This paper proposes the application of art’s ownway of looking at the world. Specifically looking attwo different processes: hand-building of your ownhouse and the self-management of existence, thisway of looking allows us to recognize otherwiseunknown correspondences between them. Aftershowing how there are forms of control aiming tocontain politically and economically the urban poor,I propose two forces visible in self-constructionprojects: resistance and hope.The argument is informed by the work of philosopherssuch as Gilles Deleuze, Martin Heidegger,Hannah Arendt, Michel Foucault, Michel de Certeauand Santiago Castro-Gomez, bringing togethersocial research on economics, urban processes,architecture, law and anthropology. These investigationsare put in conversation with works of art byartists like Maria Elvira Escallon and Kcho, and withevidence gathered in visits to women protagonistsof hand-buiding housing projects.