An other way - Thesis book

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AN OTHER WAY Alternative model of social housing for the Slum upgrading. Dhharavi, Mumbai.

by Marion Chamontin

AN OTHER WAY Alternative model of social housing for the Slum upgrading. Dhharavi, Mumbai.

Thesis Project Spring Semester 2013 Marion Chamontin Tutor: Leif Hogfeldt Hansen

Table of Contents Introduction Section 1: CONTEXT

Section 3: PROJECT

-Toward an Urban World, Upgrading before redevelopment. - Mumbai, Plurality and complexity of a mega-city. - Locating Dharavi - Slum of Enterprise, Where Everything is Possible - History and development - General typology and Rhythm - Locating the site

- Prototype: From the general to the local.

Section 2: PROCESS - Process based on registration - 1°) Typologies -Havelis -Chawl -Country Side Houses - 2°) Self Built Settlements investigations - Realation to the Street - Relation to the Ground - Relation to the Building - 3°) Charles Correa’s Principles - Presentation - Inspiration: The Tube House and Belapur Township

- 1°) Social Network - 2°) Porosity - 3°) Spatiality - 4°) Structure -5°) Autonomy - 6°) Street Life

CONCLUSION BIBLIOGRAPHY

Slum: "Connurbations made up of people who do not legally occupy the land they live on"

Steward Brand: " [...] The magic of squatter cities is that they are improved steadily and gradually by their residents" "How slums can save the planet", by Steward Brand, in Prospect Magazine, jan.2010

Introduction:

Building an alternative model of social housing for the slum redevelopment. While most of the renewal programs in Mumbai ignore the existing architectural, cultural and social heritage, I would like to propose a “strategy� addressed to the lower classes to regenerate the traditional social housing in the Mumbai area. My project will take place in the slum of Dharavi. According to the criteria dictated by the city of today, regarding health, safety, density and open spaces, the main problem appears to be finding an alternative way into the redevelopment project of Dharavi . A project which as it stands is aimed at following an occidental model unconcerned with the actual cultural, economic and social way of living in the slum. My interest however, is to see how far the context can direct and work with the sustainability of the project, in space and through time. The aim here is to create a prototype, a social support system, dealing with density and social networks which could actually evolve with the environment and the context. Today and especially in India, the traditional urban grain of cities is currently facing the effects of external forces, as the result of rapid development and hard socio-economic pressures. According to Studio Mumbai’s reflexions and as a result of the combination of everyday life and the modernization taking place, a prototype for basic housing offers a leeway; the ability to refine things in the prototype itself in response to time, the economy, the way of living. In accordance with my research from the past semesters, community life is closely

linked to the urban morphology and for this reason the proposal will try to define and restore the identity of the public space as a place for daily activities and social interactions. Finally, the aim to find a model of social housing, an urban tool, is to empower and increase the capacity of a society to develop the required skills to build its own future. At first, I will present the context where my project is taking place in order to show the place of the slum-dwellers in Mumbai and the qualities that make Dharavi so special. The second part of my reflexion is based on learning from India with an analysis of the different building typologies and architectonic qualities present in informal settlements. I will use these registrations to develop tools to direct and assist my project, with the aim of maintaining the identity of Dharavi and improving the sensitive spatial and social qualities already present in the neighborhood. The third and last part of my process is dedicated to the project itself, on a specific site. Redevelopment is a slow process that you cannot press at the risk of loosing the foundations and identity of a social and community life. For this reason, this part of the project focuses on how to reuse the tools developed through architectonic registration, looking in particular at how concepts such as; the flexibility of the house, the relationship between public and privte, density and climate can create a flexible, sustainable and evolving model of social housing that has the potential to be expanded through the rest of the slum.

Section 1 // Context. “Before Bombay,

There was Dharavi”

Toward an Urban World, Upgrading before redevelopment. The majority of the slums, or informal settlements are located very often in mega-cities such as Shanghai, Mexico, Rio de Janeiro or Mumbai. Those mega-cities have experienced a dazzling growth and development often synonymous with an increasing economy and finance, involving the rise of the population and the density, but also a rise in the cost of living. Therefore, the housing issue is a problematic one which is intrinsically linked to the evolution of those cities. Consequently, the

rise of the population involves a rise in the cost of living which in turn leads to a rise in the number of slum dwellers. The redevelopment plans, that different governments have highlighted in the last two or three decades, have been heavily based on the “western approach”. It has to be considered that these plans all involve the eventual taking over of the slums, leaving thousands of people without homes or a place of work.the population involve the rise of the cost of living which is involving the rise of slum-dwellers.

         

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

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Growth of the population on earth

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

Proportion of the population living in rural and urban areas. 





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> 40% 20 - 40 % 10 - 20 %

Urban Population living in slums (2003)

< 10 % 

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

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Proportion of the population living in slums on the total urban population. 

Indeed, redevelopment is too often following the weight of speed, formal structures and global thoughts.

For a progressive integration in the global city More than a redevelopment, it is an upgrade which should become the first step of intervention in the slums and informal settlements. An upgrade which involves taking the qualities, both spatial and social, of such places, and improving the way of living, providing better comfort and a sustainable organisation with the aim of keeping the strength and the nature of those areas. An upgrade aimed at, later, a redevelopment more fitting to the human scale, less global and homogeneous. For political and economical reasons, mega-cities need to be attractive and to answer to the standards which show them as flourishing, growing, dynamic, modern, fluid and technological. In this picture, the slums are tarnishing the landscape and the perspective of a nicer future. With the speed and the growth of these cities, informal settlements are often either swallowed by the city, without integration, or “spit out” at the borders, waiting for the next expansion to be either swallowed or pushed away again. “Slum rehabilitation projects instead of slum upgrading are anonymous high-rise entities instead of the houses of the poor. The ultimate aim for the Slum Redevelopment Schemes is undeniably the erasure of slums bt stacking people in high rise garden city and thus banishing poverty, at least from sight.”

Quote taken from the book “Reclaiming (the urbanism of ) Mumbai”, by Kelly Shannon and Janina Gosseye, 2009.

Those plans which attempt to engulf slums are usually transforming a very informal typology into an “ultra-formal� and westernised one, involving the loss of the human scale and the loss of identity of those places built by the residents themselves. In a slum like Dharavi, a slum of enterprise located in the heart of Mumbai, building a tower, even one with bigger dwellings, a safer structure, more comfort and better sanitation will actually deprive its residents of their livelihood, of the social network they created and the rhythm of life they follow, which represents the specificity, the essence of this place.

Upgrade as a support for the future of the megacity. However with the strategy of upgrading before redeveloping, it appears possible to integrate the informal settlements in the city of tomorrow. Keeping and improving the qualities specific to those zones, architects and urban planners will have an effect on what is supposed to carry and support the moving city, the dynamic and growing city. Finally, it is maybe the main role of architecture: Offering living spaces to the people and reinforcing the link between those people and the city.

Left picture: Imperial Towers, Cumbala hill, Tardeo, Mumbai. Right picture: Informal settlement behind the tower, Tardeo, Mumbai.

Concept: Taking from informal settlements and modernist housing to create an Alternative solution.

Doshi

Correa Elemental Quinta Monroy

Jean PROUVE

Alternative model of social housing for the slum redevelopment: Social housing Community Life

Privacy Light

Courtyard

Human Scale Street life

Walkability

Modular

Comfort

Technology

Multifunctional

Sanitation

Sustain itself

construction

Provide job

Prototype

Liberate space

Density

Affordable

Incremental

Flexibility

Non-Design

Doshi Correa

Quinta Monroy

Elemental

Traditional houses and havelis:

Chawl:

Informal settlements: - Crowded - No light - No ventilation - No avaible space

- Dynamism - Walkability - Human scale - Provide job - Cheap cost of living - Good location - Link to the street

- Lack of toilet and sanitation - Open sewage - Privacy issue

- Flexibility

- Construction without limitation

- Evolving - Sustain itself - Social network

Modernist housing development/ High rise buildings: - Uniformity - No human scale - distance from the street - Expansive rent

- Density - Open spaces - Green spaces - Technology - Space - Comfort - Link to the street - Correspond to modern criteria - Fit to government expectations - No flexibility - No job provided -Individualisation

Mumbai, Plurality and complexity of a mega-city. Pop: 12 500 000 hab. (2012) Density: 20 680 hab./km2 Urban area: 21 900 967 hab. Sup: 603 km2

diversity, a melting pot of communities and people.

Mumbai is the capital of the indian State of Maharashtra and is the most populous city in India. With its 12 500 000 inhabitants in the Greater Mumbai and a total of 22 000 000 inhabitants in the full metropolis, it is one of the five most dense and populous city in the world.

“A megacity, A harbour city. A city of slums. A post-colonial city. A postindustrial city. A booming city. A city of opportunity. A global city. A city of ‘slumdogs’ and ‘millionaires’. A city of terror. Bombay. Bollywood. [...] The multifaceted nature of this fascinating Indian metropolis.” André Loeckx, Towards an

Mumbai, city of paradoxe:

Urban Debate, Questioning Mumbai’s Voices and Issues, 2009.

The economic importance of Mumbai, its buisness opportunities as well as its potential to offer a higher standard of living in comparaison Survey “your place, my place, our public space ?” to the rest Privacy of India make and public spaces. the city incredibly attractive for migrants from all regions of the country who bring to INCOME Mumbai an intense cultural and social Income*: 50

Originally formed by seven small islands surrounded by swamp and mangrove offered by the Portuguese to the British, Mumbai is today the commercial, industrial, economic and entertainment capital of India. But it is

50%

40 30 20

2%

1%

100 001<x x<150 000

150 001<x x<500 000

4%

75 001<x x<100 000

50 001<x x<75 000

25 001<x x<50 000

6%

5001<x x<25 000

0

10%

x > 5000

10

17%

In Mumbai, the majority of the population comes from the lower middle class and the middle class households.

also with the name of Slumbai that the metropolis is known with probably the largest number of slum-dwellers in the world (over nine million) Dharavi, a real informal township within the city, is one of the world’s 30 megaslums and Asia’s largest. According to the datas from different NGO*, around 50% of the inhabitants of Mumbai are issued from slums and chawls. Therefore, we can consider that living space available for large population in the city varies between 7.5 m² to 50 m². This is representative of the population of Mumbai, where the majority of the people, over 65%, come from lower income groups. But, through the velocity and the movement of the mega city stays Dharavi. Type Of Accomodation*: 40

36% 32%

35 30

15

13.7%

10

Slum

Co-operative house

Single Building

Chawl

0

Housing complex

2%

5

1% 0.2% Street/ Pavement

15.1%

20

Bungalow

25

* Data from the Pukar survey in collaboration with BMW Guggenheim Lab, “Your place, My place, our Public space?”, 2012. Survey made out of 800 respondents.

Informal Settlements

Dharavi

[ ] Locating Dharavi

Mumbai

In relation to Mumbai, Dharavi is particularly well located: a triangle of land in the center of the city, which is served by railway lines on two sides and bounded by the Mahim Creek on the third. The Mahim, Matunga and Sion train stations mark three corners; the Western Express Highway passes along its northern border. With the expansion of the city over the years into the suburbs to accomodate the steadily growing population, Dharavi was inevitably drawn into the centre of Mumbai. Today, Dharavi, an informal township within the metropolis is in the neighbourhood of the new buisness district, the Bandra- Kurla Complex (BKC) , just south of the airport. This proximity with the BKC and the mass of transport facilities creates a huge interest from the real estate promoters and developpers.

BKC

Bandra Kurla Complex

Bandra

Mahim Bandhra Mangrove

[ ] SITE

Mahim

Matunga

Mahim Bay

Shivaji Park

Dadar

King’s Circle

Sion

Kurla

“Dharavi, a slum of energy, enterprise and hope. Where every hand is busy, every head held high. Where people could be miserable but choose to be happy. A choice each of us can make.� Rashmi Bansal, Deepak Gandhi, Poor Little Rich Slum

Slum of Enterprise, Where Everything is Possible Pop: between 600 000 and 1 000 000 hab Density: 286 000 and 476 000 hab./km² Sup: 220 Ha

Dharavi is considered to be one of the Asia’s largest slum with approximatively 57 000 slum families squeezed into 220 Ha. But Dharavi is only one of the 3000 slum pockets present in Mumbai and yet it accounts for about 8% of the slum population of Mumbai. “Like every other slum, Dharavi lacks space, toilet facilities and adequate water supply, plus, open sewage and garbage dumps are breeding grounds for rats, cockroaches, mosquitoes, flies and other harmful pests.” However, what makes Dharavi so special is the positive energy which emanes from its residents. A community of hard workers, struggling with life every day in the aim to provide better future to their families. Contrary to other slums and informal settlements, people who are living in Dharavi are also working

there. So much that it is a symbol of hope for people from the country-side coming to Dharavi expecting a better life. Dharavi represents a vibrant patchwork of people, cultures, languages, religions, castes, colors, smells... It is tens of thousands of small buisinesses and hundreds of thousands of residents coming from different provinces and ethnicities, dependant on one another and the city socially, culturally and economically. “ Dharavi has literally risen from the marshes. First the houses had stilts, then the land was reclaimed little by little, then built up brick by brick. In other words, it is testament to the survival instincts of the poor - and the success of incremental development.”

Swamp

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1: Koliwada, old fishing village 2: Kumbharwada, potters area 3: Tamilnadu, muslim leather tanners 4: Industrial Area, recycling zone 5: Residential Area 6: Transit Camp, from 1985 the Prime Ministre’s Grand Project of 1985 7: Hindi Creamatorium 8: Cemetary

Different Areas

15

3 1

2

4 14 8

13 9

12

5 6

10

11

7

Activities and materials production in Dharavi

1: Plastic Recycling 2: Carton Recycling 3: Used Tires 4: Cement 5: Newspapers 6: Bricks 7: Steel and iron profiles 8: Aluminium 9: Glass 10: Plywood/Wood 11: Pottery 12: Plywood/ Broomsticks 13: Rubber Hose 14: Leather dying/ sheets 15: Laundry Buisness

History and Redevelopment Plan “We wish they would not exist, but we cannot wish them away. Sixty per cent of our city is a slum and it all started here, in Dharavi” From Poor Little Rich Slum, 2012

Dharavi was located on the northern tip of one of the seven islands which used to formed Mumbai and was inhabited by the Koli fishing community. The Mahim creek was their livelihood for centuries. During the 18th century, the swamps separating the different islands of Mumbai were reclaimed to join them in a long peninsula. Thus began the makeover of Mumbai. With this process of reclamation, the Mahim creek was dried up and the fishermen left stranded. New lands appeared, attracting new communities to move in. The first ones to settle there did so because those lands were free and unregulated. The story of Dharavi development is really linked to the migration into Mumbai. As the city grew, autorities pushed the migrant to what was the edge of the city. It was after the 1800’s that the potters were relocated and set up their colony in Kumbhar Wada, as the leather tanners from Tamilnadu. Dharavi became a melting pot of villages and township from all over India. If today Dharavi keeps this attractivity, it is because of the rent without property certificate the construction without building rules, the unlicensed employment, the untaxed

buisinesses and the unlicensed and untaxed services that it offers. “The human spirit radiated out from the metal walls and garbage heaps to offer something no legal neighborhood could: freedom.” Robert Neuwirth As Mumbai expanded northwards with new industries, the pressure on land increased and Dharavi was drawn into the heart of the city to finally be declared a Slum in 1971. The SionMahim-Link road, the 60ft and 90ft roads were built. Sewer and water lines were installed. Transit Camp was built to relocate people whose houses were in the way of infrastructural projects. From 1981, several Development and Redevelopment plans were prepared for the city and Dharavi intending to make a fortune by exploiting the value of the land. “The Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP) plan, envisaged the division of the slum in five sectors. […] Given the inflated land prices in the area, developers would have made windfall gains and Government would have earned substantial revenues. Should land be seen primarily as a source of revenue do developer and government? Perhaps the most important objection is that the entire plan was conceived without any community participation and it is a classic example of topdown planning.

General typology and Rhythm The size of the basic slum house usually varies from 10 to 20 m² for a family of 4 to 10 people.

Additional Space

The house usually consists of one or two rooms, where their function changes throughout the day.

[

In general, on the ground floor, the space is taken up by a commercial space (shop or workshop) and a storage area. Both of these zones are also used for living. When the family gets enough money, they can extend the house upwards with an extra floor.

[

Basic space

Traditionnal house_ Mixed-use: Shop and Living space.

    

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   

 

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 

    

  

Daily Life_ Based on Krishna’s day, a yoga teacher.

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Ro ft 90

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ad

Locating the Site

Site

The site used to be a nice alive ground fifteen yeards ago. Today, it is an empty spot, filled with garbage and sometimes used as a parking lot. If the children are using it as a playground, adults are just passing by, using it as a shortcut between the two shopping streets surrounded it. The ground is located in the center of Dharavi, in the “residential” part. According to the Dharavi Redevelopment Project, it is situated in the zone number 3. Located close to one of the main road of the slum, the 90ft Road, it is easily accessible by taxi, rickshaw or train. In contradiction with other part of the slum, the direct surrounding of the site presents several “life niches”, more open spaces where different activities are taking place (poppadum preparation, drying food and spices,...) If the slum typology is supposed to be low-rise buildings, the site is directly in contact with a 5 storeys primary school, an 8 floors building and a 9 storeys high chawl. It is somehow located in a transitive zone where the Government already applied some redevelopment plans bringing new infrastructures and facilities (hospital, nagar, chawl, primary schools, kindergarten,...) to the neighborhood.

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Activities around the site:

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

Site (2000 m²)

Public





Private houses

  



Shops 

Food preparation/ Restaurant Workshops.



Picture by Thomas Hilbert. Kids playing on the site.

Picture : Collage drawing + picture from the global view of the site and the surrounding.

Section 2 // Process. Learning From India, Architectonic Registration.

“Indian

things are so many hands, so many heads, so many images...” Bijoy Jain, El Croquis n°157/2011

Process based on registration

The registration and the analytic studies form the founding principles of my project. The strategy is to use the context as a “tool box� to develop an answer to the problematic growing pressure to provide accommodation for the city population. Learning from India, finding the essence of the culture, the identity and the qualities which rule the slum are, to my mind, the basis of an alternative way of thinking about social housing and slum redevelopment. In this section, I will proceed in two steps. I will analyse different building typologies and architectonic qualities to get, firstly, a general overview of housing and social standards in India, and, in the second part, in a local context, a more sensitive, detailed and precise perception of the way the space is invested in and used around the site.

Left picture by Thomas Hilbert: Men gathering on Banyan Tree Lane. Drawing: Elevation of St Kakkaya Marg, surrounding the site.

1° Typologies

Drawings: Different typologies registered

This first part is dedicated to the analysis of different typologies which I found revealing for my project. During my study trip to India, I was first fascinated by the Havelis. These are ancient mercantile houses which are today, for the most part, converted in guest-houses, restaurants or museums. Located in the city centres, and organized around courtyards and patios, it was the spatial disposition and the porosity of the buildings which caught my attention. According to the analysis of Priyanka KARANDIKAR from Iowa State University in

her thesis work Chawls: Analysis of a middle class housing type in mumbai, India, and to the reflexions of the International Seminar on Vernacular Settlement 4 (2008), most of the traditional houses were built around an internal courtyard that was used for sleeping, sitting and conducting daily household chores. It seems relatively clear that the havelis organisation comes directly from those traditional houses. Moreover, chawls, the typical social housing for the middle and lower working class appear also to be an urban translation of the traditional Indian courtyard houses (wadis)

The use of the haveli change with the industrialisation and the rise of the population. The familial haveli became a place to live for men coming from the country side to work in Mumbai. Later, when their families joined them in instutions such as the chawl, the living space pass from 18m² for 1 person to 18 m² for 5 to 10 people. Diagram showing the integration of the wadis into an urban context.

Because nowadays 50% of the Mumbai population lives in chawls and slums, I decided to this social housing model which has existed in the mega-city since almost a hundred years. In relation to Priyanka KARANDIKAR’s reflexion, what is intriguing about chawls is that, despite the fact that the government of Maharashtra declared these buildings “unfit to live in� (sanitation, services, light and ventilation issues, collapsing structures,...) the inhabitants are still determined to stay. It appears that the localisation in the city, the proximity to facilities and places of work, the affordability of the rent, the dense social network and the social support system provided for people coming from country side villages, make the people attached to the Chawls for both emotional and practical reasons. from country side villages, make the people emotionally and practically attached to the chawls. As we saw in the first section, the slum dwellers of Dharavi, like people from chawls, mainly come from villages from all over India, with the aim of finding a better life. This background is really present in their way of living and in the spatial organisation of Dharavi. That is why, while I was conveniently living close to Alibaugh in the country side, to the south of Mumbai, and encouraged by friendly people who welcomed me, I decided to spend several days investigating houses from neighbouring villages, registering measures, functions, materials and the atmosphere with the aim of getting a better understanding of, and a more personal approach to, the culture and the daily life of the Indian people.

Finally, to conclude with the first part of the process, I investigated the way this Indian culture is used in more contemporary architecture. With this aim, I went through the work of two of the main characters who are concerned with the social or community based aspect of architecture; Balkrishna DOSHI and Charles CORREA. After reading a list of features he wrote about the indispensable criteria for the perception of housing in India, I choose to work closely with the work of Charles CORREA and to re-use as tools some of the concepts and principles he developed which I found interesting and useful for the development of my project.

A BILL OF RIGHTS FOR HOUSING:

- Pluralism

- Open to sky space

- Incremental

- Equity

- Maleability

- Disaggregation

- Participation

- Income Generation Charles Correa, 03.2013, Lecture in Mumbai.

# Havelis Roof Terrace

Patio For Women

Terrace For Women

Roof Terrace

Entrance

Basement Storage

Patio For Men

Street

Section Haveli, Jaiselmer, 1/200

1.

2.

Haveli is the term used for a private mansion in India and Pakistan, usually one with historical and architectural significance. The word haveli is derived from the Persian word hawli, meaning “an enclosed place�. The havelis were built for the rich merchants, usually living close to the fort. It was a status symbol for the Marwaris as well as a home for their extended families, providing security and comfort in seclusion from the outside world. The havelis were to be closed from all sides with one large main gate. Elevation Haveli, 1/200

3.

The typical havelis, richly painted and ornamented, consisted of two courtyards — an outer one for the men which served as an extended threshold, and the inner one; the domain of the women. The largest havelis could have up to three or four courtyards and were two to three storeys high. Most of the havelis are empty nowadays, or are maintained by a watchman (typically an old man). Many others have been converted into hotels or tourist attractions.

Pictures: Ancient Haveli, Udaipur, Jagat Niwas Palace Hotel 1. Open circulation, 2. Open spaces and patios, 3. Porosity

# Havelis,

Roof Top.

2nd Floor: Women part.

1st Floor: Men part.

Groundfloor: Men and servant part.

plan 1/200

Patios and terraces Galleries and Logias: Semi-open space Closed room with balcony and opening possibilities

Picture: Ancient Haveli, Jodhpur

Concept registered:

Tool Used:

- Porosity :

- Porosity:

Taking avantage of the climate. Wind allows natural ventilation. Creation of shadows. Link private-public, gradient in the privacy.

Patios, terraces, galleries and logias, moucharaby.

- Spatiality:

- Spatiality:

Space hierarchy involving relationship between private and public, the inside and the outside, the street and the building. Separation men and women. Evolution of the use of the house in function of the seasons and the evolution of the family.

-Social interaction:

Social interaction and link between the different zones of the house created by verticzl and horizontal circulation

Rooms and areas separated by transistion spaces, Hierarchy organised by floors.

-Social interaction:

Open staircases and open walkways

# Chawls “ Everyone keeps an eye on the ill, the old and the tiny”

Chawls were a form of housing built both by government agencies and private employers to accommodate migrant workers as the city began to industrialize in the early 1900’s. 3.

They were made up of single room units in 3 or 4 storey structures, with wide common passages and shared toilets. Generally, chawls had better infrastructure than slums and were occupied by better-off residents in the city.

2.

The organisation of the chawl is often planned around a common open space. These open spaces, the corridors, the balconies and the staircases become tools for social interaction.

1.

If the family choses to stay in the chawls, despite problems such as; the age of the structures (over 70 years), the poor sanitation and services and collapsing issues, it is usually due to the location, the price of the rent ( +/- 250 rps a month) and especially the social support system that the chawl provides.

Plan Single unit 1/100, Chawl in Tardeo, Mumbai.

Unit for one family: 20 m², from 4 to 15 people. Common Staircases: Vertical circulation Open walkways: Horizontal circulation Open space: Parking, playground. 1.

Common space

2.

Living/ Dinning/ Sleeping room

3.

Wet space: Kitchen, wash area.

Left page: Plan and Section, Chawl in Tardeo, Mumbai.

Elevation, B.D.D Chawl 1924, Worli, Mumbai.

Plan groundfloor, B.D.D Chawl 1924, Worli, Mumbai.

Problematic of the right measure: According to the authors of “A pattern language: TownBuildings-Construction” we can noticed that if 1.80 meter wide corridors, balconies and passages are supposed to be the best, it is in the chawls, the more narrow ones (0.90 and 1.20 m wide) which are the most used. It is actually considered more multi-functional , and fitting to a better human-scale. In the same book and following the same way of thinking, D.M FANNING explains that the low-rise buildings are improving the social network and that “the connections to the street and in between people are lost after four storey”

1.

Common Bathroom, toilet and wash area. Common Staircases: Vertical circulation Corridor: Horizontal circulation Ventilation Open space: Parking, playground. 2.

1. Common Corridor 2. Public open space 3. Extansion to the outside Appropriation of the facade

Pictures: B.D.D Chawl Worli, Mumbai.

3.

Picture: Inside the unit, Bhavesh and his grand mother in the first room.

“

Social network and diversity in neighborhood are the keys features for a city to sustain itself. The network plays role in people development”

Facilities: The chawls are located close to the “everyday amenities”; schools, hospital, administration offices, working places, grocery stores and general shops are almost all the time at walking distance. Most of the people from the chawls are working, but the community link is so strong that the women who are stay at home babysit and take care of the children, prepare lunchboxes for the workers etc. Thus, everybody contributes.

Picture: Outdoor walkways, chawl in Tardeo, Mumbai.

Concept registered: - Social network:

Chawl provides a social support system, contributes to the social and cultural lives and shames a network.

- Structure:

Structure is reinforcing the social network and the link in between people. Sustainable model for middle class housing.

-Autonomy:

Social network plays role in people development.

Tool Used: - Social Network:

Outdoor walkways, common staircases, common washing area, common bathroom and toilets, low rise building, common courtyard. - Structure:

3 or 4 floors. Common sanitation. Cheap rent. -Autonomy:

Visual contact, knowledge of the neighborhood. Proximity to facilities and institutions.

# Country Side Single Houses Deepa’s house, Kurul, Maharashtra. 4 people whose 2 children, 25 m².

Section 1/100

Common garden

Threshold

Individual house

1.

2. 3.

Plan 1/100

Elevation 1/100

1.

1. Main room, Religious space 2. Functional kitchen

2.

# Country Side Single Houses Shubam’s house, Alibaugh, Maharashtra. 4 people whose 2 children, 55 m².

Section 1/100

5. 4.

1.

2.

3.

6. 7.

9.

8.

Plan 1/100

1.Street

2.Porch

3.Living / Dinning/ Sleeping Room

6.Washing space 7.Storage, toilet.

8.Study room.

4.Transition space

9.Backyard.

5.Kitchen

Elevation 1/100

Picture: Entrance, the threshold as transition space.

Picture: Backyard, extansion of the house, storage , washing space and external kitchen.

# Country Side Single Houses Priyanka’s house, Nagaon, Maharashtra. 5 people whose 1 child, 55 m². First floor, 1/100

Plan groundfloor, 1/100

4. 10. 9.

10.

3. 1.

2.

5. 6.

7. 8.

1. Street 2. Porch 3. Living/ Dinning room

8.

4. Washing area 5. Kitchen 6. Outside kitchen 7. Garden 8. Wells 9. Outdoor walkway 10. Bedrooms

Section, 1/100

Picture: Washing space

Picture: Outdoor kitchen, extansion of the house.

Picture: Garden

Elevation, 1/100

# Dharavi basic typology Manish’s house, Dharavi, Mumbai. 1 person, used to be 6 8 m² on the groundfloor 15 m² total.

Section, 1/100

Elevation, 1/100

3.

Plan first floor, 1/100

2. 1.

1.Cooking/ Living/Dinning/ Sleeping space 2.Washing space

Plan groundfloor, 1/100

3.Storage

Picture: Street facade, materiality and colors.

Picture: Access to the first floor from the street.

Concept registered: -Spatiality:

Maleability of rooms. Use of the outside as extra-room.

- Porosity:

Looking for ventilation and shadow. Direct contact to outside spaces.

-Structure:

Low rise building and evolution of the house according to income of the family. - Autonomy: The house is also the place of work especially for the women. Sefl development.

Tool Used: -Spatiality:

no corridor. Garden or backyard. - Porosity:

Outdoor walkways and circulation, balconies and porches. -Structure:

House usually on a ground level with access to the outside for possible expansion. - Autonomy:

Shop or workshop integrated into the house or the backyard.

St Ka a Ma kkay rg

[

Poppadum Square

[

Banyan Tree Lane

Site

[

Temple Square

2° Self-Built settlement: Urban Village

After using Jan Gelh’s method to define the qualities of urban spaces, I choose different spots around my site in the aim to understand better the way residents from the slum are using this self-built settlement. I chose those places according to criterias revealing the relationship to protection, comfort and enjoyment. The registration is organised in three points noticed on the site: - The relation to the street - The relation to the ground - The relation to the building.

2° Self-Built settlement: Urban Village # Relation to the street: Along St Kakkaya Marg

The analysis of the urban grain is revelant for my project,. Indeed, we can see on the right map, the urban pattern of the street which is, more than a tool for circulation, a complex succession of pockets, corners, squares, grounds and labyrintine streets showing a narrow relationship between the private and the public and increasing the movement and the dynamism existing in Dharavi.

Left picture: Drawing showing the relationship between the inside and the outside Right picture: Map showing the urban grain and the open spaces.

Site.

Picture: Community space around a temple, in between housing. Semi public place occupied by people from the close neighborhood.

Picture: Street used as a square where people sit and stop, meeting each others and gathering.

Right picture by Thomas Hilbert: General view of Temple square. Diversity of use and activities.

School

Temple

General stores

Concept registered: - Social Network:

The street is used as a square and not only as a circulation path. People stand at the shop facade, stop to exchange with each other.

- Porosity:

Tool Used: - social network:

outdoor activities, thresholds, shop open to the street, mixed uses (temple, schools, grocery merchant, general stores...)

The porosity of the urban grain and the intricate typology of the slum increase the walkability and, de facto, the social network.

- Porosity:

-Autonomy:

- Autonomy:

Self sufficient area.

Vegetable vendors

square, left-over spaces, ground, transition spaces, spaces in between buildings. multifunctional spaces, working and living places, temporary and permanent activities

# Relation to the Ground:

Thresholds: Define the limit with the house. Used as extansion of the space.

Ground use to dry food (and laundry)

Poppadum making, Ground use to dry food (and laundry)

Poppadum making, Ground use to cook, even inside the house.

3.

2.

1.

“ We don’t have that community space, neither can we

access the parks that are part of the new buildings coming up in Dharavi. If you have to just sit there, you can’t. So for me, mosque is the place where I can sit, relax, think after my prayers, and it gives me that kind of privacy and space to be with myself. ”

Picture: Alibaugh, ground use as vagetable market. Left picture (Thomas Hilbert) Banyan Tree Lane, ground study:

1.

Materials: Change symbolise change of physical, functional or social space.

2.

Level: Plaforms as extansion of the house, semi-private zone.

3.

Level: Plaforms and trees as social and gathering space.

Concept registered:

Tool Used:

-Social Network:

- Social Network:

- Autonomy:

- Autonomy:

External public spaces shared in between people. Direct relation with the neighbors. Creation of spaces favouring relationship and comfort..

The ground is support of many activities involving self production.

-Street Life:

The relation to the ground improve the dynamism of the street and the differentiation between private and public.

Platforms, steps, low wall.

Open spaces and non-defined zones.

-Street life:

Steps, thresholds, pavements.

materials

and

# Relation to the Building:

Model: Banyan Tree Lane. Extansion of the building to the outside add one step to the privacy. The platforms give the space back to the residents, providing gathering and outdoor spaces.

1.

2.

3.

Hierarchy of the privacy: 1. More public areas, shadows provided by the trees, wind coming from the west allows natural ventilation. 2. Semi-public, extansions of the house to the street. Direct contact with the rest of the slum. 3. Private balconies allowing visual contact to the street life.

Left Picture and picture above: Close to Poppadum Square Investing the in between space.

Picture: Dharavi roof-top, storage for the Industrial District.

Concept registered:

Tool Used:

-Social Network:

- Social Network:

External public spaces shared in between people. Direct relation with the neighbors

Narrow path in between buildings. Common water points,

- Spatiality:

- Spatiality:

Extansion of the house to the outside, to the public life, for washing dishes and laundry, use the outside as storage space, gathering space for women,access to fresh air.

Narrow path in between buildings, balconies, rooftops, ladders, visible vertical circulation, direct openings to the street and in between spaces.

-Structure:

-Structure:

Strong link to the public life and to the neighborhood.

Low-rise buildings.

3° Charles Correa’s Principles # Presentation “ Architect, planner, activist and theoretician, Charles Correa has captured the world’s attention with his highly inventive approach, adapting the language of modern architecture to create a humane habitat. [...] Correa is regarded internationally as an expert on housing in developing countries.” “ From his low-cost, low-rise buildings and high-rises in high-density contexts to complete townships, Correa and his practice never imitate the past, [...] it is an architecture of recession,

indoor and outdoor spaces that merged into one another, the use of which is determinated by the climate or the seasons and not by the activity within them. It is an architecture of horizontal planes - of roofs and platforms, open colonnades, verandahs and courtyards with fountains.” of

From Charles Correa, Architect in India by Hasan-Uddin Khan, and Charles Correa, Housing and Urbanisation, ed. Thames and Hudson.

Project_ The two following projects I chose to investigate are based on two different scales: - Urban Scale: Belapur Housing in New-Bombay seeks to demonstrate how high densities can be achieved within the context of a low-rise typology. - Building Scale: The Tube House in Ahmedabad aims to encourage new ideas for low-income housing and it is an early example of energy-passive architecture.

Recurrent Concepts : Space duality. Example: Kanchanjunga, 1970-83, Bombay Relation ground/ ceiling creates volumes and involes space distinctions.

Belapur Housing, 1983-1986, New Bombay.

4.

4.

4.

4.

4. 4.

4.

4. 3.

4.

4.

3.

4.

# Inspiration

4. 4.

4.

4.

4. 4.

4.

2.

3.

Public 1. Main Common space

1.

2. Big Courtyard for closter of 25 houses. 3. Shared Courtyard 8 x 8 m, for 7 houses. 4. Private Garden

Private Incremental houses:

High Density:

Can grow from a single lean to roof to urban town houses.

6Ha

3000 people (500people/1 Ha)

Typography 1

Typography 2 Parking

Parking Room

Room

Kitchen

Room Parking

Parking Room

Room

Kitchen

Room

WC

WC

Bathroom

Typography WC 3

WC

Parking

Parking Room

Room

Kitchen

Room

Kitchen

Room

Bathroom Bathroom Room

WC

WC

WC Bathroom

WC Room

Bathroom

Bathroom Terrasse

Room

Bathroom

WC Kitchen

Terrasse Room

Bathroom

Room

Room WC Room

Room

WC

Room

Bathroom Terrasse

Room

Kitchen WC

Kitchen

WC

Room Room

Typography 4 Bathroom

Room

Kitchen WC

Room Room

Kitchen Room Room

Roo

Typography 5

WC Bathroom

Kitchen WC Bathroom

Room

# Inspiration - The tube house, 1981-82, Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Day time: Mezzanine: Forms an olta (traditional platform) for sleeping.

Resting/ Study space

Street Washing Space

Open Space Patio

Eating Area

Cooking Area

Living/ Dinning Area

Entrance

tube house 1961-62 Ahmeda Charles CORREA

abad A

Air circulation/

The heated air rising along the sloped ceiling, escapes throught a vent at the top. Fresh air, drawn in to replace it, sets up a convention current of natural ventilation.

Night time:

Parents Zone

Washing Space

Open Space Patio

Children Zone

transition

Concepts registered in the two projects:

Grand Parents Zone

Tool Used:

transition

tube house 1961-62 Ahmedab Charles CORREA

Low-income housing Low-rise typology

Incremental houses, develpment in time according to income and family evolution.

Modular and subdivided space, privacy.

Courtyards, platforms, ground topography.

Sustainability, Energy passive architecture.

Sloped ceiling, roof top vent, cross-ventilated house. Courtyards.

Stronger community and higher quality of life

Section 3 // Project. Support for living

“The particularity of the Indian

Architecture is the ability to absorb the changes that one had not thought about” Bijoy Jain, El Croquis n°157/2011

Prototype: From the general to the local.

Dharavi has emerged through the hands of its residents, through the opportunistic nature of its inhabitants who exploit ambiguities and in between spaces within the urban organisation. The following are six principles coming from the previous analysis which form the basis of a strategy for an alternative social housing for the slum redevelopment:

- Social Network - Porosity - Spatiality - Structure - Autonomy - Street Life

For each criteria, I will show how to integrate the principle as a general idea for a universal prototype and how to use it in my local context.

Left picture by Lise Salacroup: Laundry on a tree, close to Kornai, Maharashtra.

1° Social Network - Urban morphology: Township The courtyard hierarchise the public space Global strategy:

“buildings We don’t have that community space, neither can we access the parks that are part of the new coming up in Dharavi. If you have to just sit there, you can’t. So for me, mosque is the place where I can sit, relax, think after my prayers, and it gives me that kind of privacy and space to be with myself. ” A quote from a forty-three year old male resident of Dharavi, who does not have access to any community space. From the street ... Semi- Public

The courtyard is an important typology for my project. According to Charles Correa thoughts, the township morphology is an answer which deals with the problematic of private and public space and especially which involves the creation of open spaces. Moreover, this urban grain is based on the concept of WALKABILITY, emphasing the social networks indispensable for the slum.

... to the house.

Semi- Private

Private

Social Connexion Visual Link

Step 1

Local Intervention:

N

Step 3

Courtyard Hierarchy

Local

Step 2

1.

Site : Social niches issued from the street: Two main open-spaces with gradient privacy

2.

Block: Common space in each block providing shared sanitary, semi private garden and open platforms.

3.

House: Private courtyard. Each house get a backyard or a terrace used as a garden, an open workshop, a storage space, a potentiel for the extansion of the house.

2° Porosity Global strategy:

If the first step was the main concept of the project, this second step, dealing with porosity, consist to create a rule to place the buildings and the courtyards on the site, in function of the streets, the flow of people, and, mainly, in function of the wind direction and the rain, according to the monsoon.The aim is to use the POROSITY as a tool to take advantage of the climate, creating shadow, natural ventilation and to light the house. This porosity is following the concept of the township presented previously, increasing somehow the vernacular aspect of the project and the urban morphology.

Local Intervention: Month

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

28

31

32

32

31

29

29

29

31

31

29

Dominant Wind Temperature (°C) 27

Wind direction and temperature in Mumbai.

800 700 600 500 400 300 200

Dec

Nov

Oct

Sep

Aug

Jul

Jun

May

Apr

Mar

Feb

0

Jan

100

Average rainfall per month, Mumbai.

N

Wind on the site and positioning of the “building mass�

Using the double height to reinforce the air volume: Rain

Buffer Zone

Wind

Porosity of the house, natural ventilation.

Balconies and open walkway as buffer-zone, protecting from the rain and creating shadows.

3° Spatiality Global strategy: This part is dealing with spatiality in the living cell. Mainly, three generations are living in the same space involving a lack of space and privacy. According to the fact that the houses have to be affordable for people from the slum, and struggling with density issues, it is a tri-dimensional space which is supposed to be created, dealing with the functionality of each room, the maleability and flexibility of the space. Moreover, each house should have an open-to-sky space, bringing more space qualities such as modularity, better ventilation, appropriation space, and a fresh shade zone . The space has to be increased but the size on the ground should be limitated. The tri-dimentional approach brings a better repartition of living spaces, splitting the function and creating more private space.

Parents Children Grand Parents

10 to 20 m²

Local intervention: Organisation type of a house, differenciation of spaces. Day time:

Roof top: Drying area, water harvesting

Resting Area/ Storage

Living/ Dinning Area

Night time:

Study Space/ Playing room Cooking Area/ Wet zone

Roof top

Parents zone

Grandparents zone

Children zone

Wet zone

4° Structure Global strategy:

According to the analysis done in the previous section, the structural approach has to take in consideration two main rules: Low-rise and Low- cost. Indeed, to my mind, low-rise constructions are the better way to keep the humain scale and the connexion to the street in a settlement, an urban morphology. Thus, the prototype should not be higher than four storeys. Thus, it creates a link in between the informal settlement and the high-rise buildings; a progressive transition which is based on time to progress. The second rule, and maybe the most important, is to keep the housing cheap and affordable. The construction of the living unit into the prototype has to be simple to build, to reproduce and to expand.

Right picture: Model, original scale 1/500, volumetric study on the site. Bottom picture: View of Tardeo district from an informal settlement, Mumbai.

Local intervention: Low-Rise Housing, Transition from slum to the high-rise buildings.

Diagram showing the transition, from 2 storeys to 4 storeys high typology.

Picture: Model showing the integration of the building mass on the site.

Low-Rise housing and modular space: Incremental strategy.

Low-Rise housing and modular space: Incremental strategy.

= 1 family unit on the second storey.

= 1 family unit on the ground floor.

= Structural wall, concrete blocks; industrial, universal, easy to use.

Stripes organisation:

Independency of the unit:

Supporting walls are the basic outline of the building mass, creating direction and spaces for the circulation, for the living units, and allowing cross-ventilated house.

Each stripe corresponds to one family . The living unit is based on an addition of 12.5m² modules and owns either a courtyard or a terrace for people without direct access to the groundfloor.

Evolution in function of the income and the evolution of the family ( generational, professional, ...) Pictures: Prelimenary volume study model. Spatiality, density and expansion.

Evolution of the living unit:

Evolution of the living unit:

The structural wall allows a potential extansion of the house in function of the needs, the income and the professional, and generational evolution of the family.

At the maximum of its potentiel, the prototype gives to the family an average of 40 m² of indoor space or 180 m3. (Instead of 15m² and 45m3 usually in th slum)

Diagram: Structural strategy , modular construction and potential of expansion.

5° Autonomy Global strategy:

It is the tenacity and the ambition of the residents of Dharavi who involve its qualities and make its strenght. Indeed, the self-sufficiency of such a settlement has to be increased by a multifunctional model, a melting-pot of culture, people, activities, services, products, factories,... The building typology creates professional opportunities. The working places are integrated to the living spaces.

Left picture: Hybrid house mixing living spaces and shop, Alibaugh. Botton picture: Sculpture workshop on the groundfloor of a house, Alibaugh.

Local intervention: Typology 1: Simple House.

Typology 2: Shop and House.

Typology 3: Shop, factory and house.

Typology 4: Shop and factory.

Typology 5: 2nd floor house. Living Unit Transition and Open space Shops and workshops Factories Extansion

Diagram: Different typologies used , diversifying the activities on the street facade and into the living unit.

@ 6° Street Life Global strategy: The street, where all the social manifestations and all the activities are taking place, is acting as the spine of the informal settlement. The groundfloor facade has to be porous, the extansion of the indoor space to the outside is the main focus. The colors are also playing an important role, increasing the atmosphere, defining the space and somehow translating the appropriation of the area by its residents.

Local intervention:

Street facade: Potential space for shop and merchant activities located on the street façade.

Pictures: Colors inspiration. 1. Festival in Dharavi, by Thomas Hilbert. 2. Street Market 3. Shop and temple in Dharavi

Platforms:

Balconies:

Create a link from the ground to the street. The platforms are used to emphase a shop, an entrance, to bring the shop activities to the outside, engendering places to sit, gather, discuss, sell product,...

The balconies are reinforcing the contact to the street. The visual link created involves dynamism and improve the social network existing.

Diagram: Relationship between the ground, the building and the street.

Conclusion: Dharavi, a model for a mature integrated city. Dealing with a global problematic in a local context, this project is one of the possible answer to an alternative way of thinking social housing into high density areas. Thought to act as a “prototype”, the six principles, established from the process of registration and analysis, bring this project to develop on a larger scale. Indeed, interacting with a global and a local strategy, the project can extend itself to the rest of the slum area, liberating empty spaces, providing better conditions of life. Pushing further, once the “prototype” will be integrated and transformed in Dharavi, rising and evolving, it might even take a world dimension.

Taking a community, a neighborhood with smae background, culture and way of living. Liberate a new open space.

Spatial potential

Social network

Structure and Technic

Porosity

Street Life

Autonomy

Increasing living qualities applying the 6 principles. Make the community more dense, providing more houses then residents.

Place the community on the new site. Diagram: Spreanding over the slum liberating empty spaces.

Bibliography: Books:

Magazines, news-paper, students works:

- BANSAL Rashmi and GANDHI Deepak, Poor Little Rich Slum, 2012

- El Croquis n°157, Studio Mumbai 2003/2011, Fernando Marquez Cecilla and Richard Levene, 2011

- Charles CORREA, Housing and Urbanisation, ed. Thames and Hudson, 1999 - Courtyard Housing, Past, Present & Future , edited by Brian Edwards, Magda Sibley, Mohamad Hakmi and Peter Land, 2006. - CURTIS William jr. Balkrishna DOSHI, an architecture for India, Rizzoli International,1988 -Hasan-Uddim Khan, Charles CORREA, A mimar book/ Butterworth Architecture, 1987 - KATAN Roger, Building Together, published 1988, new edition 2013. - Re- Dharavi, SPARC / KRVIA, - SHANNON Kelly and GOSSEYE Janina, Reclaiming (the Urbanism of ) Mumbai, Sun academia,2009 - STEELE James, The Complete Architecture of B.Doshi, Rethinking modernism for rhe developing world, ed. Thames ans Hudson, 1998. -Asia Beyond Growth, Urbanization in the World’s Fastest-changing Continent. Thames & Hudson, 2010. - The Urban Age Project by the London School of Economics and Deutsche Bank’s Alfred Herrhausen Society, Living in the endless city, ed Phaidon, 2011.

- KARANDIKAR Priyanka, Chawls: Analysis of a middle class housing type in Mumbai, India. Master of science, Iowa State University, Ames Iowa, 2010. Web sites: - pukar.org.in - sparcindia.org - urbz.net - outlookindia.com Smeuti Koppikar “Thereby hangs a storey” 12th september 2005 - mumbaimirror.com Mitali PAREKH “A hall called home” 1st august 2010 - www.archdaily.com/329356/non-designarchitectures-counter-intuitive-future/ -Prospect magasine, How slums can save the planet, Steward Brand, 27th january 2010 www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/ how-slums-can-save-the -planet/ --National Geographic, JACOBSON Mark, Mumbai’s Shadow City, may 2007 www.ngm.nationalgeographic. co m / 2 0 0 7 / 0 5 / d h a rav i - m u m b a i - s l u m / jacobson-text

Thesis Project Spring 2013

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