Hauz ki Kahaani

hauz ki kahaani

BRINGING BACK THE HAUZ

ANNUAL NASA DESIGN COMPETITION 2011 MNIT 282

JOHAD.

traditions past.

India is a country of traditions. Each geographical region has its own peculiarities which result in a variety of needs, which further give rise to traditional practices.

North-West India with its harsh climate and scarcity of water, has given rise to the traditional wisdom of respecting water and understanding its importance.

POTTERY.

WATER The need for water

A johad was a crescent-shaped dam of earth and rocks, built to intercept rainfall runoff.

• On the surface, it held water for livestock.

• Below the surface, it held water in place and allowed the liquid to percolate down through the soil. Stored underground, the water could not be lost to evaporation.

This is 5000 year old traditional craft that still survives today, especially in north India. Both, handmade as well as wheel-made pottery are found here.

Used to store grain and water. Today, sold more as artwork.

TIME SHARING.

Same space used for multiple purposes and activities. This meant that the space was active and safe throughout the day.

• Kids playing • Men and Women bonding and working • Men working

A johad was more than what any one family could build. It took a village. But because every villager had a stake in thejohads, residents banded together to build and maintain them.

Human effort involved in drawing water from well

Reservoir used for drinking water by the cattle Shared community facilities as resources are finite

Johad

Johad creates reservoir during the monsoons The act of saving and replenishing as it was precious and scarce.

Traditions and beliefs grow around this life-giving resource.

Well

Ground water table with gradient Bedrock

hauz ki kahani

bringing back the hauz

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the old and new.

WATER PRACTICES.

Past, traditional practices were considerably different from those today. Here we explore how our water practices have changed from the sustainable past to the modern, convinient present.

ENERGY INTENSIVE PRESENT. SAVING Water was always used judiciously, as it was a limited and was replenished by the monsoon for only 2 months in a year

SUSTAINABLE PAST.

In older times, people would actually make a physical effort to procure water. They would have to draw it from a well or push it out from a hand pump. This automatically added a sense of restrain as wastefulness would mean more physical effort and not money.

Due to the absence of water supply from other regions or cities, people realized that monsoons were the only source of water. This meant that water table recharge became an imperative act.

Each citizen would own a stake of the johad, and would construct and maintain it. This ensured community participation.

hauz ki kahani

bringing back the hauz

Today, water supply in homes is purely mechanical, where the resident just needs to flick a switch to get water. Thus, water is taken for granted.

STORING Water was stored in clay matkas, to keep it cool. This water was believed to be good for digestion too

With the advent of tube wells, water is constantly sourced from deeper and deeper sources. Hence, the thought of replenishment takes a backseat, as water level becomes inconsequential. However, despite being renewable, water is a limited resource, atleast in these parts of the country.

REPLENISHING The community itself, made the effort to recharge ground water, as it was for their own benefit.

People today lead very energy intensive lives.

Something sample like cooling water in a matka is replaced by a refrigerator which consumes so much more energy.

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TODAY.

Hauz Rani falls within affluent south Delhi.

Nearby is the fashionable commercial centre of Saket.

hauz rani.

LOCATION

Hauz Rani is an urban village in New Delhi, surrounded by the affluent South Delhi neighbourhoods of Saket, Malviya Nagar and Panchsheel. Also nearby are other historical localties such as Khirki, Begumpur, Sheikh Sara’i and Chirag-i-Dehli.

HISTORY.

12th c. Hauz-i-rani reservoir constructed

metro

13th c. Outside Qila Rai Pithoda walls. Site of major market established by Khilji

malls saket

Popular pottery market faces main road and affluent Saket. Road and market thus act as buffer between rich and poor.

malviya nagar bus depot

The Malviya Nagar metro station nearby has meant that a large number of people use the inside streets as thoroughfare.

islamic conquest

14th c. Outside Jahanpanah walls.

Nearby Satpul dam regulates seasonal rivulets. Khirki Masjid built to the east indicates the presence of a substantial settlement. Hauz gains spiritual significance, associated with the Sufi saints Nizam al-Din Auliya and Nasir al-Din Chiragh.

khirki

hauz rani

15th-20th c. Always remained a satellite town. General decline.

SHIVALIK

TO BUS TERMINAL

MALVIYA NAGAR

HAUZ RANI

MALVIYA NAGAR

MALVIYA NAGAR METRO STATION

TO METRO STATION

POTTERY MARKET

PRESS ENCLAVE ROAD

HAUZ RANI

19th c. Hauz as is no more than a seasonal swamp and a mango grove. Hauz Rani village established on ruined Jahanpanah walls . Significance of the Hauz is lost and reservoir site used as graveyard by the villagers.

20th c. Some Muslim population leaves during Partition; influx of Jats and Punjabis in the peripheral area. Prominent Kumhar Basti or potters’ village established along southern periphery. Malviya Nagar, Saket, etc. founded on agricultural lands of Hauz Rani village. Development on the reservoir site.

SAKET TO POTTERY MARKET.

hauz ki kahani

bringing back the hauz

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WHY HAUZ RANI?

THE INHERANT DICHOTOMY OF AN URBAN VILLAGE. An urban settlement offers the additional challenge of designing for the very attractive modern lifestyle while reviving age-old practices.

why hauz rani?

Environments of the urban poor are constantly changing and are much more dynamic. The neighbourhood is perpetually growing and ‘upgrading’ to a more urban style of living. At the same time a large migrant population and strong community means that residents would be more likely to follow traditional, generally rural practices, compared to other city dwellers. The urban poor are also more resource and space intensive and tend to use them more efficiently. Hence the attempt will be more successful here within the city.

CHARACTER.

ALWAYS A SATELLITE TOWN. Hauz-i-Rani always remained outside the boundaries of the various ‘Delhis’: perpetually a satellite town. Any change in the fortunes and location of the town had a direct impact on the settlement because of its economic dependence, thus Hauz-i-Rani went through cycles of urbanization and deurbanization.

THE HAUZ AS THE CENTRE OF THE COMMUNITY. The area has been continuously inhabited for over nine centuries.

The Hauz was a rare source of water in dry lands: was an Islamic ‘oasis’, special because of the unique cultural role that was attached to water in the life of medieval people.

SOCIETAL CHANGES. Traditionally a strong, inward looking Islamic community. Most residents were service-folk who either worked in the city or provided its markets with produce or artisanal products. After independence and with the development of surrounding areas, there was economic and occupational change. Residents realized they were on the lower end of the spectrum: fall of image/ confidence.

TRADITIONS, LOST AND NEW. Hauz Rani in particular has a strong associative history of the hauz and water replenishment, which has now been completely forgotten.

On the other hand, migrant workers bring their own traditions and practices to Hauz Rani. The pottery craft, for instance, has been active in the area for the past 60 years.

While one shared knowledge resource of the community has been undeniably lost, another has been gained. We aim to combine them and hence reinvent and revitalize old customs so that they are able to run in parallel with present-day practices. Thus, we intervine in the pursuit of creating neo-traditions for a sustainable future.

hauz ki kahani

bringing back the hauz

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Old, gnarled Peepal tree

Park for Malviya Nagar residents

Busy vehicular and pedestrian intersection

the site.

Traffic movement:

pedestrian

vehicular

Figure ground

THE SITE. Scale 1:1000

N

Children playing amongst trash

Cars parked in pedestrian galli

hauz ki kahani

Street vendors, vegetable sellers

Built edge along the park.

Building heights:

G+1

G+2

G+3

Market Land use:

bringing back the hauz

G

residential

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mixed use

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commercial

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THE HAUZ. intervention

ENGAGING THE ELEMENTS.

strategy.

metro

Through our intervention we will engage each of the natural elements: fire, water, earth and life.

INTERACTION AT THE HUMAN SCALE: SPACE FOR EVERYONE.

A rain-fed reservoir which collects water during the monsoons and other periods of heavy precipitation.

malls saket malviya nagar bus depot

We aim to create a landscaped and designed open space in the middle of a dense urban environment where every extra inch has been utilized to house higher densities of populace. This echoes the idea of the village chowk: -the tree, the busy chowpal, the common water point- all free for community use and all of which act as rich sources of public interaction at the human scale. This community space will cater to everyone by creating smaller pockets of specific activity within the larger cohesive whole., and by enabling ‘space sharing’, that is, different uses at different times.

khirki islamic conquest hauz rani

PRIDE IN THE PAST. This echoes and celebrates the lost hauz after which Hauz Rani is named. We want to revive the memory of the hauz in the community and to help them discover pride in the history of their neighborhood.

CELEBRATE RAIN. CELEBRATE NATURE. The repeated coming and going of a visible water source attunes man to the natural cycles of seasons.

The monsoons and rain are thus occasions of celebrations when the hauz once again comes to life.

RAISING AWARENESS The reservoir water will filter down to replenish and recharge ground water reserves. This highlights the regenerative aspect of natural resources and lets the community see and understand for themselves that they, as intermediate users, are part of a larger cycle at play.

This awareness is in contrast with the present complacency regarding water (which gets pumped to people’s houses everyday). The recharge function once again spotlights the need for resource conservation.

HAND PUMP: FREE AND ACCESSIBLE A hand pump acts as a free and accessible public water point which reinforcing the idea of water as a basic resource. It will enhance appreciation for water while strengthening the ideas of hard-work and minimal wastage.

hauz ki kahani

bringing back the hauz

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strategy.

ENGAGING PASSERS-BY.

When the metro station started operating nearby, this part of Hauz Rani suddenly became ‘thoroughfare’ for a large number of ‘outsider’ passers-by. Our intervention will showcase Hauz Rani to these commuters, and will encourage them to walk through, appreciate and understand the space which they encounter everyday.

THE POTTERS’ COOPERATIVE.

PLAYING SAFE.

The local children play in the park, even though it’s ill-maintained and a garbage receptacle. We plan to provide them with a better and safe environment to play in. Children find opportunity to play in the smallest and simplest of things. Instead of furnishing the play area with dedicated children’s equipment, we will have interactive street furniture that will appeal to and engage the entire community.

DEFINIG A COURTYARD.

The original construction of Hauz Rani was characterized by the courtyard. It is only recently that, with an increase in population and thus density, the courtyards have been built up and thus forgotten. We thus wish to make the community aware of the courtyard typology by defining it precisely, that is, exhibiting the essential quality of a courtyard. This would be a sort-of memento of the times gone past.

ECONOMIES OF COST AND PRODUCTION. The Potters’ Cooperative –Kumhaar Sangathan Kendra– will be a new synergetic model which allows local potters to share resources and common facilities to achieve economies of production and cost.

EVENING MANDI.

The busy intersection is also the site of an evening vegetable market. We will design a dedicated space for them to operate in., which can also serve as a congregation point during the day.

TRADITIONAL COOLING The community will be encouraged to use the earthen pots jointly produced by the collective to store and cool water the traditional way, which saves on electricity and also enriches the water with natural minerals.

THE LANDMARK CHIMNEYS. The pottery kiln chimneys will act as landmarks in the dense urban neighborhood; will, in a way, announce to the locality that this is a singular and unique undertaking. It will be symbolic of the strength of a community resource.

hauz ki kahani

bringing back the hauz

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1. INTERACTIVE STREET FURNITURE in the CHILDREN’S PLAY AREA that engages people of all ages. An open space rather than built enclosures ensures the presence of a pleasant and safe environment. The combination of steps and berm ensures accesibilty and excitement for all.

HAUZ KI KAHAANI.

intervention.

Our intervention is a complex of multiple specific spaces which perform partocular functions.

2. THE ‘PEOPLE’ TREE is the focal point of the designed complex, the highlight of the village ‘chopal’. It has seating around it and offers interaction opportunities to all. Emphasis has been laid on the the importance of landscaped open spaces conducive to human scale.

3. THE HAUZ has been created by formallizing the existig contours on site

by acknowledging the natural drainage pattern on the site and intensifying the depression to form a natural collection point. Pervious rock has been used for temporary collection but eventual recharge into the ground.

4. KUMHAR SANGATHAN KENDRA is a collective studio space for the potter community where a porous courtyard typology has been adopted, hence providing sheltered semi open spaces for work that can be used for leisure otherwise.

5. EVENING MARKET creates a time shared semi open place creating a functional ground for the hawkers and vendors thus insulating them from the vehicular road behind while making easy physical connections to the neighbourhood.

SITE PLAN 1:250

5

4

2 3 1

hauz ki kahani

bringing back the hauz

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KUMHAAR SANGATHAN KENDRA SCALE 1:100

hauz ki kahani

bringing back the hauz

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SCALE 1:100

Malviya Nagar

The ‘PEOPLE’ TREE

lvl +00

lvl -750

lvl -1500

The HAUZ

Interactive Street Furniture lvl +450

lvl +450

hauz ki kahani

bringing back the hauz

Hauz Rani

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SECTION C-C

Hauz Rani Hauz

The ‘People’ Tree Recharge Pit

SECTION A-A KUMHAR SANGATHAN KENDRA

Passage to Hauz

Studio Potter’s Courtyard

hauz ki kahani

The kendra is a common facility for the potters of HauzRani village, so that they can share resources and maximize their gains.

• Staircase leading to terrace which would be used as a sun Space Area drying area before baking 1 Pottery wheels and Work stations (studio) 20 sqm 2 Washing Area 4 sqm • Washing area and toilet totalThe ‘People’ Tree 3 Toilet 2 sqm ly dependant on handpump 4 Storage 3.5 sqm for water - no piped water Malviya Nagar 5 Warehouse of finished goods 5 sqm supply required. (Septic tank 6 Brick Kilns (2x2) = 4 sqm for waste and drainage) SECTION B-B 7 Admin + Collection area 6 sqm • Ample courtyard space for potters and others alike

bringing back the hauz

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from market towards kendra

kendra courtyard

kumhaar sangathan kendra

the chimney from malviya nagar

from people’s tree towards kendra

from hauz towards kendra

to metro station Market

Hauz Rani Kumhaar Sangathan Kendra Mandi

TRANSVERSE SITE SECTION

hauz ki kahani

Hand pump

bringing back the hauz

People’s Tree

Children’s play areea

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