association and Royal Academy Schools in London. He has masters degrees from Yale and the Carnegie Mellon universities in Architecture and City Planning; is a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects and a registered UK architect. He conceived and was director of the United Nations Experimental Housing Project in Lima, Peru (PREVI). After PREVI, at Harvard University and IIT he has carried out research and design development on urban densities, energy efficient sustainable housing and planning.  He has formulated a strategy for design of neighborhoods at increased densities, with passive solar planning, pedestrian scale and minimum infrastructure. At IIT he also carries out research based interdisciplinary design development for wide-span and high-rise energy efficient structures.  Land received grants for earlier work from the Graham Foundation, the USA Department of Energy and the National Endowment for the Arts awarded him the Distinguished Designer Fellowship.