Making Three Ends Meet: Heritage, Housing for the Poor and ... · PDF fileOther notable low income housing include the Belapur Housing, New Bombay 1983-86 ACC Township,Wadi Andhra

Making Three Ends Meet:

Housing for the Poor, Inspiration from Tradition and Sensible Architecture

RAY to the rescue of urban heritage and insist on humane, lively and efficient housing solutions.

Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY), a flagship scheme of the Government of India was launched in June 2011 with its 2 year long first phase budgeted at INR 5000 crores ( 1 billion US$ in Nov 2011).

The scheme is expected to cover about 250 cities by the end of 2017. A list of 157 RAY cities across the country was notified.

Appendix I contains some of the 157 cities which have considerable historic significance and large slum populations living in core areas.

RAY offers a great opportunity to:

Improve water supply, sanitation and social infrastructure in inner cities

It is also a major initiative in creating new housing for the urban poor

With few exceptions, most low cost housing built in India is four storied blocks of flats with dwelling units ranging from 20 sq meters to 30 sq meters. Such ‘public housing’ in historic areas has the added problem of being incongruous interventions. India has had good examples of low cost housing in the past. Designed by Charles Correa architects, the Malabar Cements Township in Kerala bordering Walayar Dam was built with 35 sqm dwelling units in two storeyed blocks during 1978-1982 inside a Teak forest without destroying the natural growth of the forest. Other notable low income housing include the Belapur Housing, New Bombay 1983-86 ACC Township,Wadi Andhra Pradesh by Correa, the Community Housing, Indore by Vastu Shilpa Foundation Low Cost Housing at Rajkot by Kulbhushan and Minakshi Jain 1979-80.

Examples

RAY Guidelines.

RAY guidelines can only suggest that houses built are

Cheap to build and maintain,

Allowing self maintenance by residents,

Facilitate addition of a room in future and

Low rise-high density.

RAY guidelines could also suggest higher priority for selecting slums in historic areas in the implementation schedule under the Slum Free City Plan of Action ( a ‘whole city –all slums’ approach document) and Pilot DPRs prescribed under the guidelines.

HOUSING PROJECT - VAZAKULAM PONDICHERRY

Site Images

120 dwelling units

Dumping of garbage in open areas within the compond

No proper drainage system

No defined space for other activities cattle, goats and chicken farming

Existing Scenario

Extensions Extensions

Drainage

System

Existing Scenario

The challenges: •Developing a settlement for 240 families taking inspiration from traditional urban form: low rise and high density

•Combine the housing with other activities to improve overall quality of life

•Create a system for management by the residents

•Empower the residents in the decision making process from the conceptual stage to create a sense of ownership

•Participation of the people in the building process

Designing a Housing Project in Vazakulam

Proposal

Important elements of design

•Ground + 3 Floors with terrace for common use with space for solar photovoltaic panels. •Vehicles and parking limited to the peripheral roads so that the inner spaces are exclusively for the people. •Vehicle-free inner courtyards for community activities with facilities like multipurpose hall, a park with play areas, kitchen gardens etc.. •Optimal use of solar energy for lighting and hot water. •Water conservation.

Dwelling units

Pedestrian

Recreation

Vehicular roads

Parking

Entry

Play ground

Proposals

Barriers

Pedestrian Entry

Pedestrian Entry

Pedestrian Entry

Pedestrian Entry

Common Facilities

Parking

Courtyard Proposal

Corridor View

Design Options

Typical Flat

Bath &

Toilet

Balcony

Kitchen &

Store

Living

Bedroom

Existing & Proposed Views