Graduation thesis research in Environmental Architecture
Gaay Nagar Re-Housing Settlement Design Project in compliance with ecological standards, Makarba Community, Sarkhej Roza, Ahmedabad, India
PART 2
Supervisor: Prof. Arch. Alessandra Battisti Co-supervising institutions: Vastu-Shilpa Foundation for studies and resaerch in environmental design CEPT University Ahmedabad RWTH Aachen University, Lehrstuhl f端r Wohnbau
Senior student:
Laura Marcheggiano October 2011
Gaay Nagar
Part 2
Click here for Part 1: Analysis and Context Click here for Part 3: Design Proposals
Gaay Nagar
CONTENTS Section I 1.
Planning in emerging countries in 2011...... 7
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A Pattern of growth: Seeking a contextual urban habitat design ................................. 8 2.i Tertiarisation and economic growth 2.ii Processes of structural change Is there an Indian Urbanity?....................... 11
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Section II 4.
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Habitat Design Studio 2011....................... 14 4.i Descovering wonderful Gujarat .......... 18 Louis Kahn Le Corbusier V.B. Doshi Charles Correa 4.ii Workshop_Feb-Apr 2011.................... 26 Learning From Doshi ................................ 31 5.i LIC Housing 5.ii IFFCO Township 5.iii Aranya Nagar 5.iv Vidyadhar Nagar 5.v Ludya Village
Section III 6.
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Analysis and Context 6.i Background, Layout and Concept ...... 45 6.ii Exixting Built and Unbuilt space: Traditional generation ........................ 52 6.iii Existing Water System: Networks and Potentials ..................... 58 Design intents ........................................... 64 7.i Who gets the Land? 7.ii Gaay Nagar 7.iii The Inclusive Design Manifesto 7.iv Methodologies and Strategies Design Proposals ...................................... 76 8.i Masterplan and Open Spaces 8.ii Product vs Process 8.iii We have many layers in life 8.iv Three DIifferent Typologies Learning from Laurie Baker ...................... 101 9.i A cost reduction manual
Section IV Bibliography:: Selected list of References ........ 5
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Section III
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6. Analysis and Context 6.i Background, Layout and Concept Site Location in Urban Context
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Gaay Nagar Ahmedabad City and the immediate context: With each of the localised water bodies, Talavadi’s there is an agricultural settlement. The talavadi, their catchments, the village and their agricultural land form the basic unit of settlement, linked together by agricultural markets and routes of trade.
Founded in 1411AD on the eastern banks of the Sabarmati river by Sultan Ahmed Shah, Ahmedabad is a city with a rich urban character and a particular neighbourhood structure refered to as ‘Pols’. The residential typology that makes up these ‘Pols’ are an exceptional response to the harsh climate of the region.
Ahmedabad as a city grew with the consolidation of such settlement into a larger urban organisation planned under influence of both Islamic and Hindu ideas of city design. Needless to say topography and drainage play a vital role in the structure of the city.
Though on the river bank, this city has historically depended on a network of water bodies which are fed by the contours of the topography, for its perennial supply of water. The seasonal nature of the river has led to a perception of it being a part of a natural system of drainage for the region rather than a feature of the landscape.
8,7 Km...It’s real periphery 1. City centre 2. Sarkhej Roza (Building Site)
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Gaay Nagar Bioclimatic system
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Gaay Nagar Anthropic system
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Gaay Nagar Biophysical system
SITE LOCATION - One hectar built up area allowed plot CURRENT TOPOGRAPHY - 6m hight difference W-E - New road planned by the government FLUD SITUATION in 1-year time...*
* Flood situation in 1-year time...
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Gaay Nagar 6.ii Existing built and unbuilt space: Traditional generation Typical settlement in Ahmedabad: Studies deductions within a Study Comparison in Gujarat
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Gaay Nagar 6.ii Unbuilt space: Traditional generation Existing open spaces typologies: Characters, potentials and weeknesses
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Gaay Nagar 6.iii Existing water system: Networks and Potentials Sarkhej has taken a back seat! History Sarkhej Roza used to be pilgrimage attraction and still remains one of the most elegant and unique architectural complexes of Ahmedabad.
Consequences ... The cerimonial pathway is encroched, the pilons are in ruins Sewage from adjoining village and shanties that surround sarkhej from 2 sides, take now the place of monsoon water
What happened ? >>> From 1980 on: Boom in urban development >>> The river has been channelized >>> Land administered by the Sarkhej Roza Trust has been encroached by informal settlements >>> The area where tributaries used to flow is being filled in
Before...
What can they do ? The citizens of Ahmedabad need to work towards preserving their heritage and cultivate a sense of pride in their multifarious legacy.
Sarkhej Roza Tank...Used to collect monsoon run off
After...
Now Sarkhej Roza Tank...is dry! 58
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7. Design intents 7.i Who gets the land? Local approach to economical development
Urban vs Rural: European model
We propose a revisitation of this “Inclusive” model, to explore new potential synergies within an implemented local economy.
Periphery in India is currently being created following a typically western model, which opposes rural activities to the Urban ones. In order to link this duality, we use transport, 100% anti-ecological.
New deals could take place, within the development of a production-consume-natural resources cycle, at a smaller scale.
On the other hand, the traditional indian model of society development, brings those two elements together. How often do we see a cow crossing the S G Highway?
Following a cow for one day Cow movement seems Random and Unlogical... IT’S NOT! Pick up Basic space requirements are not respected Absent or inappropriate outdoor space, which is not only used for cattle Milking and feeding Path to the grazing fields: Walk 5 Km a day to get to the field outised Makarba, having to corss an Highway Cows get back home alone They need water and shade during hot times of the day (risk of interruption and loss) They get food from peasants Feeding and Milking 64
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Gaay Nagar 7.ii Gaay Nagar The Green Path
Inclusive Design
The womb of our settlement: the generating space of our Economical Cycle
PROPOSE AN ALTERNATIVE PARADIGM TO THE STANDARD ECONOMIC SYSTEM
Rural activity returns to the previous situation.. GET BACK TO WHAT WE’VE LOST
Include values – eg.importance of the Agrarian Aspect – which are normally excluded from the Urban Development
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Sight of the green path from the terrace of a T1
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Gaay Nagar 7.iii The inclusive design manifesto Group work_together with: Jose Carpio (Madrid) Lara Briz (Madrid) Arun Jansen (Delft) Vigneswar V. S. (CEPT)
The intentions of the design were to ‘get back to what we have lost’. The urban dwellers have lost their connection to nature and the rural people are losing their livelihood and land. Can these two opposing types of living co-exist? The design process started with this question.
Design intents Extensive analysis of the context and the program lead the team to conclude that the area of focus should be the rural-urban divide that characterises these peripheral areas of the city. Generally there is a lot of friction between the different groups and consequently some groups belonging to an agrarian back-ground are gradually eliminated. To avoid this scenario an inclusive developmental agenda is required. Thus the main aim of the project was the creation of an ‘inclusive design’ in which every concerned party is mutually benefitted by the design. Besides the people involved other ecological factors like the topography, ecological cycles and water / waste management were factors which played an important part in the inclusive design process.
Means through which both these opposing cultures could co-exist was explored and incorporated into the design process. Economically, the urban populace which would buy the houses in the scheme would subsidise the costs of accommodating other groups and ecologically the rural populace could provide essential services and products which might be made from the waste of the former. Thus a truly self-sustaining project could be created through a process of mutual sharing.
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Design proposals Having clearly laid down the guiding principles of the design the two major tasks of the design were locating the buildable areas within the site such that the green areas and cattle zones play a pivotal role in the design and the second was the identification of types of housing for the different user groups.
The second factor was the ecological cycle. An innovative idea was to consider the cow as the vital central component of the ecological cycle. The cow has the potential to live off organic waste and turn it into products of value like milk and milk products, fuel in the form of dung or as bio-gas which could serve the whole community and help in farming by working the land and providing natural fertilizers for the crops.
The design process therefore started with looking at the existing topography of the site. The terrain was mapped and the water flow lines with the lowest points were identified. The natural draining patterns of the site were exploited for the green areas which were also meant as grazing areas for the cattle. The next step was locating the roads and streets on this terrain such that they followed the natural slopes. Care was also taken that they were North-south in orientation to maximise shadows on the street. They were laid out in such a way that there was a homogenous interaction with the green network.
The third factor was the transformations which the housing society would under-go over time. Life has many layers and all these layers tend to reflect on the architecture of the house / housing. All these layers had to be considered and potentialities for extensions and transformations were set-up to absorb changes over time.
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Gaay Nagar Land Use of Gaay Nagar Inteprpretation of program in Urban context
The terrain was again re-worked with these considerations in such a way as to form raised platforms for the built areas and catchments for the water drains. The sewage drains were also located along the slopes on the site. Finally, the built-form was the positioned majorly located with its long axis along the East-west direction due to climatic considerations. The next question which came up was as to which of the different socio-economic groups gets the land and who gets a shared accommodation. Going against conventional practices the decision was taken to give land to the cattle owners and other groups who were at the bottom of the social pyramid where-as the richer groups were located in shared plots / buildings. The rationale behind this decision was that the richer group needed a fully built unit (a product) which provided all the facilities and would not On the other hand the groups on the lower end of the spectrum needed the land for many purposes and were therefore provided with a basic unit on a plot of land which could be expanded as the family gained more prosperity. These units could be extensively transformed over a long period of time. Thus we arrived at two major types of dwelling units- one which was the fully built one located in shared plots and the second one which was the basic units located on individually owned parcels of land. Then a third type was located which was an intermediate between the two extremes. Here, the basic structure and services was provided but the units had flexibility in their dividing the spaces. These units could be provided to those groups who cannot afford a fully built unit and don’t depend on the land for their survival. Thus the project was transformed into a mini-city with the different variations in user groups and building-types. The landform of the site which was exploited to the maximum to create green areas and water sheds also ensured that this builtenvironment was a healthy and inclusive habitat. 70
Gaay Nagar 7.iv Methodologies and strategies
Design methodology The chaotic development of Indian urbanity is often the result of lack in theoretical previous plannings.
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Continues...
Gaay Nagar
Click here for Part 1: Analysis and Context
Click here for Part 3: Design Proposals