Faculty: Rupali Gupte, Milind Mahale, Samir Raut and Anand Sonecha
Blog Post by: Tanushree Bhagwat (A20-06)
This course focused on the understanding of Type in Design and it's relationship to Spatial Patterns of Life and Material Phenomenologies. Having dimensions of field studies and architectural projections, it encouraged us to appreciate architecture as a part of culture formed by historic processes as well as everyday practices. The sites chosen for field study were historic settlements, which have evolved from social, cultural and climatic forces over years. The objective of the studio was to equip students with tools to understand settlements and intervene in them through an understanding of, type, spatial patterns, material assemblies and phenomenological readings.
NAVAPADA:
This settlement is located adjacent to forest department houses in Sanjay Gandhi National Park which is situated in the northern part of Mumbai in the state of Maharashtra. It was established in 1969 with headquarters at Borivali. It is connected to the main road on one side and the other side ends at a patch of fields and a river. It opens up with a large space (Maidan). The morphology of houses in this village does not follow any particular grid pattern and does not have a specific arrangement.
PHENOMENOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS:
Beyond the built form, a place gets its significance from the people that live there, their culture, and traditions. The stories told by the people of Navapada, a tribal village located in the northern part of Mumbai in the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Create a fascinating portrait of the settlement. They describe their family histories, the politics involved with living under oppressive forest laws, the difficulties they face daily, their concerns and aspirations in terms of social and physical infrastructure.
The following drawings strive to open up the nuances of their lives through these stories and conversations with a raw and vulnerable approach. It embodies Tracey Emin's CV, which offers an authentic portrayal of the artist's life as the artwork itself.
It is important to note that the settlers of Navapada don’t readily discard the material they obtain; they keep on reusing and recycling it. This practice leads to the formation of dense material overlaps of plastics, metals, wood, and more.
The following drawings are an abstract approach to describe the organization of these overlays. Rather than showing us how they look, it shows us how these overlaps get formed.
SITE OF INTERVENTION:
My site of intervention in the settlement for this module is the Brick House. It provides shelter to Tulsi Tai’s family, which consists of 4 adults and an infant. This house is conveniently located along the prime axis of the village and faces an open courtyard.
ANALYSIS, OBSERVATIONS, AND ISSUES:
1. HYGIENE:
The settlers of Navapada do not have proper toilet facilities in the village; likewise, the situation isn’t any different for the family residing in the brick house.
Men, women, and children have to venture into the forest or find a stagnant water body to relieve themselves. Despite multiple requests, the forest officials deny the construction of sauchalays in this settlement.
2. THRESHOLDS, SPATIAL FLUIDITY, PRIVACY:
Initially, the house had an open floor plan with no internal divisions and only 1 chula in a corner. As Tulsi Tai’s older son got married, there was a need for more privacy. The structure was divided into equal halves, 1 for the son’s new family and the other for Tulsi Tai and her daughter. As the home is currently under renovation, the family further plans on constructing an additional wall, creating symmetry in the structure.
This stimulated me to reflect on how I could create a better living space for the family in the Brick House that is beyond the ideas of compartmentalization.
3. STORAGE:
Families in this settlement prefer spaces that are clutter-free and organized. Most of the objects are stored in rooms that are at the end of the house and don’t immediately see them as you walk into the house.
PROGRAM:
To re-build a comfortable and good quality home for Tulsi Tai's family, by incorporating the spatial ideas from the original footprint of the house, while also keeping in mind the privacy required by different members of the family.
ASPIRATION:
To build a fluid, gender-neutral space that respects the privacy of the growing family and functions beyond the idea of utility.
To provide a home that is spatially open to interpretation and can be modified for living and working conditions.
To create a space that incorporates nature through various pockets that provides ample light, ventilation and offers a meaningful connection to the surrounding nature.
REFERENCES:
Further, I began diagramming various references.
Here we have The Fishermen's village at Poonthura by LAURIE BAKER and Casa De Vidro by LINA BO BARDI. The readings taken from this are the different pockets of nature that get created by scooping out the built mass.
Next, we have White U House by TOYO ITO. Here the notable feature is the main corridor that takes you across the house, with its varying widths creating different intimacies.
DESIGN PROCESS:
For the design, I have maintained the existing footprint of the current structure. I began scooping out masses to incorporate nature. In doing this, it is not just the visuals, foliage, or light that gets engulfed but the sounds too. Therefore, the first opening becomes an attempt to include the harmonious sounds from the birdhouse located at the back of the structure.
Further, I added a chamfered edge; it intends to offer visual softness and uniformity to the street outside.
Finally, the opening facing the courtyard gives us a sense that the surroundings seep into the built form of the house.
From the very beginning, the study included analyzing and drawing the historical settlements. Newer learnings came to light upon meeting and conversing with different people having different backgrounds. It is important to note that people and the built environment do not function independently. The relationship between them is crucial for the understanding of space and architecture. The process of making morphological drawings has greatly facilitated the understanding of this relationship and its subtleties. Analyzing typologies, structural systems, material assemblies, along with the phenomenological experience was the prime objective of the studio. These ideas significantly impacted our insights on the formation of micro-environments leading to different experiences and becoming a starting point for the design process.
GALLERY:
Comments