Supervisor: Prof. Arch. Alessandra Battisti

Co-supervising institutions:

Vastu-Shilpa Foundation for studies and resaerch in environmental design

CEPT University Ahmedabad

RWTH Aachen University, Lehrstuhl für Wohnbau

Senior student: Laura MarcheggianoOctober 2011

Graduation thesis research in Environmental Architecture

Gaay Nagar

Re-Housing Settlement Design Projectin compliance with ecological standards,

Makarba Community, Sarkhej Roza, Ahmedabad, India

PART 2

Gaay Nagar

Part 2

Click here for Part 1: Analysis and Context

Click here for Part 3: Design Proposals

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CONTENTS

Section I

1. Planning in emerging countries in 2011......

2. A Pattern of growth: Seeking a contextualurban habitat design .................................2.i Tertiarisation and economic growth2.ii Processes of structural change

3. Is there an Indian Urbanity?.......................

Section II

4. Habitat Design Studio 2011.......................4.i Descovering wonderful Gujarat ..........

Louis KahnLe CorbusierV.B. DoshiCharles Correa

4.ii Workshop_Feb-Apr 2011....................5. Learning From Doshi ................................

5.i LIC Housing5.ii IFFCO Township5.iii Aranya Nagar5.iv Vidyadhar Nagar5.v Ludya Village

Section III

6. Analysis and Context6.i Background, Layout and Concept ......6.ii Exixting Built and Unbuilt space:

Traditional generation ........................6.iii Existing Water System:

Networks and Potentials .....................7. Design intents ...........................................

7.i Who gets the Land?7.ii Gaay Nagar7.iii The Inclusive Design Manifesto7.iv Methodologies and Strategies

8. Design Proposals ......................................8.i Masterplan and Open Spaces8.ii Product vs Process8.iii We have many layers in life8.iv Three DIifferent Typologies

9. Learning from Laurie Baker ......................9.i A cost reduction manual

Section IV

Bibliography:: Selected list of References ........

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Section III

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6. Analysis and Context

6.i Background, Layout and Concept

Site Location in Urban Context

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Ahmedabad City

and the immediate context:

Founded in 1411AD on the eastern banks of the

Sabarmati river by Sultan Ahmed Shah, Ahme-

dabad is a city with a rich urban character and

a particular neighbourhood structure refered to

as ‘Pols’. The residential typology that makes

up these ‘Pols’ are an exceptional response to

the harsh climate of the region.

Though on the river bank, this city has histori-

cally depended on a network of water bodies

which are fed by the contours of the topography,

for its perennial supply of water. The seasonal

nature of the river has led to a perception of it

being a part of a natural system of drainage for

the region rather than a feature of the lan-

dscape.

With each of the localised water bodies, Tala-

vadi’s there is an agricultural settlement. The

talavadi, their catchments, the village and their

agricultural land form the basic unit of settle-

ment, linked together by agricultural markets

and routes of trade.

Ahmedabad as a city grew with the consolida-

tion of such settlement into a larger urban or-

ganisation planned under influence of both

Islamic and Hindu ideas of city design. Nee-

dless to say topography and drainage play a

vital role in the structure of the city.

1

2

8,7 Km...It’s real periphery

1. City centre

2. Sarkhej Roza (Building Site)

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Bioclimatic system

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Anthropic system

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Biophysical system

SITE LOCATION

- One hectar built up

area allowed plot

CURRENT

TOPOGRAPHY

- 6m hight difference W-E

- New road planned by the government

FLUD SITUATION

in 1-year time...*

* Flood situation in 1-year time...

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6.ii Existing built and unbuilt space:

Traditional generation

Typical settlement in Ahmedabad:

Studies deductions within a Study

Comparison in Gujarat

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6.ii Unbuilt space:

Traditional generation

Existing open spaces typologies:

Characters, potentials and weeknesses

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6.iii Existing water system:

Networks and Potentials

Sarkhej has taken a back seat!

History

Sarkhej Roza used to be pilgrimage attraction

and still remains one of

the most elegant and unique architectural

complexes of Ahmedabad.

What happened ?

>>> From 1980 on: Boom in urban develop-

ment

>>> The river has been channelized

>>> Land administered by the Sarkhej Roza

Trust has been encroached by informal settle-

ments

>>> The area where tributaries used to flow is

being filled in

Consequences ...

The cerimonial pathway is encroched, the pi-

lons are in ruins

Sewage from adjoining village and shanties

that surround

sarkhej from 2 sides, take now the place of

monsoon water

What can they do ?

The citizens of Ahmedabad need to work to-

wards preserving their heritage

and cultivate a sense of pride in their multifa-

rious legacy.

Before... Sarkhej Roza Tank...Used to collect monsoon run off

After... Now Sarkhej Roza Tank...is dry!

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Local approach to economical development

We propose a revisitation of this “Inclusive”

model, to explore new potential synergies wi-

thin an implemented local economy.

New deals could take place, within the deve-

lopment of a production-consume-natural re-

sources cycle, at a smaller scale.

Following a cow for one day

Cow movement seems

Random and Unlogical...

IT’S NOT!

Pick up

Basic space requirements

are not respected

Absent or inappropriate outdoor space,

which is not only used for cattle

Milking and feeding

Path to the grazing fields:

Walk 5 Km a day to get to

the field outised Makarba,

having to corss an Highway

Cows get back home alone

They need water and shade

during hot times of the day

(risk of interruption and loss)

They get food from peasants

Feeding and Milking

7. Design intents

7.i Who gets the land?

Urban vs Rural: European model

Periphery in India is currently being created

following a typically western model, which op-

poses rural activities to the Urban ones.

In order to link this duality, we use transport,

100% anti-ecological.

On the other hand, the traditional indian model

of society development, brings those two ele-

ments together. How often do we see a cow

crossing the S G Highway?

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Inclusive Design

PROPOSE AN ALTERNATIVE PARADIGM

TO THE STANDARD ECONOMIC SYSTEM

Include values – eg.importance of the Agra-

rian Aspect –

which are normally excluded from the Urban

Development

7.ii Gaay Nagar

The Green Path

The womb of our settlement:

the generating space of our Economical Cycle

Rural activity returns to the previous situa-

tion.. GET BACK TO WHAT WE’VE LOST

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Sight of the green path from the terrace of a T1

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7.iii The inclusive design manifestoGroup work_together with:

Jose Carpio (Madrid)

Lara Briz (Madrid)

Arun Jansen (Delft)

Vigneswar V. S. (CEPT)

Design intents

Extensive analysis of the context and the pro-

gram lead the team to conclude that the area

of focus should be the rural-urban divide that

characterises these peripheral areas of the

city. Generally there is a lot of friction between

the different groups and consequently some

groups belonging to an agrarian back-ground

are gradually eliminated. To avoid this scena-

rio an inclusive developmental agenda is re-

quired. Thus the main aim of the project was

the creation of an ‘inclusive design’ in which

every concerned party is mutually benefitted

by the design. Besides the people involved

other ecological factors like the topography,

ecological cycles and water / waste manage-

ment were factors which played an important

part in the inclusive design process.

The intentions of the design were to ‘get back

to what we have lost’. The urban dwellers

have lost their connection to nature and the

rural people are losing their livelihood and

land. Can these two opposing types of living

co-exist? The design process started with this

question.

Means through which both these opposing

cultures could co-exist was explored and in-

corporated into the design process. Economi-

cally, the urban populace which would buy the

houses in the scheme would subsidise the

costs of accommodating other groups and

ecologically the rural populace could provide

essential services and products which might

be made from the waste of the former. Thus a

truly self-sustaining project could be created

through a process of mutual sharing.

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The second factor was the ecological cycle.

An innovative idea was to consider the cow as

the vital central component of the ecological

cycle. The cow has the potential to live off or-

ganic waste and turn it into products of value

like milk and milk products, fuel in the form of

dung or as bio-gas which could serve the

whole community and help in farming by wor-

king the land and providing natural fertilizers

for the crops.

The third factor was the transformations which

the housing society would under-go over time.

Life has many layers and all these layers tend

to reflect on the architecture of the house /

housing. All these layers had to be considered

and potentialities for extensions and transfor-

mations were set-up to absorb changes over

time.

Design proposals

Having clearly laid down the guiding principles

of the design the two major tasks of the design

were locating the buildable areas within the site

such that the green areas and cattle zones play

a pivotal role in the design and the second was

the identification of types of housing for the dif-

ferent user groups.

The design process therefore started with loo-

king at the existing topography of the site. The

terrain was mapped and the water flow lines

with the lowest points were identified. The na-

tural draining patterns of the site were exploited

for the green areas which were also meant as

grazing areas for the cattle. The next step was

locating the roads and streets on this terrain

such that they followed the natural slopes. Care

was also taken that they were North-south in

orientation to maximise shadows on the street.

They were laid out in such a way that there was

a homogenous interaction with the green net-

work.

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The terrain was again re-worked with these

considerations in such a way as to form raised

platforms for the built areas and catchments for

the water drains. The sewage drains were also

located along the slopes on the site. Finally, the

built-form was the positioned majorly located

with its long axis along the East-west direction

due to climatic considerations.

The next question which came up was as to

which of the different socio-economic groups

gets the land and who gets a shared accommo-

dation. Going against conventional practices

the decision was taken to give land to the cattle

owners and other groups who were at the bot-

tom of the social pyramid where-as the richer

groups were located in shared plots / buildings.

The rationale behind this decision was that the

richer group needed a fully built unit (a product)

which provided all the facilities and would not

On the other hand the groups on the lower end

of the spectrum needed the land for many pur-

poses and were therefore provided with a basic

unit on a plot of land which could be expanded

as the family gained more prosperity. These

units could be extensively transformed over a

long period of time.

Thus we arrived at two major types of

dwelling units- one which was the fully built

one located in shared plots and the se-

cond one which was the basic units loca-

ted on individually owned parcels of land.

Then a third type was located which was

an intermediate between the two extre-

mes. Here, the basic structure and servi-

ces was provided but the units had

flexibility in their dividing the spaces.

These units could be provided to those

groups who cannot afford a fully built unit

and don’t depend on the land for their sur-

vival.

Thus the project was transformed into a

mini-city with the different variations in

user groups and building-types. The lan-

dform of the site which was exploited to

the maximum to create green areas and

water sheds also ensured that this built-

environment was a healthy and inclusive

habitat.

Land Use of Gaay Nagar

Inteprpretation of program in Urban context

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7.iv Methodologies and strategies

Design methodology

The chaotic development of Indian urba-

nity is often the result of lack

in theoretical previous plannings.

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Continues...

Gaay Nagar

Click here for Part 1: Analysis and Context

Click here for Part 3: Design Proposals