An Undergraduate Architectural Thesis

Architecture and belonging | a study of migrant labourers in Kerala

An Undergraduate Architectural Thesis by Hiba Shireen M A

Al-hamdu l-illah

Praise to be Allah

THESIS PROJECT

Architecture and belonging | a study of migrant labourers in Kerala

Submitted by: Hiba Shireen M A

4CM17AT019

2021-2022

Thesis Guide: Kunjan Garg

Wadiyar Centre for Architecture, Mysuru

WADIYAR CENTRE FOR ARCHITECTURE CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the thesis entitled “Architecture and belonging | a study of migrant labourers in Kerala ” has been submitted by “Hiba Shireen M A” in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture from Wadiyar centre for Architecture, Mysuru affiliated to Visvesvaraya Technological University for the academic year 2021-22.

DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the Thesis entitled ‘Architecture and belonging | a study of migrant labourers in Kerala’ which has been undertaken by me in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of the Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture from the S from Wadiyar centre for Architecture Mysuru affiliated to Visvesvaraya Technological University for the year 2021-22 is a record of my own work. The work has not been submitted previously, in part or whole, anywhere else.

Note: The document has not been checked for plagiarism.

Date: 25 January 2022

Place: Mysuru

Name: Hiba Shireen M A

USN: 4CM17AT019

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I deeply thank Kunjan Garg for her continual guidance, mentorship, and encouragement throughout my project. I cherish all our discussions and your constant support.

I would like to thank Julie Ann Tharakan and Manjunatha R for their guidance at different stages. R Kiran Kumar, Manoj Ladhad, Anjali Cheriath, and the rest of the faculty at Wadiyar Centre For Architecture for their enthusiasm and selflessness as teachers. I wish to acknowledge Dr. Soumini Raja for her valuable input and guidance in the process.

I would also like to thank Dr. Benoy Peter/CMID for his valuable inputs during the initial stage of research.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Akshai, Aysha Ruma Pandiyal, Shameem C P, Nanditha Varma, Athiq Ur Rahman, Varun Michael Pais, Anamika Mathew, Francis Thomas, Akshera C, Aakarsha Koonal, and all my batch mates for encouraging and helping me throughout.

I further extend my gratitude to my husband, my parents, my in-laws, my siblings, and my cousin for constantly giving me undying affection, support, and enthusiasm throughout the study.

- Hiba Shireen M A January 2022

ABSTRACT

Over the last few years, Kerala is experiencing an unprecedented flow of migrant workers from different parts of India. Higher wages, employment opportunities, and shortages of local laborers make Kerala a profitable job market for workers from the different States.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the current relationship between migrants and localites in Kerala. The intention is to understand an urban fabric in Kerala, from the reason being migrants and localites live in close proximity, the existing inequality, how they interact and use public spaces. The research explores the needs and benefits of interaction between migrants and localites by creating a space that facilitates the same. It also aims at identifying the role of architecture in the construction of the identity and belongingness of migrant laborers.

Architecture and the built environment that people inhabit create an identity and define their view of themselves. It acts as a constant reminder of who they are and where they belong. It further extends to their culture, tradition, language, food, festivals, border, and territory.

A significant number of rural poor migrate in search of work leaving their identity behind. Though migration within India for work is a fundamental right of a citizen (as per article 19 of the constitution of India), the one group, migrant laborers, keeps standing out due to their practices. They are often being subjected to various levels of alienation. They have poor wages, erratic employment, and a horrible work environment, only to be backed with a lack of access to essential services and needs.

According to the Centre for Migration and Inclusive Development (CMID), Kerala is home to around 3.5 million migrant laborers. The first migrant pool to Kerala was in the late 80s and early 90s. The new laws in Assam contributed to significant changes in the plywood industries market. The change mainly consisted of a downturn in plywood industries that led to multiple closures of the same. This forced the breadwinners of the families to capitalize on the jobs in the Kerala plywood industry market, where is contrary to what was happening in Assam, the plywood industry was flourishing.

As a part of the many initiatives taken up by the Kerala government to highlight the impact the migrant labourers have in Kerala, they started referring to them as “guest labourers”. However, experts and activists working for the welfare of the migrant workers in Kerala argue that the term is inappropriate and it promotes othering.

“It is trying to remind everyone that the workers — who are also Indian citizens with the fundamental right to work, reside and travel anywhere in the country — ‘do not belong to Kerala’ and are expected to return upon the completion of work,” reads an article titled ‘Inclusion of Interstate Migrant Workers in Kerala and Lessons for India’, written by Benoy Peter, Shachi Sanghvi and Vishnu Narendran of CMID.

Though the Kerala government has attempted to ensure their inclusivity, the people of Kerala have been hesitant to accept them as part of their community. They often are viewed as a source of danger and also an imminent threat to their jobs. Through my study, I aim to understand the degrees of tolerance between the migrant workers and the localities of Kerala and create a space that facilitates interaction.

OBJECTIVES

To understand the intolerance between migrant workers and localites.

To analyze the sociological and psychological conditions of the migrant workers.

To explore the role of architecture in creating a space that blurs the boundaries between migrant workers and localites.

To identify where and how in the urbanity of Kerala can the idea of social inclusion be infused.

LIMITATIONS

The current pandemic imposes restrictions in terms of traveling, site analysis, access of data etc.

Individual detailing of buildings will be restricted to the basic requirements due to the presence of multiple sites and availability of time.

Acquiring permission to access the site may not be easy.

I’m a bhai

MIGRANT LABOURERS

KERALA

According to IMN analysis of Census 2011 data Kerala attracts around 57% of interstate migrant laborers. 67% of which are from Assam, Odisha, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh.

The first migration pool to Kerala is in the late 80s and early 90s after the legal ban of wood felling and closure of plywood industries in Assam. It was also a time when plywood industries were set up in Kerala. They came in groups and were much preferred for their expertise. Later, when the construction boom started in the mid-90s many of them moved to construction, where the wages were much higher.

Ernakulam of Kerala has the highest number of migrant laborers in Kerala. Perumbavoor, vattakkattupady, nellikuzhi, munambam etc are the major pockets.

Perumbavoor is one of the major pockets of migrant laborers. Most of them still works in the plywood factories.

INTERACTION WITH MIGRANT LABOURERS

Though the literal meaning of ‘Bhai’ is brother or Annan in Kerala it is a synonym of migrant labour. Kandanthara is a low-lying marshy land locality in Perumbavoor and it has the largest concentration of migrant labourers. Multiple accommodations are set up in this region for labourers. With migrant labourers dominating the place, they have set up restaurants, provision stores, fish stalls, tea shops, bakeries, and barbershops. Hence mockingly the locality is called ‘mini Bengal’.

During my interaction with migrants in Kandanthara, they were quite welcoming, told me stories of their hometown, how they started to learn malayalam . Momin Sheikh, one of the migrants from Bengal has been working in the plywood industry for 5 years now. He said, “Kandanthara is like home”. Another migrant from Assam Shafiqul Islam said migrant workers are deeply hurt when they are addressed as ‘Bhai’ by people. Though they have proper names, the average Malayali refers to them as ‘Bengali ‘or ‘Assami’ (Assamese)’.

INTERACTION WITH LOCALITES

During my second visit to Perumbavoor, I aimed at now meeting the localites. When I asked them about the migrants present in the area, I was bombarded with questions such as why are you going there? Who do you want to meet? Why are you going alone?

The driver of the rickshaw I took even offered to accompany me to Kandanthara. Further in conversation with the localites they voiced their concerns regarding the issues revolving around safety. The concerns raised by them were migrants are not good people, they are bad omen to the society, localites doesnt feel safe to leave kids at home alone, perumbavoor is not safe for girls anymore, and one of the family in the region were trying to look for houses elsewhere, since their kids aren’t getting a good marriage proposals.

General study of Kerala

Kulam in Kerala used to be an integral part of architecture in Kerala since time immemorial. Most of the houses had private ponds. This is where the daily rituals of bathing, washing and even ‘Sadakam’ for the musically inclined were performed. Kulam was also the part of relegious space and other public spaces.

Kavala is a very often used word in Kerala. It is a junction or a space in the village with market, govt. offices etc. Senior citizens are often spotted under a tree or near a tea shop chit chatting in kavala.

Public space that holds a range of intangible experiences that is personal to every user. Kshethram and kaavu are temple in Kerala. Kshethram is a built space with diety. Kaavu is a traditional natural sacred space.

Houses in kerala is a combination of built and open spaces. It has vegetation around the structure and pond in the north east part of the house. The main structure of the house is always on the plinth to avoid dampness from rainfall.

Kerala has plenty of puzha/river streams originating from sayhadri hills. This water networks also serves as a mode of trade and commerce.

Ancient theruvu/ streets are mostly narrow with large compound walls. It is oriented in North east or South west direction.

Thattukada/ food cart is something that is seen across Kerala. Its active mostly in the evening.

Comparision study

Like Kerala, Assam and Bengal have tea estates. Assam and Kerala are bounded by hill ranges and receive huge rainfall.

Use of Banana leaves in serving prasadam and other assamease dish is very common .

Assam has work in India.

Varma, Burman, Barman are the surname used in south east part of India like Kerala. Chadar mekhela is the traditional Assamese dress worn by women.

Bihu is the traditional dance in Assam performed mainly during the harvesting festival.

Assam and West and other spices

the largest inland water netIndia.

Gaudiya Nritya is a classical dance form of Bengal as well as of other Eastern parts of the country like Assam, Odisha, and Bihar.

Tekeli Pitha is a type of steamed rice flour cake seen in Assam and Bihar.

West bengal both produce coconut spices that are common in Kerala.

Magh Bihu is the harvesting festival in Assam. Similar to Vallam kali in Kerala, they have boat race festival too.

Identity and belongingness

01. INCLUSIVE SPACE, LEBANON

Located halfway between Beirut and Damascus, and only 15 km from the Syrian border, Bar Elias has been transformed by the influx of Syrian refugees –gradually turning it from an agricultural village into a city. Tensions have increased since the number of refugees has risen to the point that they outnumber local residents.

Implementation:

1. Public spaces for gathering

2. Accessibility and safety

3. Rehabilitated park

4. Knowledge transfer

02. COMMUNITY CENTER, BANGLADESH

Hindupara community is the minority group among Rohingya refugees who are now living in the world’s largest refugee camp in Kutupalong. Host communities in Bangladesh have been sharing their resources, land & everyday life for more than two years now. As the host communities are very nearby, Hindupara Integrated Community Center was designed to build a sharing platform that will try to create aspiration for the surrounding, and be a catalyst for better communication between refugees and host community as well as majority and minority groups.

“It was that very moreness that I wanted to prolong return to...”

“On Earth, We’re Briefly Gorgeous is a letter from a son to a mother who cannot read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late twenties, the letter unearths a family’s history that began before he was born — a history whose epicenter is rooted in Vietnam — and serves as a doorway into parts of his life his mother has never known, all of it leading to an unforgettable revelation. At once a witness to the fraught yet undeniable love between a single mother and her son, it is also a brutally honest exploration of race, class, and masculinity. Asking questions central to our American moment, immersed as we are in addiction, violence, and trauma, but undergirded by compassion and tenderness, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is as much about the power of telling one’s own story as it is about the obliterating silence of not being heard.”

-Goodreads

04. SUPERKILEN, COPENHAGEN

Superkilen is a public park in Copenhagen, Denmark. It brings refugees and localities together. “A public space promoting integration across lines of ethnicity, religion, and culture”.

The project is divided into 3 zones. The red, green and black. The red zone is conceived as an extension of sports and cultural activities. During weekends this Red Square becomes a local market that attracts visitors from the city center and outskirts. The second space, the Black Square, is the heart of Superkilen. Permanent tables, Turkish benches, or grill areas turn this space into an outdoor living room where neighbors gather. In the third area, the Green Park, hills and surfaces become places for leisure where families with kids can enjoy a picnic, layout in the sun, or play badminton.

Case studies

THE WARP

Location: Zhaotong Shi, China

Architect: Oliver Ottevaere, Jhon Lin

Area: 130 sq.m

Program: Rest area and Road side market

THE WARP is a rest area and roadside market built as part of post-earthquake reconstruction in Ludian town, Yunnan, China. It is situated in an ethnically diverse region. The project serves as a meeting point and lookout along the main entry road to the mountain village. The project provides three key spaces, a stepped seating area for selling fruit and produce, a wooden deck for viewing, and a covered resting and eating area. Formally, the deck extends toward the scenic valley, transforming from a straight line into a sine curve. Its peaks and valleys mimic the landscape while providing two mirrored spaces (above and below) for viewing and resting.

COMMUNITY CANVAS SCHOOL

Location: Sawarpada, India

Architect: pk_inception

Area: 65 sq.m

Program: Primary school and community centre

Community canvas school is a primary school come community center. It serves as learning spaces, festivals, workshops, functions, social gatherings, political campaigns, performances, plays, temporary health care, and many more. It proposes a continuous set of curves for a compound wall, arranged in a configuration to achieve classroom inside and play areas outside. This curve would act as an unending canvas for writing. It further develops into a single curve wall instead of several small curves that ensure the utilization of space for communal activities. This origination would also respond to the existing hexagonal classroom providing connectivity and ease in movement. Covered space is created by adding a wall parallel to the curve which could accommodate two classrooms.

MICRO LIBRARY WARAK KAYU

Location: Semarang, Indonesia

Architect: SHAU Indonesia

Area: 182 sq.m

Program: Library and community centre

The Micro library Warak Kayu–an initiative to increase reading interest by creating socially-performative multi-functional community spaces with environmentally-conscious design and materials, which aim to serve low-income neighborhoods. Architecturally it represents passive climate design, material, and typology experimentation for the tropical context. The whole building is elevated, like a traditional ‘rumah panggung’ (house on stilts) because it does not only function as a library but adds value by becoming a neighborhood and community center. By elevating the library, various spatial configurations, multiple programs, and a wide range of activities is be offered. On the ground, is a large semi-outdoor area that can be used for workshops.

Idea of site and programme

IDEA OF SITE

Nodes over consolidation (ripple effect)

Site with one programme

Site with multiple programme

Degrees of prototypicality across towns in Kerala

Market/town Mix of market and residents

The idea of site is driven by recognizing the possibility of this intervention happening anywhere within kerala. Hence the idea that instead of having a consolidated campus, the programs could be distributed

Residents in proximity to agricultural land

No man land/ poramboku land

within the state, and thus identifying prototypical conditions within the urban-rural conditions of distributed in response to these prototypical conditions.

From the article “Awareness of the Importance of Public Spaces” by ‘Ben Willis’. Public space or recreational space is a key to “building a sense of community”....... Public spaces may also invite proximity to “otherness:” interactions with people you might not meet in private places built for groups with common socio-economic status or leisure activities...... Public space can challenge the over-dominance of the hegemon by supporting minority cultures. Using art or iconography or a configuration of space that allows for particular cultural activities to take place easily, public space can provide equitable exposure and recognition. It also allows for greater self-determination by minority communities.

In a place like Kerala where there is large number of migrants, it becomes important to create a space that welcomes different communities to close proximity. My study on Perumbavoor is to understand the relationship between localites and migrants, and create a space that acts as the prototype to the rest of Kerala.

From the article “Revitalized Public Spaces” by ‘Paula Pintos’. Having an open space to enjoy, certainly prompts a sense of community and belonging to one’s own proximate environment, whilst creating positive psychological effects by establishing relationships between members of the community.

What one intends to do is to delve on spaces of interactions between the resident and the migrant community, in such a way that these spaces speak about a wholistic well-being of both communities.

Poem..

I don’t stop I’m scared to look back Look back at what I’ve left The memories I carry Are the dreams I’ve knitted In the darkest of night When I’m all alone

Every night I wake up startled by a dream I’m playing with my kids My mother is making my favorite food My wife is calling us out “Come. clean up. Dinner is almost ready” I went along with the kids Running, jumping, and laughing. The younger jumped to his granny Only for the plate to shatter on the ground As is my dream…

I don’t want to stop For I’m scared to realize how much I miss them

IDEA OF PROGRAMME

Mapping of programme

Healthy human in a community

Private

Well being of a person (yoga, exercise, meditation, etc)

Semi private

Skill development (learning the language, skill building space)

Public

Healthy interaction

(people gathering for festival, tea, chit-chat, etc)

Semi public

Evoke a sense of freedom

(space that allows informal activities)

It brings the aspects of typical urban situation of Kerala on the one hand, and the idea of well being tributes to the prototypicality of the program, so that it may be replicated in various places across

being through public space into a common platform for programmatic development. This also conthe state.

CMID- Centre for Migration and Inclusive Development

CMID is an independent non-profit devoted to migration and inclusive development, advocating for and promoting the social inclusion of migrants and other socially disadvantaged populations in India.

Set up by a fraternity of international development experts, CMID is sufficiently robust, innovative and resourced to address the challenges faced by migrant populations. It is based in Perumbavoor since last 6 years.

Bandhu Clinic

Bandhu Clinic’ – an initiative of the National Health Mission Ernakulam and the Centre for Migration and Inclusive Development (CMID) – has been in service since March 28, when the country was six days into the nationwide lockdown to fight the spread of COVID-19.

“It is an idea that was developing much before the coronavirus threat had begun. We have been interested in social work and especially in the area of migration. We started CMID as a nonprofit organisation to make healthcare accessible to migrant workers. It just so happened that by the time we brought out the customised that could work as a mobile clinic, COVID-19 had spread all over the world,” says Benoy Peter, executive director of CMID.

CMID in partnership with National Health Mission, Dasra and Azim Premji Foundation operates two mobile COVID vaccination units to immunise migrants. So far vaccinated over 37000 migrants.

MAPPING

SITE - 01 Near main road (Public - Market)

Site 01 is near Aluva-Munnar main road. The reason for choosing the site is its contrasting nature amidst the busy main road and town. It has a 4 to 5m level difference from the Main road and also serves as a walkway to the residential area behind it.

SITE - 02 Near the factory

(Semi private - No man land)

Site 02 is near the factory and the residential area of migrant labourers. It is a region where migrants and locals live in close proximity. It’s a no-man land. The site has a river stream towards the northeast and it floods during the monsoon.

SITE - 03 Near private bus stand

(Semi public - Mix of market and residents)

Site 03 is 200m from the private bus stand and Gandhi market. The site has a stark difference from the public space next to it.

SITE - 04 Within resdential area

(Private- Residents in proximity to agricultural land)

Site 04 is situated in a residential area. It has a pond at the southwest end. Intervention here acts as confidence building to the society.

SPECIFICS OF SITE AND PROGRAMME

REFERENCES

Thinking architecture - Peter Zumthor

Eyes of the skin - Juhani Pallasmaa

Being and Time - Heidegger, M.

Genius Loci - Norberg-Schulz, C.

Architecture and Identity - B V Doshi

House, form and culture - Amos Rapaport

Welcome to Your World: How the Built Environment Shapes Our Lives - Sarah Williams Goldhagen

Architecture and psychoanalysis - John Shannon Hendrix

Culture, Architecture and Design - Amos Rapoport

The Cultural Role of Architecture: Contemporary and Historical Perspectives - Jane Lomholt, John Shannon Hendrix

Experiencing architecture - Steen Eiler Rasmussen

IMAGE CREDITS

3.1 to 3.9 Aakash Paran Baishya https://www.quora.com/?pa_story=MTkxNTI4Mjg4MDMyMDgwNTkxNnwyMTExMDYyMzY3MzY2NDB8MA**

4.1 https://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/dpublog/2019/11/12/how-research-creates-more-inclusive-spaces-bar-elias-lebanon/

4.2 to 4.3 https://www.archdaily.com/935461/integrated-community-center-in-hindu-pararohingya-refugee-camp-rizvi-hassan?ad_source=search&ad_medium=projects_tab

4.5 https://arquitecturaviva.com/works/parque-urbano-superkilen-3

5.1 to 5.11 https://www.archdaily.com/771023/the-warp-olivier-ottevaere-and-john-lin-plus-the-university-of-hong-kong

5.12 to 5.24 https://www.archdaily.com/964745/community-canvas-school-pk-inception

5.25 to 5.34 https://www.archdaily.com/936421/microlibrary-warak-kayu-shau-indonesia

7.1 to 7.8 https://cmid.org.in/

An Undergraduate Architectural Thesis by Hiba Shireen M A