ARANYA LOW-COST HOUSING

INDORE

- AR. B. V. DOSHI

CASE STUDY FACTS

•Location - 6km from the centre of Indore city, M.P.• Client- Indore Development Authority •Principal Architect - Balkrishna Doshi•Project Associate - Mr. Himanshu Parikh • Structural Engineer - M/s Stein Doshi & Bhalla, New Delhi •Project Engineers -Environmental Engineering Consultants, Bombay

•Total Built-up Area -100,000 m2

•Project Cost - Rs. 100 Million•Year of completion - 1989•Award - Aga Khan award for

Architecture in 1996anard for

PRE-DESIGN STAGE ANALYSIS

Objectives:

• To improve and upgrade the existing slum area• To provide serviced sites for new housing developments instead ofbuilding complete houses.• To provide for 6,500 residential plots ranging in size from 35m2 forEWS to 475m2 for high income groups

Financial Aspects:

• The idea was to mix some middle income plots with EWS plots touse the profits to raise capital towards development of local trades.• Funding – 100% public sources.

SalesLocal sources

National Sources

International Sources

OBJECTIVES

The general objectives of Aranya were to:• Create a township with a sense of continuity and fundamentalvalues of security in a good living environment.• Achieve a community character by establishing harmony betweenthe built environment and the people.• Create a balanced community of various socio-economic groups toevolve a framework through design.

EVOLUTION OF MASTER PLAN

Plan proposed by IDA

Proposed master plan

Later stage of development to with rectified orientation to minimize heat gain and increase shading

Initial stage of proposed plan with distributed open spaces and street hierarchy

N

NN

N

DISTRIBUTION OF AMENITIES

• Community facilities grouped in local sub centers.

•Formal organization

• Community amenities distributed evenly

•Informality created

•Accessibility improved

• Lower level community facilities organized in green spaces

•Even distribution

•Maintains link with town centre

•Pedestrian access easier.

ACCESS TO AMMENITIES ( in minutes)

N

THE NEIGHBOURHOOD CONCEPT

Concept

• Slum development project

• Inspiration from existing slum settlements in Indore

Characteristics

• Mixed and multiple land use

• Formation of small neighborhoods and houses extending to the outdoors.

• Small shops operating within congested areas.

• Trees planted in public places

• Streets accommodating social, economic and domestic activities.

SITE ANALYSIS

• Urban Indore city 214 sq. km.

• Major development along Delhi –Mumbai highway running through the city in the north south direction

• Surroundings: - Delhi-Mumbai highway on the east

- Developing industrial areas on the north, south and west.

- Internal city roads to the north, south and west.

• Approach through the Delhi –Mumbai highway

• Site selection criteria:

- Linkages to the city

- Employment generating industrial areas in the surroundings.

Existing features:

• 1.85 hectares allotted for existing light industries.

Geographical features:

• Flat site

• A natural water channel running diagonally across the SW corner.

• Top strata of the black cotton soil 2-2.5 m thick.

• Gradually sloping (Gradient : 1:110 approx.) towards the north-west corner.

Township level:

•The aim was to create a central spine. The master plan was informal with interlinked space of cultural context, maintenance of hierarchy of road, open spaces, a central location of basic community services.

•The central spine was a focus of the converging six sectors

Six Sector level:

•This enabled segregation of pedestrian and vehicular movement, gooddistribution of built and unbuilt spaces by promoting interactive land use.

N

ZONING I

Residential commercial N

ZONING II DISTRIBUTION OF PLOTS ACCORDING TO INCOME

GROUPS

Lower income and economically weaker sections of the society

EWS 65% uniformly distributedLIG 11% uniformly distributedMIG 14% close to arteryHIG 9% arterial road

HIERARCHY OF ROADS

N

60 m

30 m

12 m

15 m

9.5 m

4.5 m

1.5 m

• Segregation of vehicular and pedestrian traffic

• Offsets break visual monotony

• Hierarchy is based on the volume of the traffic and activities

ROADS

•The roads suit human scale

•Use of cul-de-sacs to avoid traffic

CIRCULATION AND LINKAGES

For clear segregation of vehicular and pedestrian traffic:

•Vehicular access in the form rectilinear and formal roads in the hierarchy of 4.5m wide to 15m wide road draw the vehicles outwardly.•Pedestrian access in the form of informal interlinked open spaces draws people inwardly.

Vehicular roads

Informal pedestrian pathways and open spaces

HIERARCHY OF OPEN SPACES

Access to open spaces in minutes

• Interlinked informal spaces• Continuous system of open spaces is provided• Staggered roads create spaces for community congregation• A single large open space is avoided

Residential Space58%

Community &Commercial

facilities7%

Open Spaces9%

Roads26%

LAND USE DISTRIBUTION

CLIMATE RESPONSIVE FEATURES

• Most of the plots small in size and clustered in low rise blocks

• Longer side façade oriented in the north-south axis to reduce the solar radiation on the building.

• Each house has minimum exposure to wall surface and a common wall.

The north south orientation of clusters

The building height to street width ratio is such that streets are shaded except when the sun is overhead

CLIMATE RESPONSIVE FEATURES

• The two openings on the north and south permit light and cross ventilation.• Courtyards within the houses, cul-de-sacs, public squares and small activity areas shaded adequately by adjacent buildings.• Use of locally available building materials.• Topography used for orientation of major infrastructure network and spatial organization.

Plan showing varied houses with backyards (private open spaces)

•In this scheme services like water tap, toilets and street lights and a plinth are provided around which houses can have different configurations.

•Longer side of a block of row house was oriented north south to reduce solar radiation

•Provision of vertical expansions

•Housing was seen more as a process than a product

SITE AND SERVICE SCHEME OF DESIGN

SERVICES

SITE AND SERVICE APPROACH

• Cost-effective• Progressive development of facilities.• Houses built by the people themselves tosuit their needs.• Each family provided with a plot having awater tank, sewerage connection, pavedaccess with street lighting, storm waterdrainage• Service cores - key to this site and

service scheme.- nuclei around whichhouses were built.

• Houses were clustered in groups of 10.• Septic tank provided for every 2 clusters.• Water drawn from 3 local reservoirs.•To economize, 20 toilets are connected to1 manhole.• One service line serves four rows ofhouses

SEWERAGE SYSTEM

• Major alternatives:- Sewer-less sanitation.-Conventional sewerage system.• The soil being impermeableblack soil of 2m depth,conventional sewerage systemwas adopted.• Designed after thoroughanalysis of topography –naturally slopes towards NW• Higher income groups, usingmore water were located at highground level to generate largeflow..• Lower income groups, usingless water located at lowerground level• This resulted in 10-15%savings.

TREATMENT SYSTEM• For conveyance system, a wet well and lift station was constructed nearthe final manhole.• Oxidation pond - located on the NW corner of the site.

- removes biological oxygen- simple in operation- effluent suitable for disposal

STORM WATER DRAINAGE SYSTEM• Very efficient and facilitates healthy and clean living.• Combination of underground and surface drainage system.• Underground used for wider roads• Surface drainage used for internal roads

ELECTRICITY• High income and middle-income groups were provided with overheadcables.• Economically Weaker Sections were provided with underground cables

CONSTRUCTION DETAILS

•Foundation: Under rimmed piles in concrete, cast in situ locally was used as the soil was black cotton soil.

•Structural members: Reinforced concrete plinth beams, load bearing brick walls, reinforced concrete slabs.

• Exterior finishes: Bright colour in the façade, railing, grills and cornices seen in the old houses of Indore used in some houses in the township.

• Residents were free to use any material like brick or stone that were locally available

LANDSCAPE• Landscape and green areas include flowering and shade giving trees

with thick ground cover, including lantana, an ever-green tree , that requires little maintenance.

• Trees include casuarinas, bottle brush and eucalyptus

CONCLUSION• It understands the traditional Indian habits• Planning and design is in accordance with the prevailing socio-economic and technological conditions• Cost –effective construction materials and techniques have been adopted• Planning is “whole to part” – i.e. From township level to dwelling unit level.• Accessibility has been an essential factor for designing.

• Consistency in every aspect• Staggered roads, prevent thorough traffic, reduce speed of vehicles• Climate responsive and site responsive design

PRESENTED BY:

ANUSHREE CHITNISGAURI NADKARNITEJASHREE NATU

SHILPA JOHNNEHA DESHPANDE

AMRUTA MUGLIKARANKITA KOLAMKAR