GLOBAL HOUSING
CHAPTER 1 : CHALLENGE
Human settlement in Dhaka can be traced back as far as the 12th century, but it was the Mughals who for strategic reasons established a town in the early seventeenth century. Since then the city has experienced an adventurous path under different rulers and has faced multifaceted challenges. Dhaka became the provincial capital of East Pakistan in 1947. During this time Dhaka received large numbers of Muslim migrants from India. To accommodate this sudden growth several area development projects were undertaken between 1950 and 1960. As the capital of Bangladesh since 1971, Dhaka leads the nation in urbanisation and city primacy, and the city has experienced an adventurous path under different rulers and has faced multifaceted challenges.
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GLOBAL CHALLENGES
Dhaka is an interesting case study to research, because the countries main challenges are connected to a more global scale issue: the fact that we are slowly approaching the limites of what our planet has to offer. Dhaka is one of the most densily populated countries in the world. It is situated in a large river delta, but due to poverty and a huge social wealth gap, unable to protect itself from flooding or to house the social invisible, it is one of the cities in the world that will face the severe consequences of overpopulation and climate change the first. By designing for Dhaka, we can learn how to design for the inevitable future of many other societies in the world that will face the same consequences. Large populations, limited resources and prone to natural disaster.
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Housing
CHALLENGE DHAKA
Geographical limitations appear to play a significant role in the current urban pattern of Dhaka. There is extensive heterogeneity in its urban form as different parts of Dhaka developed over different centuries for different purposes. Dhaka had a slow and maintained growth from the Mughal to the British era, and then after the independent had an explosive non-controlled evolution, with a high density.
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tra
apu
hm
Jamuna
Bra
a
hn
Padma
M
eg
Dhaka 59
Pa d
ma
gh
Me na
Urban growth 1600
Urban growth 1960
Urban growth 1772
Urban growth 1980
Urban growth 1850
Dhaka limit 2019
mughal era
english colonisation english colonisation
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capital of Pakistan
capital of Bangladesh
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CHALLENGE TEJGAON
Tejgaon Industrial Area profits nowadays from its central location and thus has the potential to function more as a mixed use commercial and residential area than an industrial one. Already many of the functions have switched over the years. The need for new office, commercial and institutional facilities is supposed to turn Tejgaon Industrial Area into a new role model for urban development. Designers dream of removing the informal settlements, creating space for high-rise office buildings, a tree-lined boulevard as the new center of the district, walkways and a district transportation system to keep the streets clear from too much traffic. If all new development happens in the fast pase that is seen in other districs of Dhaka, how will there be any space for the thousands of low income families that now call Tejgaon their home?
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CHAPTER 2 : culture
It can be challenging to design for a different culture. A designer needs to observe and try to not make too many assumptions. Instead of looking at cultural differences as liabilities, they should be looked at as assets to make a design proposal that really fits in the local culture and is perceived well by inhabitants.
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SOCIAL SPACES
To understand how social spaces work in the culture of Dhaka, an analysis is needed of activities that happen in the public domain. This nalysis is excecuted by determining elements that define the activity and by looking into the morphology of the urban fabric around them that enables them to happen.
01 trading : streetfood restaurant 02 trading : market place 03 trading : teastall 04 taking a break : the gallery 05 taking a break : elevated sidewalk to sit on 06 taking a break : restingplace for rickshaw drivers 07 playing : cricket in the field 08 playng : cricket in the street 09 playing : self-made school in the street
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TRADING : STREETFOOD STALL
bamboo canopy
wooden bench and table
occurs at crossings or sidewalks
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On the pavements of busy streets of tejagaon you will find various food stalls. Only by placing a bamboo canopy and a wooden bench and table this social space occurs. People go, sit and socialise in these spaces while the vendor prepares their food on the street. 17
TRADING : TH E MARKETPLACE
bamboo canopy
goods are often displayed hanging from the structure
occur along streets or in market places
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Market stalls are part of many social spaces, because people tend to gather where things are sold and vice versa.
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TRADING : TEASTALL
bamboo canopy
bench
tea
occur along streets or on junctions
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The tea stall is the most common meeting point in the streets of Dhaka because they both provide space to sit, shade and tea. They appear wherever people gather and attract then even more people to gather in this very spot. 21
TAKING A BREAK : THE GALLEERY
chairs
laundry
occurs at wider galleries with dead ends
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In some galleries there is enough space in front of peoples house so that they can put chairs. The woman also hang their laundry in the gallery in front of their house. This activity provides an opportunity for social interaction. 23
TAKING A BREAK : ELEVATED SIDEWALKS TO SIT ON
0,5 m high wall out of brick or concrete ERZEUGT DURCH EINE AUTODESK-STUDENTENVERSION
ERZEUGT DURCH EINE AUTODESK-STUDENTENVERSION
ERZEUGT DURCH EINE AUTODESK-STUDENTENVERSION
trees or bamboo canopies that provide shade ERZEUGT DURCH EINE AUTODESK-STUDENTENVERSION
occur along promenades or sidewalks
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Low walls to sit on provide more space than benches but also create a threshold. It is a simple pattern that can occur along corniches and also along sidewalks.
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TAKING A BREAK : RESTINGPLACE FOR RICKSHAW DRIVERS
street edge
rickshaw
occur along busy streets, especially on junctions
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If rickshaw drivers are not transporting people, they gather along busy streets and junctions to be in contact with potential customers. Whether they are waiting, or simply resting from the heat, the opportunity arises to interact with other rickshaw drivers, forming social clusters along the street. 27
PLAYING : CRICKET IN THE FIELD
wooden sticks, bat and ball
group of teenagers
occurs in a large open green area 28
Children are playing cricket in a field. The field is part of the governmental housing and is intentionally left a green space for recreation. The children bring the necessary equipment to play themselves. 29
PLAYING : CRICKET IN THE STREET
ball
cricket bat
occurs on road ends
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Children are playing cricket in the streets. Just by using a single baal and a wooden plank or cricket bat as a bat they play with a group of children. The children look for a place with as less trafic as possible. Which makes dead ended streets a perfect spot. 31
PLAYING : SELF-MADE SCHOOL IN THE STREETS
bamboo canopy
old tires
wooden boards
occurs on sidewalks 32
Children are teaching younger children in a self built school, consisting of old tires and boards, the children use as seats and tables. It is partly a game but partly serious while the older children show dominance. Corrugated metal sheets and old tarps cover the space. It can occur on the sidewalks next to a busy street. 33
MAP OF ASSETS
1. MARKET & THEATER
2. SUZUKI CAFÉ 2 10 10
10 8
1 10
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INFORMAL SETTLEMENT
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SCHOOL GOVERNMENTAL HOUSING
3. RICKSHAW STORAGE AND RENT
4. LIVELY CORNERS CRICKET FIELD
5. MALEK’S TEASTALL
7. FREEDOM FIGHTERS 34
6. OLD TREES
8. VILLAGE SANCTUARY
A good understanding of high quality elements existing in the nearby area of the Tejgaon old industrial areas important so that these elements can be used as assets to create an enjoyable living environment.
9. URBAN FARMING 35
10. INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE
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DESIGN HYPOTHESIS
The design hypothesis to redevelop the the Tejgaon old industrial area is to facilitate a grassgroots movement for a productive living environment of citizens of different income groups. It is important to : I. Provide a space for the informal activities and inhabitants of the surroudings II. Decongest the informal settlement III. Create prosperity by gentrification of the area In terms of spatial intervention, the design will consist out of three objectives. I. To preserve Beautiful looking old industrial buildings with a high potential for redevelopment need to be preserved. II. To develop A new way of uban living needs to be created to attract higher income people, but also to deal with the extreme density of Dhaka. III. To facilitate The design will make use of obseved elements in the nearby urban area that are already providing inhabitants with a quality of life by facilitateing them within the plot.
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CHAPTER 3 : strategy
INFORMED DECISION MAKING a m e t h o d t o e. g. d o m e s t i c a t e the urban
solution
CATALOGUE public space dwel lings
design challenge
TOOL
culture time place
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As explained in the first chapter, the design case for the Tejgaon old industrial area shows some characteristics that belong to a global scale challenge. Especially the fact that it is situated in one of the most densily populated areas to live in. Overpopulation is a global issue that is in need of architectural design solutions. In a more general sense you could say that the real global issue here is the fact that we are reaching the limits of what our planet has to over both spatially and resource wise. In Dhaka you can already see the consequences of this reality. This project does not aim to create a single design that could be implemented globally, but aims to create a design tool and a strategy that can be used universally. The tool is developped to maximize the outcome of every design intervention so that as much as possible can be done with the limited amount of available space and resources. It is a way of informed decision making. What is available and what is desired is determined by culture, time and place. Therefore the tool always needs these inputs. The tool is a catalogue of possibilites. By determining the bare minimum of every possible intervention, decisions can be made on amounts and combinations of what is possible. To domesticate the urban life in Tejgaon Industrial area the tool is used by determining: 1. household types and the kind of dwellings they require and 2. public activities that happen in the area and the space they need.
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Freedom Fighters
care
Elderly
Family
Youth
income + market
Education production
+
economy + Middle class
community
+
Slum Families
development
private investors
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gouvernment
NGO’s
The plot of the Tejgaon old industrial area that the design in this booklet accustoms for is owned by the freedom fighters. The freedom fighters are 30 families that received the land from the freedom fighter fund: a fund that takes care of the families of people that fought for the liberation of Bangladesh from the Pakistani regime in 1971. The freedom fighter families on the plot desire to develop the land, but are not sure how. To create a likely development strategy that prevents the land to be sold and developed by private investors, it is important to look at what drives the freedom fighter families. The single most important thing for them is family and the care for the younger and older generations. To provide the desired care, the families need some sort of income, especially if they want to educate their children. To create income they could start producing goods that they can sell on a market. A bigger community would form a larger economy that generates more income. That would make it viable for them to house slum families on the plot. A market also needs customers. This could make it appealing to provide housing for the higher income and create organized gentrification of the plot. To attract these new type of households, the freedom fighters could work with the government, NGO’s that work with slum families and private investors that sell appartments to higher income people.
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CREATING THE CATALOGUE
To determine possible public spaces and dwelling types that can be introduced in the design for the Tejgaon former industrial area, it is important to know who the design is for. In the further evelopment of this catalogue, some assumptions are made about what inhabitants of the area think is the bare minimum of their living condition. If the project were to be executed in real, it would be important to form an assesment group with people of all targeted household types so all information in the catalogue can be accustomed to the people, time and place.
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01 large low income family 02 small low income family 03 large high income family 04 small high income family 05 low income couple 06 high income couple 07 low income single person 08 high income single person 09 elderly people
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CATALOGUE OF DWELLING UNITS
The catalogue of dwelling types gives an overview of the are minimum that is required from a dwelling for every household type. In the design, the bare minimum can be used to determine what type of household would fit within a certain space. The bare minimum can be upgraded according to spatial conditions. Some dwelling types might be suitable for different households. By creating the catalogue these kind of realisations will present itself. 02
01 single person dwelling 02 student or elderly shared dwelling 03 one family dwelling
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CATALOGUE OF PUBLIC SPACE The catalogue of public space gives an overview of the type of public activities that are common in Dhaka. To provide inhabitants with a pleasant feeling of urban space, the design of the public domain can be done through using the activities as a way of shaping space. There are public and collective spaces. The difference is mainly that a public space can be accessed by anyone and a collective one is shared by a predetermined number of people. This means that for the use of the collective space, there needs to be trust and a set of rules amongst the people that use it. A public space needs to be maintained by an organisation or committiee. The catalogue defines the bare minimum that is required of the space for the actvity to take place, meaning that each determined space for an activity can always be upgraded. Some activities may seem unlikely to be placed in a dense city like Dhaka, but by making use of the catalogue, the unlikely could become likely by combining the space for one activity with the space for another. When space is created in the urban domain for the purpose of certain activities, it should always be taken into concideration that people will accustom the space to their own needs and personalities. The catalogue is a way to facilitate the essentials. Everything that could happens after the project goes into use should be acceptable. 01 cricket field 02 library 03 teastall 04 collective toilet 05 public toilet 06 classroom 07 tree 08 daycare 09 collective kitchen 10 toolshed 11 collective livingroom 12 corrom room 13 urban farm 14 mosk
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CRICKET FIELD
LIBRARY
The cricketfield needs three closed borders in order for passer-by to not disturb the game. A ball and wooden bat are needed which children usually bring themselves. The game can be played in an area as small as 8m2 as long as it has a rectangular shape.
The library is an area of silence and therefore needs to be enclosed. A minimum of one wall for bookshelfs is needed and a table and chairs so visitors can stay and read. The library can be as small as 9m2.
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TEASTALL
COLLECTIVE TOILET
The teastall can function without any walls, but would favor a backdrop for the vendor and another wall to give a more enclosed athmosphere. A bamboo canopy is often used to provide shade but also creates a sort of sign so that people know there is a teastall here. Tables and benches are needed to make it a social space. The teastall can work in an area with a minimum of 6.
The collective toilet can be used if dwellings are so small that they can’t contain a room for a toilet or if dwellings for large families have only one privet toilet inside the bathroom and there is a need for another one nearby. A collective toilet can be shared by a maximum of around 10 people and can be as small as 1.5m2 or 3m2 when used by eldery people.
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PUBLIC TOILET
CLASSROOM
A public toilet can be used as an extra toilet facility for several dwellings, serving around 10 people per toilet. This can for example be placed on a gallery with several large family homes in need of another toilet facility or for a number of student rooms that don’t have a toilet. The public toilet can be as small as 9m2 and needs to be enclosed.
The classroom can be used in a formal way as a small school for neighborhood children to provide elementary schooling. Other ways in which a school exists in the urban life of Dhaka is in an informal way where older children are teaching the younger ones what they know. A lassroom needs a form of seating and tables. It needs a cover to shield from heat and rain and would favor an enclosed space. It needs 9m2. 63
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TREE
DAYCARE
The tree is an enabler of all sorts of social activities because it provides shade. If placed in the public domain, it could become the location for a teastall, market stall, a hangout or something completely new. To provide a good amount of shade the treetop should cover about 4m2 and there should be around 2-4m hight to stand under the tree.
When living in a large urban area with a lot of traffic, parents can worry about leaving their children to play out alone. A daycare could provide a safe space where young children could be brought. Someone could be hired to watch them or parents could volunteer. By sharing this facility parents safe money to hire a nanny. The daycare should be around 9m2 and have at least 3 boundaries to not loose the children. 65
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COLLECTIVE KITCHEN
TOOL SHED
The bare minimum for lower income dwellings does not include a private kitchen. Collective kitchens can be shared by households that don’t have their own kitchen, but also by higher income households that like to use the collective kitchen to host dinner parties and socialize when their own kitchen is much smaller. A collective kitchen can be used by up to 3 households per stove and needs to be at least 9m2.
A toolshed is as space that can be easily shared by a number of households as most tools are only used for a very limited average amount of hours per day. Things like a vaccuum cleaner are items where really not every family needs to have their own. As it is a collective space where there is trust amongst users, people can also use it to store privet items. A shared tool shed needs at least 4m2. 67
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COLLECTIVE LIVINGROOM
CARROM ROOM
Collective living rooms can be shared by households that don’t need their own (e.g. students or elderly people), but also by higher income households that like to use the collective living room as an extra space so their private one can be smaller to use available space more efficiently. A small collective living room can be used by up to 10 people and needs to be at least 15m2.
Carrom is a boardgame often played by people in Bangladesh. Providing a space to play the game can bring people together. To play the game, no enclosement is needed but you need some sort of backdrop so that a passer-by wouldnt disturb the game. This activity needs at least 4m2.
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URBAN FARM
MOSK
In the urban farm, scrops can be grown that can be shared by those that volunteer in the farm. The urban farm can’t be placed in a shaded area. It needs at least a glass or plastic ceiling and should be, when shared with three households, at least 9m2.
A lot of people in Bangladesh visit the mosk. Therefore, you can find informal versions in the most unlikely places. A mosk needs an area for people to wash their feet, space inside to put carpets and a speaking stool for the imam. It often occurs in a square shape, needs to be enclosed and has to be at least 15m2.
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SPATIAL CONDITIONS
The catalogue can be implemented by looking at available space and browsing through the catalogue to find possible dwelling and urban space types that could fit. While imposing an intervention, the bare minimum can easily be upgraded. For example a collective kitchen that is placed in a slightly bigger space then the predetermined bare minimum can be used by more households or can provide more comfort to the same amount of households.
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MULTI-PURPOSE
Some elements in the catalogue could be fit into each other. Especially for activities that are only done for a limited amount of hours per day. For example, the library could be closed during school hours and open to the public inbetween classes. The catalogue makes these kind of discoveries possible that enable the designer to get the maximum use out of limited space. It also creates new opportunities. Creating a public library in a dense area does not seem like something that is likely to be designed as there are public needs that are far more essential. However, through the combination of elements, the unlikely can become likely .
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SENSE OF OWNERSHIP
Whatever is designed, people are going to use their way which can difer from how the designer initially meant something. The catalogue should therefore merely stick to facilitating space for what can already be observed in the area. Of course, not every possible use of elements can be predetermined. That makes it important to leave something open for interpretation by the user. A ‘cosmetic‘ layer on top of essentials provided by the designer. Many things could pop-up under a tree placed in the public domain. A teastall, a market, a hangout or something entirely different. Leaving this room for flexible use can create a sense of ownership for inhabitants and it makes the urban environment ready to adapt for use by future generations that could have entirely different needs.
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CHAPTER 4 : design
The eventual design proposal for the freedomfighter land in the Tejgaon area consist out of three development strategies explained below. The overal plan will contain a well organized distribution of assets from the catalogue of public space amongst the three building types. In the redeveloped elements, opportunities for the placement of these public spaces arised by spatial exceptions in the imposed grid for new dwellings. In the new elements, opportunities have been created.
Repurposing the old industrial The redevelopment from existing industrial buildings that have high spatial, aesthetic and structural quality.
Reinventing industrial living The redevelopment from existing industrial buildings that have high spatial, aesthetic and structural quality.
New urban living The redevelopment from existing industrial buildings that have high spatial, aesthetic and structural quality.
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CHAPTER 4.1 :repurposing the old industrial The exisiting industrial buildings show a lot of quality: Beautiful brick exterior, spacious light interior, small rooftops. To repurpose them, the grid sizes in which new dwellings will be placed inside the building is determined by the existing grid of columns in the direction of the sloped rooftops. By extracting a portion of the core of the existing block, a central street is created. Along this street are now three story row houses containing different sized appartments. The row house look gives a very human scale to the project. The street provides entry to the appartments as well as space for social activities.
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Communal dwelling for 5 eldery people Communal dwelling for 5 eldery people
Single person dwelling
Single person dwelling
Luxery 4 bedroom family house
Luxery 3 bedroom family house
Luxery 4 bedroom family house
Luxery 3 bedroom family house
Simple 2 bedroom family dwelling Simple 2 bedroom family dwelling 90
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CHAPTER 4.2 reinventing industrial living To create a new dwelling type for the Tejgaon Industrial area, elements that created a high quality living environment in the repurposed industrial buildings are reintroduced. The row house rooftops, the concrete column grid, the overhang of the rooftops creating a front porch for the building and the dichotomy of space inside the dwelling.
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The reinvented industrial dwelling is not bound to an existing grid of columns. Therefore, the new dwelling type is organized within the building in a larger gridsize, enabling a quartering of space inbetween two columns. In the new building there can be both larger row house style dwellings or smaller semidetached dwellings. Dwellings can be organized within the building in different sequences of appartments of either one, two or three stories that take up either half of the space between two columns, or the whole space between two columns. The reinvented indsutrial dwelling has more depth than the repurposed one. Therefore, on top of the dichotomy of space inside the dwelling and the front porch, there is also space for an inside street, creating a double facade that functions as a thermal layer, protecting the dwelling from extreme temperatures and providing a cool, shaded area in front of the dwellings. On the top floor some dwellings can have a balcony overlooking this inside street. Staircases that needed to be attached to the building in the repurposed industrial building can now be placed within the grid of space inside and can be reached using the inside street.
repurposed
reinvented
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repurposed
be d /ba /ba thr thr oom o o livi m s livi s ng/ ng/ k k i t i c out tch hen out sid en a are sid e g rea a eg alle beadllery be d ry /ba / bat thr hro oom om livi l s ivin s ng/ g / k kitc out out itchen h en a sid sid are rea eg eg a alle a l lery d ry be d
reinvente
1. 1. liv 2. livi bed ing/ki bed/ ng/kit ch tc b / 1. l bathro hen a athro en ar 1. l o r i 2. b iving 2. b ving/ om ea m ea ed/ /kitc ed/b kitch ba h at e ins throo en1. arehroom n1. area ins i de 2m livia ide gal . b ng 2. b living frgoal fro / leryed nlterp nt p /ba kitcheed/ba /kitch yor orc t h c 1 1 . h roo n arethroo en are . h a m m a 2. b living 2. livin g b / ed/ / k bat itcheed/ba kitche n t h ins ins room areharoom n area ide ide gal fro frgoalle lery nt p nt rpy orc o rch h 2.
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The front porch of the repurposed industrial building is a public area. Inhabitants of the building can use it to interact with the urban life. A semi-permiable brick wall devides the public life and a collective street. This street gives entry to the dwellings and the staircases but also holds private balconies and small collective niches that can be customised by the users of the building. The double facade thereby not only functions as an element of climate control, but aslo softens the transition between the public and the private.
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A
B
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2 types of 2 story dwellings
2 family communcal dwelling 106
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Section A
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Section B
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CHAPTER 4.3 new urban living To design for the high density that is the reality of Dhaka, it is needed to also introduce appartment living in a high rise typology to efficiently use available space. The tower typology is inspired by the design for the old industrial dwelling and the new industrial dwelling. Elementary shapes are used that have become characteristic for some of the Architecture in Dhaka after Louis Kahn introduced them. Also the brickwork with semiperiable walls and multilayer framing of circular windows is inspired by existing brick architecture in Dhaka. The concrete column grid still represent the old industrial style. A double facade is used to create a pleasent indoor climate and so that inhabitants can have outside space attached to their house, even though they live high up.
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CHAPTER 5 : IMPRESSION
The next few pages contain illustrations that express the liveability of the new urban living plan for Tejgaon old industrial area.
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INTERIOR TOWER AND VIEW IN STREET
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VISUAL IMPRESSION
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Ties van Benten Femke Lokhort