Portfolio for Gradschool Application

A portfolio of people places and spaces _yasir hameed

CONTENTS

International competition organized by the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia, Barcelona,

Final Year Thesis: Integrating Society And Its Outcasts, Losing The Tag Of A Leprosy Colony

Urban Design Studio: Reclaiming And Re-Use Of Derelict Sites And Cultural Heritage In Hauz Khas, New Delhi

Batla House: From A Void To A Social Space

Yamuna River: A Reclaimable, Neglected Resource Turned Into A Forlorn Void

Khirki Masjid: Resuscitate A Heritage Building To Create A Vital Public Space

To view more work:

http://issuu.com/yasirhameed/stacks/de68b7fefe644e2faa72de4fb372b547 Tumblr Blog: http://yasirhameed.tumblr.com/

re-wiring the future

International competition organized by the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia, Barcelona, Exploring alternates for a better tomorrow in a bottom’s up aproach. From the individual to the neighbourhood, to the city, to the globe.

Shortlisted in top 20s amongst 240 teams from all over the world and to be published in forthcoming book Team Members:Yasir Hameed and Bhrigu C. Kalia

Our cities today in a simple verbal illustration would be ‘organised chaos’: the eloquent conspiracy theorist might report major corporations as masters of masses, their reigns being the rampant consumer culture of the world. To the less paranoid it might still look like layers of society being altered in manner most suited to the ones falling higher in the economic food chain.

Things may or may not be controlled to the extent we think they are, but certainly our priorities are being directed in a manner most suited for our self-created concepts and issues of Economy, rather than the foremost issue being the Ecology or environment. Although it has been accepted by most Ecological Economies/Economists that Nature capital is an irreplaceable and priceless commodity, it is often overlooked and/or side-lined when it becomes a question huge sums of money. In simpler words an ethical (in favour of the environment) stance is not assumed when the interests of large corporate powers are at jeopardy.

Ecocentrism may draw a path more inclusive, more complex, more integrated, and perhaps more utopian, but it denotes certain humility in the approach, that the materials of the earth are not to be used exclusively by humans for serving the needs of humanity. That in fact, people are inseparable from the organic and inorganic nature that surrounds them. Perhaps a slight shift in our outlook may change the course of our future, perhaps if we were to acknowledge the value of clean air and water in direct equality to the money we desire so much, we may find the true cost of the damage we have done.

Perhaps its time to rewire the future and undo the effects of what we’ve done.

It is our anthropocentric approach to all concerns that has led us to our current state: Man’s prime motive being his own welfare at the cost of the other species it shares the planet with. Man has changed the surroundings to fulfil his own needs i.e. altered habitats of other species, harvested the earths minerals to near exhaustion, depleted biodiversity by favouring a limited gene pool (growing only favourable species of crops), polluting the atmosphere, oceans and rivers . Man has the leading role in creating an imbalance in natural cycles, and ultimately creating an undesirable situation for himself.

_rewiring the future

The earth in its current state is the resultant of the simplest and complex actions of the many people that populated it. Each action may hold consequences that when added to consequences of other actions, multiplied by the actions of other people achieve exponential effects. These effects simply put can be either positive or negative. To draw a mental picture, it is a fact that the climatic changes seen through the recent years may have its roots in the simplest actions of people for e.g., usage of CFC based coolants, Spray propellants, usage of fossil fuels etc. Another example would be the fact that most common garbage items found polluting the oceans are cigarette butts, beverage bottles, straws, plastic bags, lids and candy wrappers; all items used in daily routine life. Drawing conclusion from the above it is imperative to start making changes at a much lower scale, changes at the human scale

Our efforts to make changes globally start with ourselves; changes in lifestyle and daily choices can make a huge difference to the world: adopting alternate technologies for daily needs e.g.

1. Powering most small electronics like mp3 players, mobile phones, wrist watches via pulse driven systems, body heat systems that convert the motion from a pulse, heat from the body or a coffee mug into usable electricity.

2. Using social media and smart phone technologies to inform people of their ecological footprints, it will allow people to compete and achieve a smaller footprint and also demonize those that have larger ecological footprints.

3. Replacing daily hygiene products and toiletries with non polluting organic alternatives. There are plenty of options available and emphasis will be on local products that bear less embodied energy.

This will also boost local economies and smaller sized industries.

4. Locally grown hemp, organic cotton, bamboo and vegan silk can effectively reduce the embodied energy in clothes and also present very viable options that are not based on petroleum based fibres.

5. All of the materials that are more ecologically feasible including hemp,organic cotton, coconut, cork, bamboo, eco-latex, organic wool, silk, recycled plastic and rubber may be used to produce eco-footwear.

Numerous such efforts and changes can be taken to reduce dependance on fossil fuel based technologies and reduce one’ ecological footprint.

CO2

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Algal Facade

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_rewiring the future 4

A radical change in the city life will take place when virtual presence is adopted as a method for working. The daily influx of population to city centres and other places of work will reduce significantly along with transportation cost and fuel consumption, consequently reducing our dependance on fossil fuel based modes of transportation and also making life more convenient

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Eco-Cement

Low VOC paint

Suntubes (Optic Fibre networks) Ligting Homes

Cork Flooring

Algal Lighting

Smart Sensors

Smart Heating Appliances

Coconut Fibre water purifiers

Dry Toilets

Low-Flow Showers

Open Sourcing

It is possible now, during the information age that we use the simplest tools like social networking and open sourcing improve lifestyle. The era of smartphones should be making the users smart as well, educating him/her of their environmental footprint and ways to curb it in the positive direction. Streets, Neighbourhoods, Cities all would have real-time data associated with crime, pollution, property rates and many other variables like available carpool service etc. to enable citizens to assess quality and mobilize changes to wherever necessary. A forefront to the truly democratic city.

“A CITY EXISTS FOR THE SAKE OF A GOOD LIFE, NOT FOR THE SAKE OF LIFE ONLY.” -ARISTOTLE

Smart street lighting systems, algae based, made for minimum light pollution.

Street landscaping doubling as urban farms.

Smart street furniture: Public toilets that can Garbage bins that compact collect human waste that garbage, powered by solar, can be reused and recycled, may also be used for powered by solar power. surveillence and signage.

Large billboards can also be used to collect condensed water, which can even be used for drinking

Public transportation systems running on wireless electricity transmited by induction.

Dedicated bicycle lanes with strategically placed bike rentals and bicycle parking spots.

Dedicated lanes for ON GRID running electrical vehicles, will use electricity directly transmitted wirelessly via induction. This will allow a direct billing of electricity consumed on travel. Emphasis also on other alternate technologies like compressed air vehicles, hydrogen etc.

Wireless electricity transmitors

While minor lifestyle changes may have drastic effects on the current built capital it might just save the environment and the human species from a self-inflicted blow of destruction. The change in the simplest of functions in daily life may change the future devastation.

It is a fact that self sustainabilaty cannot be achieved in a closed system. Every place has its own pros and cons, its own set of strengths and weaknesses, thus its imperitive to build global cities, a collective that strengthens each other which achieving a good ecological balance. A good balance betweens man, man made and nature.

City playgrounds can also help meet the cities energy and water deficit if utilized.

Urban rooftop planning can be taken up intensively to utilize the space simply wasted

Predestrian friendly smart streets providing adequete lighting, walking space and access to public transport

Smart sensors in street furniture will report fires and such accidents swiftly

URBAN AGRICULTURE: Small scale home and street farms coupled with large scaled urban farms (practicing sustainable intensive farming using hydropaunics etc.) within the urban and peri-urban environment. These will provide a healthy, fresh, organic, local, sustainable (with less embodied energy) options to people. It will eliminate the need for long distance transportation and cold storage etc. The excess production of the farming can be further used to export to nearby cities, that may have a deficit in production. It will also provide more jobs opertunities within the city and a healthy pass time for many. It will break the traditional model in which the city would be the consumer market and the rural areas as the producer.

RAIN

SUNLIGHT

Open city spaces and parks can be used as direct markets for farmers to sell their produce.

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GOODS SERVICES NEW

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Formation of global cities, ones that interact with neighbouring city in the best manner possible.

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SERVICES EXCESS FOOD EXCESS ENERGY

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WASTE REUSE: Waste segregation and Reuse centres and virtual exchanges, Remanufacturing, Refilling programs, Repurposing, Upcycling, Solid Waste Water Management, Grey Water Reuse, etc. are few examples of how a city can over come various problems of waste disposal. An effort of such things at a city level can surely add up to a huge impact. Utilisation or reusing the waste generated by the city within the city is a must to achieve a better future.

WATER

GOODS

INFO

Every city in the world has the potential to produce energy depending upon the demand of that of energy of the city and also the city’s climatic conditions which may favour the energy generation. Solar Energy, Tidal Energy, Wind Energy, Biofuel Energy, Geothermal Energy, Algal System, etc. Fortunately many of these do not require climatic favourability to generate energy. Using gymnasium machines, human heat from public spaces, play pumps, etc. can be used as an easily available source to convert into energy.

Leprosy Colony

Final Year Thesis: Integrating Society And Its Outcasts, Losing The Tag Of A Leprosy Colony Over 4,000 people live in the Delhi leprosy complex. Though leprosy has been eliminated — not eradicated — in India, the stigma and discrimination that leprosy patients and their children face is far from eliminated.

This thesis explored the various possible options for redevelopment that would enable those who have suffered from leprosy to live with dignity , without stigmatization and prejudice. In tandem to providing socially inclusive housing and economic opportunity via urban farming and policy framework.

Second prize winner in 11th Annual International Design Competition organised by International Association of Humane Habitat.

Introduction to Leprosy Colony, Shahadra, New Delhi

Leprosy Colony Shahadra _what is leprosy?

Leprosy is considered one of the oldest diseases of mankind, and it is likely to originate from India (Bombay Leprosy Project, 2011). The infection emerges from a bacterium, Mycobacterium leprae, which in many ways is similar to the tuberculosis bacteria. The bacterium lives and grows in the skin and peripheral nerves where it causes damage with numbness as a common symptom. One of the most common misconceptions concerning leprosy is that the disease causes limbs to rot off. This is however not the case. Instead, the vast majority of physical defects are a result of wounds caused by numbness, which later lead to infection and finally amputation.

_what is a leprosy colony?

Expelling individuals affected by leprosy from the society, or confine those in restricted areas have been common practice in most cultures throughout history. The majority sought their entrance to leprosy asylums voluntarily, but some were also placed in asylums under the Lepers Act of 1898. However there were always more people in need of asylum than there was availability. The leprosy asylums in India underwent major changes since the first colonies in the 1870s, and by the 1940s they could be divided into three forms; “the well organized sanatorium for active and infective cases, with proper staff, buildings, and equipment; the asylum for crippled, deformed, and disabled cases; and the agricultural colony in which patients could maintain themselves”.

The asylums aimed to be at the right balance between remoteness and accessibility, mostly some distance from the city and next to a thoroughfare. A road nearby was an income opportunity for the lepers by begging. They varied often in size and organization as well as in their built structure, with strong influences from local materials and local buildings, however the general practice were to erect a surrounding wall.

_objective of redesign The object is to empower the community to determine the redesign of their settlement that fulfil their needs, reach their full potential and live with dignity and free of stigma. The redesigned community will clearly portray the strength and determination of the stigmatized community. There will be both symbolic and institutional identifiers that will enhance the imageability of the community showing that the families are empowered, educated, employed and strong advocates of their rights. (Lynch 1960)

_population

Shanghai Mumbai Delhi Bangalore New York City

_population densities

_area

_Leprosy colony

Shanghai Mumbai Delhi Bangalore New York City

_New Delhi 9340 PPSqKm

_The Site

The Site and the Precincts The Leprosy colony in question is located in Eastern Delhi, near the Tahirpur Gaon. It is well-connected to the rest of the city through road network and the closest metro station is Dilshad Garden Metro Station which is approximately at a 5 minutes drive. It lies in Zone E in the MPD 2021.

_scope of project

In situ Redevelopment

Rehabilitation Housing _Active Patients _Passive patients _Slum dwellers

Community Based Rehabilitation:

Urban Agriculture for Supplementing in terms of food production

13oc - 33oc,Average Temperature 7.5Hrs AVERAGE DAILY SUNSHINE 714mm AVERAGE RAINFALL SOIL: SAND,SILT AND CLAY WITH KANKAR

Source: Google Earth Images

5 MINS FROM DILSHAD GARDEN METRO STATION LOCALLY KNOWN AS, ‘KODI COLONY’ LOCATED IN SHAHADRA, NEAR TAHIRPUR GAON LANDMARK: GTB HOSPITAL EAST DELHI, _Health: Health Care facilities for prevention, cure, and post disease assistance and self care.

‘ZONE E’ IN MPD2021 _Education: Educational facility of up to Primary level. _Livlihood: Skill development centres, vocational training centres, opportunity for self employment and wage employment , Financial assistance and social protection. _Social: Public spaces for social interaction, spaces for culture,religion and arts, recreational spaces.

_Empowerment: Advocacy of socially backward groups to fight social stigma and create social equity.

Site Morphology

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_ILLEGAL SETTLEMENT

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_OWNERSHIP DISPUTED.

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_MCD LEPROSY HOME

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After the ressetlement of the leprosy patients in village of hope,this area was slowly encroached by others.

The residents of the area have next to none interaction with the leprosy patients living in the neighbourhood.

Most residents have small businesses on the main road or work odd jobs in Delhi. Almost all are migrants from U.P., Bihar, and Bengal.

_DDA LAND

_SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE NURSING HOME,DRESSING UNIT, CLINIC

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_OWNERSHIP DECOMMISSIONED MILITARY BARRACKS WERE CONVERTED INTO A LEPROSY HOME IN 1955. MCD OWNED DESCRIPTION: The land and exhisting structures were abandoned military structure that were refurbished to be used as a leprosy home. A large peice of land is used for farming and a pond for pisciculture

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_DISTRICT PARK

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_KASTURBA GRAM KUSHT ASHRAM

_SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE OTHERS: CLINIC

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_OWNERSHIP LAND DONATED FROM DEPT. OF SOCIAL WELFARE TO HANUMAN MANDIR. ON A 99 YEAR LEASE DESCRIPTION: This land was provided by Dept. Of Social Hanuman Mandir to run a leprosy home.

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UILT UNB D N TA BUIL

_MOTHER TERESA’S HOME

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_SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE CHURCH, LEPROSY NURSING HOME, CLINIC

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_SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE OTHERS: MCD DISPENSARY, HOPE FOUNDATION HQ, COMPUTER AND LIFE SKILLS CENTRE. _SERVICES WATER TANK AND SEWAGE PUMPING STATION _OWNERSHIP LAND DONATED FROM DEPT. OF SOCIAL WELFARE TO HOPE FOUNDATION. PRIVATE OWNERSHIP. DESCRIPTION: This land was provided by Dept. Of Social Welfare to Hope Foundation to resettle Leprosy Patients living in JJCs on the site. The colony has a Wax workshop and various other small scale cottage industries like ‘agarbatti making’ etc. The Hope foundation works at ground level with leprosy patients towards a goal of socioeconomic rehabilitation.

_SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE

_SERVICES WATER TANK AND SEWAGE PUMPING STATION _OWNERSHIP LAND DONATED FROM MCD TO ANANDGRAM SOCIETY. PRIVATE OWNERSHIP.

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OTHERS: 1 PRIMARY SCHOOL

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_ANANDGRAM KUSHT ROG SOCIETY

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_VILLAGE OF HOPE

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_OWNERSHIP LAND DONATED FROM DEPT. OF SOCIAL WELFARE TO MISSIONARIES OF CHARITY. ON A 99 YEAR LEASE DESCRIPTION: This land was provided by Dept. Of Social Welfare to Missionaries of Charity to run a leprosy home and provide free health care to all leprosy patients. A large piece of land is used for agriculture

IN

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1138 1493

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DESCRIPTION: This land was provided by MCD to various NGOs to resettle Leprosy Patients living in JJCs The colony owns in 1960. the shops facing the main road, which the have rented out and the rent from which is equally distributed as among families and for society’s maintenance

_street profile and activity

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A layered analysis of the existing foliage on the site, identification of the old trees and the ones that should be retained, pockets of green that exists even within the largely organic settlement; and juxtaposing them with the layered road networking and the built mass, allows one to identify key aspects of the site.

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In recognizing the main vehicular arteries that cater to site and by identifying the cluster of foliage and green patch that should be retained, a basic palette for the architect has been set. Any intervention made would be towards improving the lifestyle as well as social inclusively

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_04 _Tertiary Street

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_Secondary Street

_Key Plan

_fishing pond

_resting and socializing

_small scale commercial activity

_playing Source: TSS Urban Design

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_Service Lane

_Primary Road

Assessing Needs to Concept

Towards Social integration Segregated systems that have characterized our treatment of leprosy are now mostly ineffective, inefficient and stigmatizing.

Instead of helping to maintain people affected by the disease in their families and communities, they have dislocated them. Instead of encouraging the integration of people affected by the disease with others having similar needs and interests, they have separated them in specialised organizations and programmes.

Instead of promoting increased self-sufficiency, they have encouraged unnecessary dependency. Such segregated systems are expensive to maintain and reinforce the image of leprosy as a highly contagious condition, ‘a disease apart’.

They stigmatise people and hinder control programmes that depend on voluntary cooperation. They complicate the recruitment of professional workers and provide excuses for community institutions to discriminate against people affected by leprosy.

The population consists of a diverse crowd, hailing from different religions, ethnicities and regions.

Many of them donot suffer from leprosy, some suffered from it and have been cured and are capable of living independent lives and a few who found help at a very later stage and thus are dependent on the various agencies (NGOs) and help-groups that functton within the confines of the colony.

It is evident that while most of the population is capable of working, skilled labour is quit lacking. The average income of less than 5000 Rs per month allows for basic subsistence only. There is need for vocational training and skill enhancement that would lead to augmentation of the individual income.

Interventions like the fish pond, urban farming, local trading etc that would lead the settlement towards supplementing this resource pool.

In order to change these systems of treatment, it will be necessary to integrate existing community programmes with organization serving the general population, to create new integrated programmes and institutions, and to transform existing leprosy organization. As much attention will have to be given to the social, economic, psychological and spiritual needs of people affected by leprosy as is now given to their physical problems and to protecting the community from the spread of the disease and associated stigma.

Any redevelopment of the present ‘leprosy colony’ would have to take into consideration that the need for such a segregation now is moot..

In fact it even fosters discrimination, since the society in general is allowed to stay in complacent ignorance and no attempt is made to change the status quo.

This project is an attempt to break the mould of stigma and initializing a rehabilitation of those who have become social pariah due to their association with leprosy.

Another major factor that is bound to have an impact is the urban context of the site. Since it sits in Delhi, which is a metropolitan grappling with intense shortage of housing, this scheme proposes the course of redensification of the site.

This will not only respond to the needs of the city, it will also inject new people into the colony allowing it to shed its image and work towards a cohesive neighbourhood.

In response to the socio economic fabric of the residents, one would need to create ways such that they might gain appropriate skills so as to improve their income and therefore their standard of living; or supplement what is available to them by growing or producing what they need in situ.

Masterplan

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_proposed land usage

_proposed site section

Landscaping Plan

Integrating the landscape and agriculture in plantation the plantation scheme, will supplement basic needs and be a much better economic decision than a plantation scheme only for decorative purposes.

Source: Green Streets

Water Cycle and Urban Agriculture The current scenario in which we face issues of climate crisis, crop failures, depletion of natural water resources, hunger, price rise and a large growing population, especially in urban areas leave us no choice but to use all our available resources in the most economical manner and push production of food to the maximum.

In fact urban rural regions are integrated socioeconomic mechanism that works holistically, to produce raw materials, train pool of skilled workers and managers and bring together cluster of economic inputs which create what we know as wealth if they are integrated each catalyses and enriches the other. Beninnger,C. Charles,2011, “Letters to a Young Architect�

Creation of ecologically derived human support systems i.e renewable energy,agriculture, aquaculture, housing and landscapes will bridge a gap between production and demand. It will also reduce dependency of fresh water resources, utilization of storm water run off and stop urban flooding and will increase waste water utilization saving the city a lot of money on expensive water treatment technologies. Creating landscapes that reflect a rural character will also enhance the imagibilaty of the city.

Bio conversion Living machines are engineered biological systems that treat and upcycle organic waste into value-added products, such as food, fuel, biomaterials, and ecosystem services like waste water treatment.

Upcycling biomass waste into value added agricultural produce.

_Street Sections

Projections for 45 Sq.M living macgine 36 kgs of oyster mushrooms weekly 30 heads of lettuce weekly 55 kgs of Tilapa Fish annually .5 ton of vermi compost a month Source: ArkFab LivingMachines Proposal Jan2011

Views

View showing housing at eye level

View showing mixing of agriculture, housing and recreation

Views

View showing work centre, green houses and secondary street at eye level

View showing fishing pond and housing at eye level.

hauz khas

Urban Design Studio: Reclaiming And Re-Use Of Derelict Sites And Cultural Heritage In Hauz Khas, New Delhi The Design brief was based around identification of voids in the built fabric and create a public space in these voids.

A portion of the studio exercise was used in the LA! Journal Annual Design Competition 2012 which received a Special Mention Design Team: Yasir Hameed, Anandit Sachdev, Amir Equbal, Wafa Rizvi, Rahema Shah, Taru

Introduction To Hauz Khas

Hauz Khas Village

Hauz Khas Complex in Hauz Khas, South Delhi houses a water tank, an Islamic seminary, a mosque, a tomb and pavilions built around an urbanized village with medieval history traced to the 13th century of Delhi Sultanate reign.

_The History It was part of Siri, the second medieval city of India of the Delhi Sultanate of Allauddin Khilji Dynasty (1296–1316). The tank was de–silted during the reign of Firuz Shah Tughlaq (1351–88). Several buildings (Mosque and madrasa) and tombs were built overlooking the water tank or lake. Firuz Shah’s tomb pivots the L–shaped building complex which overlooks the tank.

In the 1980s, Hauz Khas Village, studded with domed tombs of Muslim royalty from the 14th to 16th centuries, was developed as an upper class residential cum commercial area in the metropolis of South Delhi, India.

The village is at a prime location of the city, yet one can find a disconnect between the public transportation. The linkage from the bus and metro stations to the village is missing. The distance of approximately 3 kms has to be covered by either and auto rickshaw or by foot; which proves to be expensivce and tiresome respectively.

_The Image

Image source: Google Earth

The Voids Void 1

A piau (place to drink water from) can also be seen on the site and is used by the labour working in the neighborhood. The space is often visited by smokers. People seldom use this space for sitting and chatting over a cup of tea. One can see people talking over phone here.

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voids

A chai (tea) shop is present perpendicular to the entry of the void. Hence, two kota stone slabs have been placed on bricks to provide for a make shift seating space.

Panorama of the south western wall

Current use of space does not take advantage of the stunning views and topography.

The ever increasing concrete jungle surrounds us. It is the vastness of these structures and spaces created by them, that makes us realize the importance of open spaces. Sadly, the open spaces available in these concrete surroundings are the urban voids; left untreated and dilapidated. Such urban voids, can be spotted in the Hauz Khas village, with some minor interventions these voids can be transformed into successful social spaces.

The back-alleys of Hauz Khas village speak of layers of history. Their remembrance of the urban chronology of the villages mourns its ambient decay and it is the romance of this medieval reflection that has brought the quirky and artsy populace of the city to its bosom.

The backyard of the people who have lived here for generations, galleries of remembrance for those find solace in the past, a haven for the quintessential maverick, the high street of art and fashion courtesy of a silent renaissance – the urban voids of Hauz Khas have been staked by many and yet claimed by none. A brambled wire stands at the interface of the village and the madrasa, seeking to separate the glory of the past from the ignominy of the present with its sheer ugliness.

Location of voids 1. Unused Plinth 2. Neglected temple and adjoining park 3. Node on Entry to village 4. The main street

This proposal is an attempt to integrate visually the present day village to the heritage complex, transforming the various urban void into a space – a congregation street and a vantage point with seating and clear view of the lake.

Void 2

Poor edge condition reduces circulation and creates clutter and narrow alleys.

The temple and space around it is under utilized due to the fencing around it, its potential may be realized more if it is connected with the circulation path adjacent.

_The Intervention

social space

Due to less ground area available, a need was felt to go vertically up. Doing so, one would also get the advantage of the view offered by the site of the Hauz Khas tank. Therefore, more space was created using the available less space, by creating a staircase, with its landings acting as viewing decks. The stairway offers a view from the top, which acts as an element of surprise.

The highest landing gives a view of the Hauz Khas tank and the Deer Park. The whole structure, thus, leads the viewer to the top where the view creates an element of surprise.

The present edge condition is not very suitable. A wire mesh is installed on the edge separating the village and the deer park (as seen in figure 1). Various hoardings and banners have been put up on this mesh, which gives the whole edge a very shabby look.

The mesh doesn’t provide security. It only creates an uncomfortable enclosure. A basic change in design, which is, to do away with the mesh, will improve the aesthetics of the space, and provide a decent seating space if an embankment is constructed along this edge.

view point

public space

batla house

Batla House: From A Void To A Social Space Initial research was done as part of urban design workshop conducted by Dr. Sheila Mitra Sarkar, and A portion of the study coupled with a design intervention was used in the LA! Journal Annual Design Competition 2012 which received a Special Mention Design Team: Yasir Hameed, Imran Khan, Bhrigu Kalia, Taru

Introduction To Hauz Khas

As one walks deeper into Batla House, one enters an unacknowledged paradigm of Delhi – the face where need and opportunity has bred unauthorized and therefore un-regulated construction.

In the looming visage of this concrete jungle, dank walls seem to close in, locking out sunlight and fresh air. Boxes over boxes placed haphazardly with barely enough space to breathe – it makes for an enclosure that stifles it inhabitants. For women and children who spend a major chunk of their lives confined in such conditions, a piece of open sky and a patch of green earth is luxury.

Ironically, a space exists at the edge of this settlement, straddling the canal and the river. As of now it is an ill-maintained area with little community activity. A minor landscaping intervention though would provide the community here the much-needed public space.

A space where children can play and families can spend evenings, where Yamuna gets integrated back into the lives of a community that essentially lives with its back to the river, a space where the enclosure cracks a little to allow sunlight to seep in to the lives of the inhabitants of Batla House.

batla house

The urban sprawl today at Batla House

urban sprawl

Image Source: Google Earth

these streets...

The dreary old lanes to the high-street madness, I fight with my brain to believe my eyes, And it’s harder than you think, To believe this sadness, That creeps up my spine, And haunts me through the night, Where’d the days go? When all we did was play, And the stress that we were under wasn’t stress at all, Just a run and a jump into a harmless fall.

-Paulo Nutini

_The Intervention

playground

public deck

playground

green walk

the yamuna

Yamuna River: A Reclaimable, Neglected Resource Turned Into A Forlorn Void Entry for the Urban SOS competition.

Design Team: Yasir Hameed, Anandit Sachdev, Bhrigu Kalia, Taru, Archana Rani

the neglected river

delhi’s lifeline

case studies

potential transportational spine

khirki mosque

Khirki Masjid: Resuscitate A Heritage Building To Create A Vital Public Space The competition entry for “the adaptive Reuse of Khirki Masjid in Delhi�, which is a neglected monument in Delhi. It subsequently won a special mention.

Design Team: Yasir Hameed, Anandit Sachdev, Imran Khan, Bhrigu Kalia, Taru

Introduction to Khirki Masjid

the derelict monument