aranya low cost housing case study

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Aranya Low-Cost Housing, each core house comprises a plinth and service spaces (bath and kitchen). In the project, the architect utilized the core housing concept to create affordable housing for low-income families in the region. As a result, the inclusion of core housing, user participation took place. The architect prepared different housing options concerning single houses and diversified incremental growth scenarios and flexible layouts. Even two samples belonging to the same housing option could be varied and customized differently by users. However, in Aranya Low-Cost Housing, user participation helped to accomplish greater typological variety.

Aranya Low-cost Housing Case study

Project name : Aranya Housing Project
Description : Incremental Housing Project, Low-income housing
Design : Vaastu-Shilpa Foundation
Building status : in use
Location : Indore, India

Location and Planning of Aranya Low-cost Housing

There is a stadium at the center, and in the northwest, west, and southwest of it, there are urban services. Also in the western part of the whole complex, single houses accounted for the significant residential type. Therefore single houses formed three neighborhoods accompanied by three zigzag-shaped open-air gathering zones. Also, those building programs include flats, single houses, green areas, hospitals, schools, and other types of urban services in the remaining directions. Aranya Low-Cost Housing was not composing of housing units only as it included various urban services; hence it comes under an urban-scale neighborhood project.

Images of elevations from before habitation indicate single houses’ half-house identity as the dynamic path of up-to-down moving voids is visible. From facades, not only the half house identity but also vernacular and traditional architectural ornaments and forms are also observable (e.g., tower-like typology on the north elevation, the concave bridge-like formation and the pentagram-shaped void between those tower-like structures, perforations on handrails and high parts of those tower-like formations). As a result, there were multiple forms and different core house options, 53 concluding that the Aaranya case is out of a rigidly repeating typology in preoccupation and post-habitation stages.

By utilizing core housing in Aaranya’s case, users are giving a chance to develop, design, and construct their own homes and decrease building costs. “Brick loadbearing walls” and “cement concrete floors,” which were “conventional and locally 54 available building materials and construction techniques,” were implementing in Aranya Low-Cost Housing to obtain a cheaper housing alternative. However, an estimate says that approximately 51,000 families were homeless or living in illegal settlements.

Also, Read Kanchanjunga Apartments by Charles Correa: A climate-based

Planning Concept of Aranya Low-cost Housing

Moreover some conceptual basis for planning aranya are:.

Vitality – development to support socio-economic aspirations of the community.
Imageability – built-form to impart identity and inculcate a sense of belonging amongst the inhabitants.
Equity – to create an equitable balanced community with a satisfactory level of environmental qualities and opportunities for all.
Efficiency – to realize development that optimizes natural, material, and human resources to the user group’s advantage.
Flexibility – to evolve a framework that absorbs the progressive change and growth as a part of the natural development process.
Feasibility – to ensure development within the given legal, fiscal, and organizational milieu

Housing as a toolkit: Aaranya Low-cost Housing by BV Doshi

Design of Aranya Low-cost Housing

Aaranya Township is designed as a services project spread out in six sectors that congregate on a central spine, i.e., the Central Business District. Moreover, one of the critical elements of Doshi’s design was a hierarchy of open spaces that include small courtyards to be sharing by three to four families, larger green spaces for each sector. And also a central playing field to aid the entire development. Also, open spaces and pedestrian pathways interconnect the clusters to the central spine. Each user has an array of choices available, from one-room shelters to supplementary spacious houses. The emphasis is making on family and neighborhood while encouraging adaptation and personalization according to their needs and resources.

The lower-income Groups were given numerous options that including a site and plinth, a service core, and one room, contingent on how much they can afford. Owners were free to use any material for the construction and decoration of the house. Brick, stone, and cement were locally available. Bright Colors in the facades, railings, grills, and cornices commonly seeing in the old houses of Indore are using in some of the houses. Interior streets and squares in the Economically Weaker Section are stone-paving, decreasing their cost and maintenance. Peripheral roads are asphalt paving for heavy traffic.

Indore’s Climate was effectively taken into account, and a conducive living environment was achieving in Aaranya. Most of the plots are small in and size, and the houses are clustered in low-rise blocks. The more extended side facade is oriented in the north-south axis to reduce the solar radiation on the building. Especially during summers. The two openings on the north and south permit the natural light and cross ventilation—the adjacent buildings sufficiently shade courtyards within houses, cul-de-sacs, public squares, and small activity areas.

About the Streets

The formal street network induces vehicular traffic outward to the perimeter road. In contrast, pedestrian traffic on informal pathways and open space networks flow in the opposite direction achieving clear and safe segregation of slow- and fast-moving traffic. Also, non-rectilinear alignment of streets with varying widths bends, and widening is providing to accommodate a range of spontaneous human activities. The hierarchy of commercial activities coincides with the street hierarchy. Standard commercial outlets are along major arterial roads, while informal shopping areas occur along narrow streets and open spaces throughout the settlement.

At Aranya, they built only a small sample of 80 model homes in 1989, loadbearing brick on a concrete plinth with walls plastered and painted, to initiate the development. The architect drew only a set of ingredients to be appropriated, giving residents the language and space to ‘upgrade their life.’ Growth is planned but informal, confined by the masterplan’s hierarchy of built form and open spaces, and held together by a lattice of infrastructural lines. The building and strengthening of ties between social activities. And also physical structures translate into specific architectural elements: the underlying plinth onto added steps and ledges, shared landings, tiny balconies, and open terraces. Here the idea is that every space gets using; staircases are not just for going up and down but also an interaction spot. Public life is allowing to seep into, encompass and infuse living spaces.

References:

http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12625434/index.pdf https://www.architectureindevelopment.org/project.php?id=401 https://www.architectural-review.com/buildings/revisit-aranya-low-cost-housing-indore-balkrishna-doshi https://architexturez.net/doc/az-cf-166248

Also Read: LIC Housing, Ahmedabad by BV Doshi

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Revisit: Aranya low-cost housing, Indore, Balkrishna Doshi

14 August 2019 By Manon Mollard Buildings

Doshi’s ideas on housing the poor culminated in 80 model homes in Aranya where residents felt empowered by the opportunity to improvise

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In the Gujarati tradition, Indian newlyweds head to the groom’s parents’ house after the marriage ceremony, where a thali plate containing a little water mixed with kumkum (a brilliant red pigment) awaits the bride outside the front door. After dipping her hands in, she presses her vermilion palms onto the walls of the family home: it is from this point on that ‘she belongs to the house, and the house belongs to her’, concludes Balkrishna Doshi.

The question of ownership is fundamental to the Indian architect, who believes ‘building homes is about creating a sense of belonging, about participatory involvement and about the expression of aspirations, relationships and desires’. His ideas on housing evolved gradually before culminating at Aranya, 6km outside what used to be the centre of Indore and is now an indivisible part of its urban jumble. Commissioned in 1983 by the Indore Development Authority in response to an acute shortage of housing, and co-funded by the World Bank and India’s Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO), the project’s low-cost housing was designed for the city’s Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) as well as slum and street dwellers, providing a framework and access to serviced land, rather than a finished house. Over time, in line with the needs, resources and desires of occupants, homes begin to grow, creating a staggered fl ow of spaces from private rooms to outdoor staircases to shared courtyards to streets to open spaces to roads.

‘Ties between social activities and physical structures translate into specific elements: shared landings, tiny balconies, open terraces and the plinth with its added steps and ledges’

Following the brick vaults and private courtyards of the low-cost staff housing and guest house for the Ahmedabad Textile Industry’s Research Association (1957), Doshi’s commissions for subsidised industrial housing schemes rapidly grew in scale. In the post-independence and pre-liberalisation years, housing was part of the process of nation-building, and although no nationwide policies were administered by the central government, numerous institutions were given a chance, entrusted with the task of building expertise and delivering housing: the State Housing Boards were established in the 1960s, tailgated by HUDCO in 1970. Waves of refugees flocked to the cities following the country’s Partition, new state capitals were imagined, and entire population groups were relocated to contribute to development projects – labouring plantations, extracting coal, building factories.

Source: Vastushilpa Foundation

Each plot is provided with a plinth, a toilet at the back and an electrical connection: architecture as system and process rather than finished structure

Asked to design complete townships for new industries on the outskirts of cities, Doshi resisted the unwise proliferation of repetitive and isolated multi-storey blocks on large swathes of land. For Gujarat State Fertilizers and Chemicals outside Baroda (1969), he introduced a water tower as focal point and the convergence of diagonal roads in a central green space, with the township’s houses extending to terraces and into shaded alleyways. For Electronics Corporation of India in Hyderabad (1972), he proposed to install training centres and production facilities along a central pedestrian spine connected to the main road. Back in Ahmedabad for the Life Insurance Corporation of India (1973), more attention was given to the mixing of income groups and the evolution of the homes over time: akin to a permanently unfolded drawbridge, a straight flight of stairs rises at the centre of each cluster of dwellings, arranged like miniature ziggurats with the ground floor’s larger units providing terraces for the smaller, recessed units above, which in turn provide terraces for the two smallest apartments at the top. Doshi’s conspicuous idea of placing the ‘poor fellow on top of the rich fellow’ surprised many, but he proved the sceptics wrong – like Aranya, this project is about empowering residents, creating interdependences and changing perceptions.

‘Even if it is made of bricks, housing cannot be thought of as permanent’, argues Doshi, ‘and the most important thing is to think about the project over time. Housing is not inert. It is a living entity.’ His townships and housing proposals are an obvious departure from the absolutism of Corbusian planning ideas: the Mediterranean megaron is replaced by a sprawling high-density but low-rise work in constant progress.

The neighbourhood plan includes varying widths and bends, with the open slot around the service core combining twice as many toilets per manhole, cutting down pipe length

Growing up among extended family in an ever-expanding house in the city of Pune, with ‘relatives who come to visit but stay longer than intended’, Doshi asserts he has a different conception of time. ‘I have witnessed anticipation and experienced change’, he observes. ‘I am not in a hurry’, (possibly the most enlivening comment anyone could make aged 92). Referring to his own house, designed shortly after he came back from working with Le Corbusier at Rue de Sèvres, he explains how a home should evolve with its residents, with space lending itself multiple uses: Kamala House is described as ‘a traditional house with a layer here, a layer there, a layer inside, a layer outside’. Over the nearly six decades of family life it has celebrated, it naturally became the venue for the marriages of his three daughters and two of his granddaughters.

Eighty model homes were completed in 1989 to initiate the development

It is through both his design commissions and his foundation’s work that Doshi understood the crucial importance of durable infrastructural systems, from roads to storm drainage to sewerage. Established in 1976 (20 years after his own practice and 14 after CEPT), the Vastushilpa Foundation has dedicated decades of research to the study and documentation of human settlements in India, with a focus on the emergence and growth of informal housing in urban centres. ‘There is much to learn from architecture before it became an expert’s art’, wrote Bernard Rudofsky. Instead of focusing on materials and techniques, Doshi preferred to analyse social structures and the unfolding of everyday habits into spaces. Through the observation and study of traditional ways of living, vernacular traditions and residential structures built by anonymous architects, he tried to look beyond aesthetic considerations.

Ps.29 29.7 x 21

With the services at the back of the plots, the houses gradually grow, both horizontally and vertically

By the time Doshi worked on the Aranya masterplan, governmental investment in housing was in decline, and alternatives were being sought to house the poor – but publicly built, highly subsidised standard housing units were, and remain, inadequate solutions to relocate slum dwellers. Aimed at EWS residents, the smallest plots of Aranya are just 35m2, with a simple plinth, a service core (a latrine and water tap or bath) and the option of a built room (the kitchen), but they are connected to water and electricity. The gentle topography of the 85 hectares dictated the orientation of infrastructure on site (designed with engineer Himanshu Parikh), servicing the 6,500 plots delineated on the masterplan. Intimacy is preserved in niches and private corners, but the abundance of life is allowed to spill out onto these intricately planned hierarchical spaces, overflowing the larger, communal open spaces planted with bottlebrushes, casuarina and eucalyptus trees.

Visiting Aranya in the early ’90s (rwhen this picture was taken) made engineer Himanshu Parikh ‘question the conventional perception of “poverty” and realise that the so-called “poor” have huge potential resources’

At Aranya, only a small sample of 80 model homes were built in 1989, loadbearing brick on a concrete plinth with walls plastered and painted, to initiate the development. Railings, parapets and cornices were added; doors and windows could be fabricated on site. The architect drew only a set of ingredients to be appropriated, giving residents the language and the space to ‘upgrade their life’. Growth is planned but informal, confined by the masterplan’s hierarchy of built form and open spaces, and held together by a lattice of infrastructural lines. ‘While the purchase of a house does not automatically make it yours , the moment you give them ownership you give them the foundations of their home.’ Simultaneously and almost inevitably, once the residents move in, the project no longer belongs to the architect. ‘Physically, financially, intellectually: it is theirs’, asserts Doshi. Plots were initially on a first-come first-served basis, but as the word spread, applicants had to enter a lottery system.

Ps.36 29.7 x 42 tc

The building and strengthening of ties between social activities and physical structures translates into specific architectural elements: the underlying plinth onto which are added steps and ledges, shared landings, tiny balconies and open terraces. Here the idea is that every space gets used, staircases are not just for going up and down, and decisions are not frozen in aspic. Just as deep, shaded porches of walled cities or medieval towns not only help to insulate the interior but also provide an extension of the home into the public sphere, Aranya relies on the construction of pauses and the creation of elongated thresholds extending a family home far beyond its physical walls – in fact, there is no single wall demarcating the entrance. Public life is allowed to seep into, extend and permeate living spaces.

P.124 119 x 84

Demonstration houses were slowly decorated and altered by residents

When in London in 1954, Doshi met Berthold Lubetkin (whom he claims is ‘as good if not better than Le Corbusier’) and was impressed by the Highpoint apartments: ‘He went far beyond the brief, beyond measurable considerations, and ventured into areas that are not required, responding to living requirements rather than architectural requirements, and connecting you to something beyond – to notions of history, mythology, character’. The caryatids made a strong impression on the Indian architect and, 65 years later, he claims the ideas and souvenirs of that visit ‘have never gone away’. He still cites it as his first reference and source of inspiration in terms of housing. Rather than ‘treating a project like an assignment’, Doshi thinks the attitude of an architect should be about ‘giving life a chance’. ‘Designing homes requires thinking about spare time.’ His buildings are not conceived in isolation, but in groups leading to a ‘total environment’ merging structures, spaces and culture in a unifi ed whole. ‘We have reduced architecture to its minimum, to a purist and clean definition’, he laments, reiterating that it should be a holistic discipline – Vastushilpa is a Sanskrit term meaning the ‘art of the built environment’, and the Indian architect speaks of ‘human habitat’ rather than ‘architecture’.

Screenshot 2019 06 26 at 18.04.23

The six sectors from the original masterplan are blurred, but the hierarchy of open spaces can still be felt, the narrower alleys bustling with communal life

Two short years after the completion of Aranya’s 80 model homes, India liberalised its economy, opening itself up to global markets and centralising its housing policies. As the National Housing and Habitat policy of 2005 states, the government’s initiatives from 1991 onwards focus on ‘the transition of Public Sector role as “facilitator”, increased role of the private sector, development of fiscal incentives and concessions, accelerated flow of housing finance and promotion of environment-friendly, cost-effective and pro-poor technology’. Public projects rapidly started to dry up, replaced instead by commissions from private clients seeking to imitate what was being done ‘elsewhere’, and discussions about housing were reduced to universal and quantifiable criteria to the detriment of design principles. ‘We don’t talk about families, we talk about rooms. Then we talk about affordability and cost. But we build housing without understanding the structures of society’, regrets Doshi.

For web aranya10 2

Doshi’s kit of elements is arguably more useful to him than to residents, but it is the creation of these narratives that helps us to grasp, articulate and communicate ideas. Today, the residents have appropriated and transformed them: the expression of life rather than aesthetics

The government’s current Housing for All scheme promises to fill the country’s ‘housing gap’ by 2022 – estimates indicate a housing shortage of 20 million homes in urban India and more than 40 million in the rural heartlands – predicated on the standard, one-size-fits-all 30m2 housing unit replicable to infinity across the expanse of fields or stackable into lifeless multi-storey blocks that can be left to perish outside city centres, disconnected from infrastructure grids. Images of these inhuman developments have been photographed the world over – repetition to the extreme morphs into graphic abstraction, making for distressingly photogenic compositions.

For web aranya10 1

Today no one knows what or where ‘Aranya’ is. Doshi speaks of ‘changes’ – to the staircases, the terraces, the colours. The reality is that almost all of the original 80 model houses have been demolished. Only a small number of the ‘red houses’, as the original homes are commonly referred to, still stand, with the neighbourhood having grown organically all around, eventually absorbed by the sprawling city of Indore. In the mid ’90s, the Aga Khan report recognised the exceptional qualities of the 80 model homes but added they were, already, ‘the remnants of an idea that has been eroded in the last five years’.

Interviewing inhabitants at the time, Romi Khosla met one of the five estate agents who set up shop in Aranya, offering plots for sale within the boundaries of the project; he reported that ‘only 15 to 20 per cent of the original plot owners still owned the plots allotted to them’, and confirmed the resale price of the narrow, 35m2 slum resettlement plot had increased tenfold compared with its original cost. Beneficiaries found themselves penalised if unable to pay instalments on time and, burdened with debt, were left with no other resort than to seek to sell their plot.

For web aranya10 3

Bestowing this ‘unusually sophisticated’ project the Aga Khan Award in its 1993-95 cycle, the judges thought it, ‘should be widely studied’ and highlighted that ‘in a world of intolerance and strife, it is a beacon of enlightened and socially responsible architecture’. The original, recognisable homes of Aranya carry a little nostalgia for a time when alternatives models were perhaps possible, and for the fleeting promise that architecture can make a difference in these circumstances. Here, there is the heartbreaking feeling that the architectural profession is deeply irrelevant, incapable of addressing human beings’ basic right to shelter, unable to even grasp the complexity of the challenge – where do you begin? The country’s rapid urbanisation, the commercialisation of land and the state’s inability to provide housing that meets criteria of both aff ordability and adequacy become an inescapable tragedy. It is more than a housing crisis, it is a crisis of space. And problems of slum resettlement are just too big to be solved by architectural design.

‘Here, there is the heartbreaking feeling that the architectural profession is deeply irrelevant, incapable of addressing human beings’ basic right to shelter’

With a third of the world population living in slums, the very definition of ‘social housing’ takes on another dimension in the so-called developing world. ‘No government today has the resources to “clean up the mess of slums” and build something else instead’, argues Parikh. When the cost of infrastructure amounts to 5 per cent of building a full house, site and services projects make sense. ‘I realised that there is nothing cheaper or faster than the development of water and sanitation infrastructure to alleviate poverty’, says Parikh, who worked on slum upgrading and ‘networking’ post-Aranya. While sites suitably connected to the city centre and to employment opportunities are either non-existent or out of reach, due to the surge of land values and issues of overcrowding, these strategies can naturally be applied to existing, inner-city slums. ‘Architects are on a pedestal’, insists Doshi. ‘They aren’t looking down, where there are a lot of clients.’

All photographs by Iwan Baan, unless otherwise stated

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Traditionally, architects have contributed little to housing for the Third World urban poor. Those who opt to work for the poor need to rethink their roles; the numbers are overwhelming, the issues complex and the resources are very limited. One solution is to use land as a resource to produce housing for the urban poor, by allowing them access to it to build their homes. A study was conducted of such initiatives in a casy-study in India: The Aranya Housing Project, completed in 1988 and considered a model project.

Indore, India in the early 1980’s was facing a shortage of Housing. It had been estimated that approximately 51,000 families were homeless or living in illegal settlements. The Indore Development Authority initiated an affordable housing project for 60,000 people that would tackle this issue and at the same time be affordable to the government and urban poor. Previous efforts by the government to provide low-cost urban housing in India were aimed at supplying ready-built units. However, it took too long to construct a complete house and it became expensive for the low income group and also ate up too many resources.

A rectilinear site of 86 hectares was designed to accommodate over 6500 dwellings, largely for the Weaker Economic Section. This was an integrated approach for 'a sustainable society' where the mix of different economic levels of society could stay together.

Aranya Township was designed as a site and services project spread laid out in six sectors that converge on a central spine i.e., the Central Business District. One of the key elements of Doshi’s design was a hierarchy of open spaces that included small courtyards to be shared by three to four families, larger green spaces for each of the settlement’s six sectors, and a central playing field to serve the entire development. Open spaces and pedestrian pathways intersect and connect the clusters to the central spine. Each user has an array of options available from one room shelters to more spacious houses, and emphasis is mad on a sense of family and neighbourhood while striving to encourage adapatation and personalization according to individual’s needs and resources.

The Project site had black cotton soil prone to shrinking and swelling with moisture. Small diameter shallow piles with poured concrete was used, which made for very inexpensive foundation. The Piles were cross connected at plinth level through concrete beams on which regular load bearing masonry walls rested

For Most Income Groups, only a house plot was sold. The lower-income Groups were given several options that included a site and plinth, a service core and one room, depending on how much they could afford. Owners were free to use any material for the construction and decoration of house.Brick, stone and cement were locally available. Bright Colours in the facades, railings, grills and cornices commonly seen in the old houses of Indore were used in some of the houses. Internal streets and squares in the Economically Weaker Section were stone paved, reducing their cost and maintenance. Peripheral roads were asphalt paved for heavy traffic

The Climate of Indore was effectively taken into account and a conducive living environment was achieved in Aranya. Most of the plots were small in and size and the houses were clustered in low rise blocks. The longer side facade is oriented in the north- south axis to reduct the solar radiations on building especially during summers.

The two openings on north and south permit natural light and cross ventilation. Courtyards within houses, cul-de-sacs, public squares and small activity areas are sufficiently shaded by the adjacent buildings. Landscaping and green areas include flowering and shade ginving trees wtih thick green ground cover.

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Aranya Low-Cost Housing: A Masterpiece Of Affordable Living

18 Nov 2023
By Paras Gandhi
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Aranya Low-Cost Housing: A Masterpiece Of Affordable Living

Balkrishna V. Doshi , or B. V. Doshi , born in 1927, is a distinguished Indian architect and urban planner. He is globally acclaimed for his groundbreaking work in sustainable and affordable housing. Doshi's architectural designs prioritize a harmonious coexistence with nature and a deep concern for human welfare. His innovative contributions to modern architecture have garnered him numerous accolades and international acclaim.

The most notable works by the renowned architect B. V. Doshi

This iconic architectural studio in Ahmedabad, India, reflects Doshi's innovative use of space and his commitment to sustainability. It combines traditional architectural elements with modern design principles and serves as a hub for creative and architectural activities.

2. Aranya Low-Cost Housing

Located in the city of Indore, this housing project is a testament to Doshi's dedication to providing affordable, functional, and aesthetically pleasing housing for the economically disadvantaged. It accommodates over 80,000 people and is known for its human-centric design.

3. Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB)

Doshi's design for the IIMB campus exemplifies his ability to create an environment that fosters learning and interaction. The campus features a series of interconnected spaces and buildings, promoting collaboration and a sense of community among students and faculty.

Aranya Low-Cost Housing: A Masterpiece Of Affordable Living By Architect B. V. Doshi

Nestled in the bustling city of Indore, India, the Aranya Low-Cost Housing project stands as a testament to innovative architecture, sustainable design, and a profound commitment to addressing the critical issue of affordable housing. Designed by the eminent Indian architect, Balkrishna V. Doshi, this remarkable housing development is a beacon of hope for those in search of dignified and economical shelter.

Architect B. V. Doshi: Pioneering Affordable Housing Solutions

B. V. Doshi, a celebrated architect, urban planner, and visionary, has left an indelible mark on the world of architecture. Born in Pune, India, in 1927, Doshi's career spans over seven decades, during which he has consistently focused on blending traditional Indian architectural principles with modern design concepts. His work is characterized by a deep reverence for nature and an unwavering commitment to human-centric design.

Aranya Low-Cost Housing, also known as the "People's Housing," is one of Doshi's most significant accomplishments in the realm of affordable housing solutions. It serves as a stellar example of his dedication to addressing the housing needs of the economically disadvantaged, emphasizing sustainability, functionality, and aesthetics.

Aranya Low-Cost Housing: The Vision

The Aranya project, conceived and developed in the late 1980s, was not just a housing project; it was a social and architectural experiment aimed at providing a comprehensive solution to the acute problem of housing in rapidly growing urban centers of India. The visionary architect's goal was to create an environment that would be inclusive, sustainable, and affordable.

Aranya is designed as a self-sustaining community, consisting of various housing typologies ranging from small one-room dwellings to larger multi-story apartments, catering to diverse income groups. Its essence lies in the intricate blending of architecture with social consciousness, ensuring that residents are not just given shelter but are provided with an environment that nurtures their overall well-being.

Architectural Design and Layout

The architectural design of Aranya Housing is a masterstroke of B. V. Doshi's expertise. The layout of the project is an embodiment of careful planning, inspired by traditional Indian settlements, where streets and courtyards form the core of community life. This design fosters a sense of belonging and community, an integral part of Indian culture.

The housing project is divided into several clusters, each designed with a distinct identity, creating a vibrant, varied urban fabric. Narrow pedestrian pathways wind through these clusters, allowing residents to interact and engage with each other. The use of courtyards, terraces, and outdoor spaces adds to the charm, giving residents a feeling of spaciousness, despite the economic constraints of the project.

Housing Typologies

One of the standout features of Aranya is its accommodation of various housing typologies, catering to different income groups. This versatility ensures that individuals from diverse economic backgrounds can find suitable housing solutions within the project.

1. Tenements

Aranya features numerous tenements, which are compact single-room dwellings designed for the economically weaker sections of society. These tenements are simple, functional, and affordable, providing the basic amenities required for a comfortable living.

2. Apartments

For families with slightly higher incomes, Aranya offers multi-story apartments. These apartments provide a more spacious and flexible living arrangement, often incorporating multiple rooms to accommodate larger families.

3. Duplexes and Row Houses

As you move up the economic ladder, there are duplexes and row houses available. These housing options offer more space and privacy, catering to the needs of middle-income families.

4. Community Spaces

Aranya also includes communal areas for social gatherings, temples, and other facilities that contribute to the holistic development of its residents.

Sustainability and Low-Cost Innovations

Aranya Housing is a model of sustainability. It showcases B. V. Doshi's commitment to eco-friendly design and innovative use of local materials. The project incorporates various sustainable features:

1. Passive Cooling

The design focuses on natural ventilation and passive cooling strategies, reducing the reliance on energy-consuming air conditioning.

2. Rainwater Harvesting

Rainwater harvesting systems have been integrated to conserve water resources, which is crucial in a country like India, with periodic water scarcity issues.

3. Use of Local Materials

Local and low-cost building materials were chosen, ensuring that construction costs were minimized without compromising on quality.

4. Effective Space Utilization

The efficient utilization of space and careful planning contributed to cost savings, making it feasible to provide housing for the economically disadvantaged.

5. Community Gardens

The presence of green spaces and community gardens enhances the environmental sustainability of the project, while also promoting a sense of community among residents.

Impact And Legacy

Impact and legacy.

Aranya Low-Cost Housing in Indore has had a profound impact on the field of architecture and housing solutions in India. It stands as an enduring example of how innovative design, sustainable practices, and a focus on the needs of the underprivileged can coexist harmoniously.

The project's success in providing dignified, affordable housing has inspired subsequent generations of architects and urban planners to address similar challenges. It has become a case study for students of architecture and a source of inspiration for anyone seeking to make affordable housing more accessible.

B. V. Doshi's Aranya Low-Cost Housing project continues to exemplify thepotential of architecture as a force for social change. It is a reminder that through visionary thinking and creative design, we can strive to meet the housing needs of all, regardless of their economic status.

B. V. Doshi's Aranya Low-Cost Housing project in Indore, India, represents a remarkable achievement in the realm of affordable and sustainable housing. The architectural design, layout, and innovative typologies demonstrate his commitment to improving the lives of those in need. It stands as an enduring testament to Doshi's vision, offering hope andinspiration for future generations in the pursuit of affordable, inclusive housing solutions.

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Revisiting the low-cost housing designed by B.V. Doshi: Part A

INTRODUCTION TO THE ARCHITECT:

Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi, the 2018 Pritzker laureate who passed away in 2023, is renowned for his architectural works that are appreciated for their poetic nature, functionality, and understanding of the material context. Influenced by India’s vernacular architecture and environment, as well as his early education under Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn, Doshi’s works include affordable social housing and public spaces. He was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal for Architecture in 2022 in recognition of his exceptional contributions to the field.

Image courtesy: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/how-balkrishna-doshi-bent-le-corbusiers-modernism-to-the-needs-of-india

ABOUT THE PROJECT:

One of Doshi’s projects, Aranya Low-Cost Housing, involves the use of the core housing concept, which features a plinth and service spaces (bath and kitchen) in each core house. The project aimed to provide affordable housing for low-income families, and user participation played a significant role in its success. The architect created different housing options, including single houses, incremental growth scenarios, and flexible layouts, and users were able to customize them in various ways. As a result of user participation, the project achieved greater typological variety.

Project name : Aranya Housing Project
Design : Vaastu-Shilpa Foundation
Description : Low-income housing, Incremental Housing Project
Location : Indore, India
Building status : in use

Figure 1: https://www.architectural-review.com/buildings/revisit-aranya-low-cost-housing-indore-balkrishna-doshi

I. PLANNING AND CONTEXT OF ARANYA’S LOW-COST HOUSING

The Aranya Low-Cost Housing project includes various urban services and not just housing units, making it an urban-scale neighborhood project. The complex is centered around a stadium, with urban services located in the northwest, west, and southwest. Single houses are the dominant residential type in the western part of the complex, forming three neighborhoods with three zigzag-shaped open-air gathering zones. Other types of urban services such as flats, green areas, hospitals, and schools are located in the remaining directions.

Figure 2: Master plan of the layout for the Low-cost housing. http://web.mit.edu/incrementalhousing/articlesPhotographs/pdfs/aranya-3-Details1146.pdf

Figure 3: Detail planning of the dwellings. https://www.architectural-review.com/buildings/revisit-aranya-low-cost-housing-indore-balkrishna-doshi

The elevations of the single houses in Aranya Low-Cost Housing show a half-house identity, with dynamic up-to-down moving voids. Traditional architectural ornaments and forms such as tower-like typology, concave bridge-like formation, and perforations on handrails are also observable. There are multiple forms and different core house options, indicating that the Aranya case is not based on rigidly repeating typology in pre-occupation and post-habitation stages.

Figure 4: https://www.architectural-review.com/buildings/revisit-aranya-low-cost-housing-indore-balkrishna-doshi

Figure 5: Top view of the dwellings. https://swarajyamag.com/ideas/pritzker-winner-dr-balkrishna-v-doshi-an-architect-who-perfectly-blends-aesthetics-and-utility

The use of core housing in the Aranya case allowed users to design and construct their own homes and reduce building costs. The project utilized conventional and locally available building materials and construction techniques such as brick load-bearing walls and cement concrete floors to achieve a cheaper housing alternative. However, despite the project’s efforts, an estimated 51,000 families were still homeless or living in illegal settlements.

II. CONCEPTUAL PLANNING OF ARANYA LOW-COST HOUSING

Aranya’s planning is based on several concepts including:

Vitality, which involves developing the community to support its socio-economic aspirations.
Imageability, which involves designing the built environment to create a sense of identity and belonging for the inhabitants.
Equity, which aims to create a balanced community that offers satisfactory environmental qualities and opportunities for all.
Efficiency, which involves optimizing natural, material, and human resources to the benefit of the community.
Flexibility, which aims to create a framework that can accommodate progressive change and growth as a natural part of development.

Feasibility, which aims to ensure that the development is within the legal, fiscal, and organizational constraints.

Figure 6: Building construction techniques. https://archestudy.com/aranya-low-cost-housing-by-bv-doshi/

Other references:

http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12625434/index.pdf

https://www.architectureindevelopment.org/project.php?id=401

Revisit: Aranya low-cost housing, Indore, Balkrishna Doshi

https://architexturez.net/doc/az-cf-166248

One response to “Revisiting the low-cost housing designed by B.V. Doshi: Part A”

Firstly, I am very much inspired by the work and thoughts of architect B.V Doshi. Thanks for writing such an insightful blog about the architect and his exemplary works. During my thesis year, I was working on a low-cost housing development project. And, as my case study, I choose Aranya Housing Project. This project was completed in the year of 1980s (Mollard, 2019). this project is marked as of the most successful low-cost housing project in the world. Apart from the above mention qualities you wrote, some of the key features in my opinion are: 1. It is a close-knitted community, which focuses on mutual interaction and a sense of community. In the planning layout, it has a range of neighborhood green spaces and individual courtyards. 2. It has a huge benefit of flexibility. As per the requirement on can expand their leisure space. This will allow them to modify their personal space without affecting the neighborhood. 3. This project aims for different housing block ranges, including duplexes, row houses, and apartments. 4. The best feature of this housing project is that they don’t only focus on housing but also the surrounding amenities and infrastructure like schools, shopping arenas, and recreational spaces (Awasarkar, 2021). 5. The project includes the resident in some of the major decision-making. This will help the residents to modify their houses and meet the specific need of the community. BV Doshi’s low-cost Aranya housing project is a showcase of his concern for an affordable and sustainable housing approach. This project also influences many architects throughout the world and if you understand your requirement and target community, you can design the best out of it.

References: Mollard, M. (2019). Revisit Aranya low-cost housing, Indore, Balkrishna Doshi. [online] Architectural Review. Awasarkar, M. (2021). Aranya Low-cost Housing by B.V Doshi Low-cost urban housing. [online] RTF | Rethinking The Future.

Low-Cost Housing: Remarkable Case Studies in Indian Scenario

In India, there is severe housing scarcity in the cities due to rapid urbanisation and migration, especially for the economically weaker sections. In this regard, the Government of India and the Reserve Bank of India have launched a variety of programmes to increase the availability of low-cost housing . While several programmes have been proven to be successful in improving housing affordability for economically weaker sections, releasing land in metropolitan areas remains a significant obstacle to the sector’s further growth.

First, it’s crucial to define the term “low-cost housing” in order to outline the boundaries of this subject. The word “low-cost” is a relative idea, hence there is no exact meaning. Even the term “affordability” is quite ambiguous and may signify different things to different people depending on their income levels.

As a ratio of housing costs to household income, a low-cost dwelling is one that one can afford. Low-cost housing is built with quality materials and includes all necessary amenities, but it is priced within the reach of potential buyers. As a result, low-cost housing benefits all socioeconomic groups, particularly the LIG and MIG sector, and it also makes sound financial sense. The standard size ranges from 300 square feet to 800 square feet.

Table of Contents

Housing Situation in India

Rapid urbanisation in India has created problems for the country’s growth, including urban congestion, stress on essential services like water and sanitation, and—most importantly—severe housing shortages, particularly in the low-cost segment. A critical concern in India’s urbanisation will be the availability of cheap homes for all. Urban housing faces a number of difficulties, such as scarcity, habitational ownership, and a lack of housing supply. For the country’s growth and development as well as the establishment of a more inclusive society, there is a need to provide safe, secure, and cheap housing for the urban population.

According to Census of India 2011 data, the housing stock has increased by 33%. Since there remains a disparity between those for whom homes are being built and those who need them, the housing shortage continues to be a problem.

Concept of Low-Cost Housing

The term “low-cost housing” refers to dwellings that are accessible to those in society who earn less than the median household income. Although the definition of inexpensive housing varies from country to country, the basic idea remains the same: housing should meet the housing needs of lower and middle-income households.

Low-cost housing is generally understood to be housing that is distributed outside of market systems based on need rather than financial capacity. In other words, housing that is accessible at a rent or purchase price that does not exceed a “specified benchmark” of affordability is considered to be within one’s “capacity to pay.” This level of affordability is frequently described as housing expenditures that shouldn’t exceed a certain percentage of household income and/or should produce a household income that, after deducting these housing costs, is sufficient to cover other essential living expenses.

According to The Royal Institutions of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) report 2010 on “Making Affordable Housing Work in India,” affordability in the context of urban housing refers to the provision of adequate shelter on an ongoing basis and it ensures the security of tenure within the means of the typical urban household. According to research on “Low –soct Housing—a Key Growth Driver in Real Estate Sector,” the three main components of such housing are income level, size of the dwelling unit, and affordability. While the first two characteristics are unrelated to one another, the third parameter is influenced by income.

Individual Project Case Study: Affordable Housing

To achieve their particular goals, numerous organisations in India have defined cheap housing. The list of specific case studies of low-cost housing in India is provided below.

Aranya Community Housing, Indore

Balkrishna V. Doshi, an architect, designed the Aranya Housing. In the past, architects haven’t done much to help the urban poor in the Third World with housing. Over 6500 homes for 60,000 people were planned for a rectilinear plot measuring 86 hectares, primarily for the Economically Weaker Section. This was a comprehensive strategy for “a sustainable society” where the mix of various socioeconomic classes could coexist. Designing with social interaction in mind was the conceptual tenet.

Aranya Township was planned as a site and service project with six sectors that come together at the Central Business District as its spine. Each home has a drainage system, toilets, and water hookups. There is a given open staircase along. A hierarchy of open spaces, including small courtyards to be shared by three to four families, bigger green areas for each of the settlement’s six sectors, and a central playing field to service the entire complex, was one of the design’s essential components. Intersecting open areas and pedestrian walkways link the clusters to the central spine.

This creative sites-and-services project is noteworthy for its efforts to bring together families within a spectrum of one-room shelters to more spacious dwellings as well as poor to respectable incomes, seeking to encourage adaptation and personalising in accordance with individual’s requirements and resources. Any material may have been used by the owners to build and embellish the home. Locally, it was possible to find cement, brick, and stone. Bright colours are frequently used in facades, railings, grills, and cornices. The Economically Weaker Section’s internal streets and squares were stone-paved, which cut down on the cost and upkeep of maintaining them. For heavy traffic, asphalt was used to pave the outer roads.

Only a house plot was sold to the majority of income groups. Depending on how much they could pay, the lower-income Groups were given a variety of alternatives, including a site and plinth, a service core, and one room. For Aranya Housing, Ar. B.V. Doshi received the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 1996.

Incremental Housing, Belapur, Navi Mumbai

For New Bombay (Navi Mumbai), a metropolis that Correa and a group of coworkers first supported in the 1960s, there is promise in the new housing project at Belapur. Since lack of space has always been Mumbai’s major issue, architect Charles Correa came up with the brilliant idea of incremental Belapur Housing as an inexpensive housing option.

5.4 hectares are used to create housing for 550 individuals (around 100 families). The project’s foundation is built on a single idea: a separate plot for each residence to allow for future growth as and when necessary. The programme was created to serve a range of socioeconomic classes, including upper, middle, and lower.

Housing is constructed in groups of seven dwellings connected 8 by an 8-metre courtyard, each of which has its own modest open area and does not share any walls with its neighbours. To protect the residents’ privacy, no windows are installed on those sides. An elegant and cost-effective housing option with all the amenities that everyone can afford is provided by a carefully designed hierarchy of interconnected and open-sky rooms. A seasonal creek (Nala) that runs through the centre of the site and transports stormwater during heavy rains is visible from the common spaces.

The total project is low-rise and dense, similar to the majority of Correa’s past affordable housing initiatives. According to plot size, there are five different types of homes; the simplest is a single room with a bathroom, and the most sophisticated is a two-story tenement. The toilets of two adjacent homes share a wall, but the residences do not, to make plumbing services easier. Parking spaces are provided on the edges, however, all mobility within the property is pedestrian-only. The open spaces easily transition from a tiny court to a huge community space.

LIC Housing, Ahmedabad

The Life Insurance Corporation Housing colony, sometimes referred to as “Bima Nagar” locally, was a brand-new housing type that Architect BV Doshi created in Ahmedabad in 1973. The housing enables residents to take part in the construction of their homes. The project consists of 324 duplex terraced homes spread across 54 plots. With a growth phasing plan, the first development concentrated on the effective provision of sites and services. The fundamental idea behind the housing units provides flexibility for adjustments, even while the format remains the same.

A central outdoor stairway connects all units, and they all have roof access. Modifications can be made internally or within a certain massing, allowing for individualization without sacrificing the fundamental architectural form. The design of this proposal comprises a playground area, parks, and a gathering place. Each residence has a personal space next to the stairway.

There are terraces that are physically connected to the house. Due to the small size of the house, an open space intended to be used as such is now used as a semi-covered or covered space. The first rainwater harvesting system in Gujarat was built in 2002 under this plan. Locate on the society’s open space (where all the water flows to a spot). In addition to drinking, the collected water is used for home and horticultural uses.

The idea behind this project is that users are capable of creating their own habitats. All they required was a well-made template that served as the foundation for their development. They don’t have to drive far for their essential daily needs because they are in the city’s centre. Society is calm despite being surrounded by traffic. There is green space that serves as a buffer between the civilization and its surroundings.

Conclusions

Although there are no immediate solutions to India’s home affordability issue. The case studies contain a variety of suggestions that can help architects design superior residences that are more reasonably priced while yet ecologically friendly. The numbers are enormous, the problems are complicated, and there are very few resources, therefore those who choose to work for the economically disadvantaged parts need to reconsider their positions. Giving the urban poor access to the property so they can build their own homes is one way to provide them with housing.

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Aranya Low-Cost Housing

Author : Balkrishna Doshi
Location : India (Indore)
Year : 1989
Function : Settlement
Elements : Room , Toilet
Status : Built
Tags : Domestic , Flexibility , growth , infraestructure , Urbanism

This article is part of Infrastructural Urbanism , a series curated by Hidden Architecture where we explore the evolutionary potential over time of certain urban and architectural structures. The infrastructural nature of these projects allows them to accommodate and assume the uncertainty of future development as a project tool.

Este articulo es parte de Urbanismo Infraestructural , serie que explora el potencial evolutivo a lo largo del tiempo de determinadas estructuras urbanas y arquitectónicas. El carácter de infraestructura de estos proyectos les permite albergar y asumir la incertidumbre de un desarrollo futuro como herramienta de proyecto.

– Previous Situation

The Aranya low-cost housing project, in the Indian city of Indore, was developed by the Vastu-Shilpa Foundation, headed by Balkrishna Doshi, starting in 1989.

The main value of this project lies in its novel operational strategy for the development of housing, built with very limited financial and material resources, in contexts of social vulnerability. Instead of assuming a closed planning, the architectural team proposed an open model capable of evolving over time, based on the construction of some minimal infrastructural elements and facilities.

El proyecto de viviendas de bajo coste de Aranya, en la ciudad india de Indore, fue desarrollado por la Vastu-Shilpa Foundation, con Balkrishna Doshi a la cabeza, a partir del año 1989.

El valor principal de este proyecto reside en plantear una novedosa estrategia operativa para el desarrollo de viviendas, ejecutadas con recursos económicos y materiales muy escasos, en contextos de vulnerabilidad social. En lugar de asumir un planeamiento cerrado, el equipo de arquitectura propuso un modelo abierto capaz de evolucionar a lo largo del tiempo, a partir de la construcción de unos elementos dotacionales e infraestructurales mínimos.

The site provided for this purpose in the Aranya neighbourhood had an area of 85 hectares, where 6500 dwellings were to be developed. The local administration proposed, as a starting point, the need to review the methodology used to date in this type of intervention. The successive failures of previous projects had their origin in the difficulty of concluding the implementation phase due to an insufficient budget. Families with little purchasing power were not able to afford the construction of new housing, no matter how cheap it might be. In addition, the long construction times placed these people in an even more vulnerable position during the process than they were already in before the relocation began. In order to alleviate this problem, two distinct strategies are envisaged in the planning itself. The first consisted of the rehabilitation and improvement of the existing substandard housing, assuming the social and urban value that they might have. The second strategy proposed the construction of small minimum housing nuclei, from which the users could progressively develop more complex units.

El solar dispuesto para tal fin en el barrio de Aranya disponía de una superficie de 85 hectáreas, donde debían desarrollarse 6500 viviendas. La administración local planteó, como punto de partida, la necesidad de revisar la metodología utilizada hasta la fecha en este tipo de intervenciones. Los sucesivos fracasos acontecidos en proyectos anteriores tuvieron su origen en la dificultad para concluir la fase de ejecución a causa de un presupuesto insuficiente. Familias con poco poder adquisitivo no eran capaces de abordar la construcción de nuevas viviendas, por muy baratas que éstas fueran. Además, los dilatados plazos de obra situaban a esas personas durante el proceso en una posición de vulnerabilidad aún mayor que la que ya tenían antes de iniciarse el realojo. Con el objetivo de paliar esta problemática, se prevén desde el mismo planeamiento dos estrategias bien diferenciadas. La primera de ellas consistiría en la rehabilitación y mejora de las infraviviendas existentes, asumiendo el valor social y urbano que pudieran tener. La segunda estrategia planteaba la construcción de pequeños núcleos habitacionales mínimos, a partir de los cuales los usuarios podrían desarrollar progresivamente unidades más complejas.

The fact that the process of land acquisition by the municipality was at a very advanced stage was a determining factor in the final selection of the land. This area had already experienced building and growth along the Delhi-Bombay highway. Thus, with regard to the connection to the rest of the city of Indore, the chosen area had good preconditions. The gentle topography of the land, with a constant slope, was a determining factor in the layout of the future infrastructure network and, moreover, of the urban structure of Aranya.

El hecho de encontrarse el proceso de adquisición de tierras por parte de la municipalidad en un estado muy avanzado fue determinante para la selección final del terreno. Esta zona había experimentado ya la aparición de edificaciones y su crecimiento a lo largo de la autopista Delhi-Bombay. Así, respecto a la conexión con el resto de la ciudad de Indore, el área escogida disponía de unas buenas condiciones previas. La suave topografía del terreno, con una pendiente constante, fue determinante en el trazado de la futura red de infraestructuras y, además, de la estructura urbana de Aranya.

– References

A careful and sensitive look at informal settlements can be useful in drawing lessons that can be applied later in the development of a modern project methodology.

Una mirada atenta y sensible a los asentamientos de infraviviendas puede ser útil para extraer lecciones que podrían aplicarse, con posterioridad, en el desarrollo de una metodología moderna del proyecto.

From a material point of view, the fundamental characteristic of an informal settlement is the precariousness of the structures that constitute it. The inhabitants build their dwellings with scarce resources, often using recycled or discarded materials, without any prior provisioning. This determines that the process of construction and evolution of the settlement, as well as the buildings that compose it, has an organic character, operationally defined by a growth in small doses as the needs and resources of the users evolve.

Desde un punto de vista material, la característica fundamental de un asentamiento informal es la precariedad de las estructuras que lo constituyen. Los pobladores construyen sus viviendas con escasos recursos, echando mano en muchas ocasiones de materiales reciclados o desechados, sin que exista un aprovisionamiento previo. Esto determina que el proceso de construcción y evolución del asentamiento, así como las edificaciones que lo componen, tenga un carácter orgánico, definido operativamente por un crecimiento a pequeñas dosis a medida que las necesidades y los recursos de los usuarios evolucionen.

Their specific nature also influences the materialisation of a certain idea of community. Despite the precariousness of construction, the different units that make up an informal settlement will adopt physical structures that imply a deep-rooted sense of collectivity. This communal living is linked to a high population density, facilitating an intense social life that is manifested in the space we understand as public.

Su naturaleza específica influye también en la materialización de una determinada idea de comunidad. A pesar de la precariedad constructiva, las diferentes unidades que componen un poblado informal adoptarán estructuras físicas que implican un sentido muy arraigado de colectividad. Esta vida en común está ligada a una alta densidad poblacional, facilitando una intensa vida social que se manifiesta en el espacio que entendemos como público.

The construction of the dwellings that make up this type of settlement is usually carried out by reusing previously discarded elements. They are often organised, however, making use of a compositional language with popular roots that contributes to defining domestic and urban spaces of great spatial quality. The spontaneous use of vegetation, shaded or gathering spaces, small porches or even courtyards and hallways are some of the examples that can be found in informal settlements, even in situations where there is a complete lack of basic infrastructures. These spaces house the social, cultural or economic activities of the community, correctly establishing the transitions between public and private space.

La construcción de las viviendas que componen este tipo de poblados suele llevarse a cabo reutilizando elementos previamente desechados. Estos se organizan a menudo, sin embargo, haciendo uso de un lenguaje compositivo de raíces populares que contribuye a definir espacios domésticos y urbanos de gran calidad espacial. La utilización espontánea de vegetación, espacios de sombra o reunión, pequeños porches o incluso patios y zaguanes, son algunos de los ejemplos que podríamos encontrar en asentamientos informales, incluso en situaciones de carencia absoluta de infraestructuras básicas. Estos espacios albergan las actividades sociales, culturales o económicas de la comunidad, estableciendo correctamente las transiciones entre el espacio público y el privado.

In the case of the Indore slum settlements near the Aranya development site, Balkrishna Doshi paid special attention to these issues and developed an in-depth analysis of the various architectural devices related to social activities. The search for a human scale and the hierarchisation of roads and circulations will, in any case, maintain a very direct relationship with the organic structures of the informal settlements.

En el caso de los asentamientos de infraviviendas de Indore, cerca del terreno reservado para el desarrollo de Aranya, Balkrishna Doshi prestó especial atención a estas cuestiones y desarrolló un profundo análisis de los distintos dispositivos arquitectónicos relacionados con las actividades sociales. La búsqueda de una escala humana y la jerarquización del viario y las circulaciones mantendrán, en todo caso, una relación muy directa con las estructuras orgánicas de los poblados informales.

– Programme and Operative Strategies

Firstly it should be noted, as mentioned above, that limited financial resources and negative experience of previous failures meant that the strategy of upgrading the existing settlement, as opposed to the idea of dismantling and re-housing, was the fundamental objective of the design team. The resistance of the population to displacement, thus breaking the social ties already established with the community, together with their willingness to actively participate in the execution of their domestic space and environment, through a process of assisted self-construction, were decisive in the approach to the project’s operational strategy.

En primer lugar cabría señalar, como ya se ha comentado anteriormente, que la limitación de recursos económicos y la experiencia negativa en fracasos previos determinaron que la estrategia de mejorar el asentamiento existente, frente a la idea de desmantelamiento y realojo, fuera el objetivo fundamental del equipo de diseño. La resistencia de la población a desplazarse, rompiendo así los lazos sociales ya establecidos con la comunidad, junto a su disposición a participar de manera activa en la ejecución de su espacio y entorno doméstico, mediante un proceso de autoconstrucción asistida, fueron determinantes en el planteamiento de la estrategia operativa del proyecto.

It is essential to understand housing as an open process that develops over time, rather than as a finished object. In this way, the conception of the new domestic units, planned from a basic core of infrastructures, is the starting point of the project. The work of the architectural team, beyond the planning of the urban networks of circulation, mobility, supply and sanitation, will be fundamentally the construction of these small nuclei within each plot. These constitute the minimum housing unit, as well as providing domestic and urban identity. Defined by their purely functional character, they provide the future dwellings with all the necessary connections to the urban supply and sanitation network. There is thus a direct relationship between urban infrastructures and the domestic space, the latter being endowed with an infrastructural vocation due to its capacity to evolve over time.

Es fundamental comprender la vivienda como un proceso abierto que se desarrolla a lo largo del tiempo, en lugar de como un objeto concluido. De esta manera, la concepción de las nuevas unidades domésticas, planificadas a partir de un núcleo básico de infraestructuras, es el punto de partida del proyecto. La labor del equipo de arquitectura, más allá de la planificación de las redes urbanas de circulación, movilidad, abastecimiento y saneamiento, será fundamentalmente la construcción de esos pequeños núcleos dentro de cada parcela. Estos constituyen la unidad mínima habitacional, además de proporcionar identidad doméstica y urbana. Definidos por su carácter meramente funcional, proveen a las futuras viviendas de todas las conexiones necesarias a la red de abastecimiento y saneamiento urbano. Existe así una relación directa entre las infraestructuras urbanas y el espacio doméstico, dotado éste de vocación infraestructural por su capacidad de evolución a lo largo del tiempo.

Next to this small basic nucleus that has a toilet, kitchen, the different connections to networks and sufficient bearing capacity to constitute a constructive germ of a larger unit, there is a room that will house families with fewer individuals. The key to this infrastructural approach to the housing problem is to provide this minimum unit at the beginning, making it easier for future users to evolve and extend the dwellings as they have the capacity to do so, as long as the need exists. The aim is to prevent families from seeing their human and social development compromised by having to face the excessive costs of a completed dwelling, with resources they do not have and even without the immediate need for it.

Junto a este pequeño núcleo básico que posee un aseo, cocina, las diferentes conexiones a redes y capacidad portante suficiente para constituir un germen constructivo de una unidad mayor, se dispone una estancia que albergará a las familias de menos individuos. La clave de esta aproximación infraestructural al problema de la vivienda es proporcionar esta unidad mínima en un inicio, facilitando que los futuros usuarios evolucionen y amplíen las viviendas a medida que tengan capacidad para ello; siempre y cuando exista esa necesidad. Se pretende evitar que las familias vean su desarrollo humano y social comprometido por tener que hacer frente a los costes excesivos de una vivienda concluida, con unos recursos de los que no disponen e incluso sin la necesidad inmediata de ello.

In relation to the urban and territorial scale, the fundamental objective of the project will be to logically and naturally adapt the layout of the new settlement to the topographical characteristics of the existing terrain. From a central spine of facilities, many of which have never been built, and large-scale public spaces, a series of distribution routes are branched out which, at different levels of hierarchy, constitute the urban fabric of Aranya. Of particular note are the pedestrian walkways that make up the last level, from which the minimal housing clusters are organised. In them, the presence of vegetation of different sizes and different architectural devices provides a strong urban and social identity.

En relación a la escala urbana y territorial, el objetivo fundamental del proyecto será adaptar con lógica y naturalidad el trazado del nuevo asentamiento a las características topográficas del terreno existente. A partir de una espina central de equipamientos, muchos de ellos nunca construidos, y espacios públicos de gran escala, se ramifican una serie de vías de distribución que, en distintos niveles de jerarquía, constituyen el tejido urbano de Aranya. Cabe destacar las vías peatonales que integran el último nivel, a partir de las cuales se organizan los cluster de viviendas mínimas. En ellos, la presencia de vegetación de diferentes portes y de distintos dispositivos arquitectónicos aporta una fuerte identidad urbana y social.

The definition of a correct human scale throughout the project is important in order to foster a sense of rootedness and belonging and, ultimately, to successfully constitute a new urban settlement. To this end, a popular element of Indian vernacular architecture, the otta, an outdoor platform in front of a house or at the centre of a group of houses, is used. This architectural device is the meeting and assembly space of the community at its most domestic scale. Beyond the threshold of the dwellings, the first social interactions between an individual and his or her community, or between the community and the territory he or she inhabits, take place within the framework of this element.

La definición de una correcta escala humana en todo el proyecto es importante para fomentar un sentimiento de arraigo y pertenencia y, finalmente, para constituir con éxito un nuevo asentamiento urbano. Para tal fin, se recupera un elemento popular de la arquitectura vernácula india, el otta: una plataforma exterior que se dispone frente a una vivienda o en el centro de una agrupación de varias. Este dispositivo arquitectónico es el espacio de reunión y asamblea de la comunidad en su escala más doméstica. Más allá del umbral de las viviendas, las primeras interacciones sociales entre un individuo y su comunidad, o entre ella y el territorio que habita, se desarrollan en el marco de este elemento.

– Infrastructural Nature

As mentioned above, the fact of conceiving housing as an open process in time, rather than as a closed object, defines the infrastructural character of the project. The possible growth in small doses will thus give it an organic nature.

Como se ha comentado antes, el hecho de concebir la vivienda como un proceso abierto en el tiempo, en lugar de como un objeto cerrado, define el carácter infraestructural del proyecto. El posible crecimiento a pequeñas dosis le otorgará así una naturaleza orgánica.

The element that functions as the germ of this evolution, housing the potentially infrastructural character of the project, is the minimum endowment nucleus that defines the dwellings. Once this has been executed and a family receives its plot with it, the possible evolution of the dwellings would develop in the following way. First of all, it is necessary to note that the architectural team decided that the growth of the housing should be suggested, guided or controlled in some way. As is usual in other similar experiments, not giving guidelines or directives to the users at the moment of facing the development of their dwelling usually leads to a complete failure in the definition of domestic and urban spaces of a minimum quality. Thus, together with the service nucleus, the foundations of future load-bearing walls would also be built on each plot. If the dwelling needs to grow, these foundations will be used as the starting point for walls that will define new rooms, ensuring that their dimensions and layout meet certain requirements. If there is no need to extend the house, the foundations will remain buried in a dormant state awaiting their possible use, while other activities can be developed on the surface of a courtyard that remains empty. Such a solution partially limits the possibilities for growth, although the urban quality that the Aranya settlement has acquired over time could justify such a positioning.

El elemento que funciona como germen de esa evolución, albergando el carácter potencialmente infraestructural del proyecto, es el núcleo dotacional mínimo que define las viviendas. Una vez que este ha sido ejecutado y una familia recibe su parcela con él, la posible evolución de las viviendas se desarrollaría de la siguiente manera. En primer lugar, es necesario apuntar que el equipo de arquitectura decidió que el crecimiento de la vivienda debía ser sugerido, guiado o controlado de alguna manera. Como es habitual en otros experimentos similares, no dar pautas o directrices a los usuarios en el momento de afrontar el desarrollo de su vivienda suele concluir en un fracaso rotundo en la definición de espacios domésticos y urbanos de una mínima calidad. Así, junto al núcleo de servicios, se ejecutarían también las cimentaciones de unos futuros muros portantes en cada parcela. Si la vivienda necesitase crecer, se utilizarán estas cimentaciones como el arranque de muros que definirán nuevas estancias, garantizando que sus dimensiones y disposición cumplan ciertos requisitos. De no haber necesidad de ampliar la vivienda, las cimentaciones permanecerán enterradas en estado latente esperando su posible uso, mientras se puede desarrollar otro tipo de actividades sobre la superficie de un patio que permanece vacío. Una solución como esta limita parcialmente las posibilidades de crecimiento, aunque la calidad urbana que el asentamiento de Aranya ha adquirido con el tiempo podría justificar un posicionamiento así.

On the other hand, a free strip half a metre wide was provided between the boundary of each plot and the pedestrian road. This diffuse space, of indeterminate function, was to guarantee a certain flexibility in the transition zone between public and private space. Over the years, users have developed multiple variants of architectural devices of great urban value in this strip. Examples include balconies, platforms for social interaction, gardens or staircases leading to upper floors, where the growth of ground-floor dwellings has been completed and thus extended to upper floors. These improvised elements, in direct dialogue with the communal otta, build a social fabric with a strong urban character.

Por otro lado, se dispuso de una franja libre de medio metro de anchura entre el límite de cada parcela y el viario peatonal. Este espacio difuso, de función indeterminada, debía garantizar cierta flexibilidad en la zona de transición entre el espacio público y el privado. A lo largo de los años, los usuarios han desarrollado en esta franja múltiples variantes de dispositivos arquitectónicos de gran valor urbano. Algunos ejemplos de ello son balcones, plataformas para la interacción social, jardines o escaleras de acceso a plantas superiores, en el caso de que el crecimiento de las viviendas en planta baja se hubiera completado y extendido así a plantas superiores. Estos elementos improvisados, en diálogo directo con las otta comunitarias, construyen un tejido social de fuerte carácter urbano.

Having these small areas of indeterminacy, despite the relatively rigid layout of the planned foundations, allows the variety of solutions to ensure the creation of a complex and varied urban space from a formal and typological point of view.

Disponer de estas pequeñas áreas de indeterminación, a pesar del esquema relativamente rígido de las cimentaciones previstas, permite que la variedad de soluciones garantice la creación de un espacio urbano complejo y variado desde un punto de vista formal y tipológico.

K31 Courtyard by UN Studio: An Architectural Affair

The residential complex at 31 Krzhizhanovskogo Street in Moscow by UN Studio has an award-winning design that attempts to make the most of the location’s best features in order to meet the problem of fostering community in a congested urban environment. Moscow is presently undergoing a surge in residential development as a result of the city’s new masterplan, which was approved in 2012 and permits residential construction on the former industrial regions. With a surface area of around 118,000 m2 and height 145 m, it stands out as a magnificent structure.

A design that blends the area’s historical legacy and fosters the development of a local community was requested by project developer Glavstroy, who in turn asked Citymakers to create and organize the worldwide competition. The K31 Courtyard plan aims to develop a model of future living that prioritizes the welfare of the inhabitants, promotes indoor-outdoor living , fosters a sense of security and home, and offers a variety of sustainable social possibilities in this quickly changing urban environment.

K31 Courtyard by UN Studio: An Architectural Affair - Sheet1

Design Principles

The city of Moscow has recently experienced the conversion of former industrial sites into residential districts following the approval of a new masterplan, and the rise in density came with issues in developing a feeling of community. This problem is addressed by the architecture, which fosters a sense of security and belonging, promotes indoor-outdoor life, and offers a variety of social activities.

A stepped pedestal that surrounds a private courtyard and two towers that face each other diagonally to provide every tenant the best view corridors and allow for more light to enter the apartments make up the design of K31 Courtyard, which combines two common residential building typologies.

The podium’s stepped terraces are intended to provide extra amenities for the neighbouring units, such as verandas, greenhouses, and orangeries, while also ensuring that the courtyard-facing apartments receive a sufficient amount of natural light. The development includes a variety of apartment types, as well as a park, a fitness centre , a kindergarten, and commercial spaces. It also has underground parking. Each tower also has a separate community space with co-working areas, sports facilities, and a clubhouse for residents on top of the podium.The apartments facing the inner courtyard are intended to receive enough sunshine thanks to the podium’s raised terraces. Due to their potential usage as extra facilities for the nearby units, these sloped terraces also lend a distinctive element to this residential building. In order to meet the needs of various inhabitants, the development also provides a variety of apartment types and layouts. While common areas and entrances are shared by everybody, the typology split is made to minimize the separation of various social groups.

In combination with the possibility to use of the outdoor terraces on the stepped podium, the design for K31 Courtyard encourages residents to enjoy outdoor living throughout the year and to create an open neighborhood in the sky and a lively new addition to the Moscow skyline.

K31 Courtyard by UN Studio: An Architectural Affair - Sheet2

Community Block

The concept of “a neighborhood” has several dimensions for K31 Courtyard. The expansion is intended to spread horizontally and link to the city, drawing inspiration from the old-style Moscow courtyard, which was peaceful and private yet open and secure. The courtyard’s playgrounds and green areas for amusement are also visibly connected to the blocks outside perimeter pedestrian paths.

Through the use of common intermediate amenity areas, neighborhoods can also grow vertically to foster ties between residents who live next to the same stairs. At the base of each tower, there are two additional designated public areas that can hold co-working spaces, athletic facilities, and a clubhouse for residents.

By adding curated terrace units like verandas, orangeries, or greenhouses, the roof apartments on the podium in the diagonal neighborhood created by the stepping roof terraces can be made more unique.

K31 Courtyard by UN Studio: An Architectural Affair - Sheet4

Façade Design

A modular method with parametric modelling is used to create sophisticated facade diversity. We add a random arrangement of modules with windows, bay windows, French balconies, and conventional loggias into a strong grid, resulting in a greater variety of apartment types with overt indoor-outdoor variances.

We encourage the new K31 Courtyard residents to live outside all year long and build an open neighborhood in the sky that will become a new landmark for the Moscow skyline, along with the potential usage of the outdoor terraces on the tiered platform.

Façade styles:

Brick and black metal are used in the podium facade’s outside perimeter to match the nearby structures and maintain the area’s history as an old industrial area.

The podium’s two towers include loggias and panoramic windows. When viewed from the courtyard, it is particularly crucial for the towers’ light materialization and color to appear less ominous so that their volumes appear to visibly dissolve into the sky.

Similar to the lightness of the tower volumes, the courtyard’s interior facade uses natural wood to create a cozy and welcoming ambiance for the occupants while forging a strong link to the lush, tree-lined courtyard.

References:

K31 Courtyard

Moscow, Russia, 2021

https://www.unstudio.com/en/page/15783/k31-courtyard

UNStudio Designs Community-Oriented Residential Development in Moscow Written by Andreea Cutieru November 16, 2021

https://www.archdaily.com/971952/unstudio-designs-community-oriented-residential-development-in-moscow

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Aranya Low-cost Housing by BV Doshi
13704. Aaranya Low-cost Housing by BV Doshi. Aranya Low-Cost Housing, each core house comprises a plinth and service spaces (bath and kitchen). In the project, the architect utilized the core housing concept to create affordable housing for low-income families in the region. As a result, the inclusion of core housing, user participation took place.
Aranya Low Cost Housing
May 20, 2012 •. 260 likes • 166,682 views. Ankita Kolamkar. Analysis of the low-cost housing scheme planned by Ar. B.V.Doshi near Indore. 1 of 31. Download now. Download to read offline. Aranya Low Cost Housing. Aranya Low Cost Housing - Download as a PDF or view online for free.
Aranya Low-cost Housing by B.V Doshi Low-cost urban housing
During 1970 and onward, the emerging need to house large numbers of people gave rise to various housing projects. Doshi designed Life Insurance Corporation, Ahmedabad in 1973 and Aranya Low-Cost Housing, Indore in 1989, which was one of his best-known projects. This project was remarkably unique in terms of its approach, design philosophy, and ...
Revisit: Aranya low-cost housing, Indore, Balkrishna Doshi
Revisit: Aranya low-cost housing, Indore, Balkrishna Doshi. 14 August 2019 By Manon Mollard Buildings. 1/10. 2/10. 3/10. 4/10. 5/10. 6/10. 7/10. 8/10. 9/10. 10/10. Share. ... 20 years after his own practice and 14 after CEPT), the Vastushilpa Foundation has dedicated decades of research to the study and documentation of human settlements in ...
Aranya Housing Project by B V Doshi: A Masterpiece of Affordable ...
In the realm of low-cost housing initiatives, the Aranya Housing Project by the acclaimed architect B V Doshi stands as an exemplary model that seamlessly integrates affordability, functionality, and aesthetics. This article explores the innovative design, thoughtful planning, and social impact of the Aranya Housing Project, highlighting its ...
Critical Analysis of Aranya Low-cost housing
Housing. B.Planning - 3rd Year, 5th Semester. School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi. Critical Analysis of Aranya Low-cost housing. Term Paper by Meet Kumar - BP/847/2020. Abstract ...
A--D -- Aranya Housing Project
Aranya is a site and services project in Indore, India, that provides affordable housing for the urban poor. It uses a hierarchy of open spaces, local materials and building techniques, and a sustainable design approach to create a mixed-income community.
Aranya Low-Cost Housing: A Masterpiece Of Affordable Living
Aranya Low-Cost Housing: The Vision . The Aranya project, conceived and developed in the late 1980s, was not just a housing project; it was a social and architectural experiment aimed at providing a comprehensive solution to the acute problem of housing in rapidly growing urban centers of India. ... It has become a case study for students of ...
Aranya Low Cost Housing
Aranya Low Cost Housing accommodates over 80,000 individuals through a system of houses, courtyards and a labyrinth of internal pathways. "It seems I should take an oath and remember it for my lifetime: to provide the lowest class with the proper dwelling.". The community is comprised of over 6,500 residences, amongst six sectors - each ...
(PDF) Housing the poor: a study of Aranya, India
The Aranya Low-Cost Housing Scheme won the Aga Kh an Award for Architecture in 1996 but despit e . ... Case study in Visakhapatanam, India' Citi es: vol.13, no.2, pp. 97-108. 2.
Re-thinking Ews Housing: the Case of Aranya Low-cost Housing, Indore
RE-THINKING EWS HOUSING: THE CASE OF ARANYA LOW-COST HOUSING, INDORE. May 2021. Authors: Divyatanu Dev. Purushottam Kesar. To read the full-text of this research, you can request a copy directly ...
Revisiting the low-cost housing designed by B.V. Doshi: Part A
During my thesis year, I was working on a low-cost housing development project. And, as my case study, I choose Aranya Housing Project. This project was completed in the year of 1980s (Mollard, 2019). this project is marked as of the most successful low-cost housing project in the world.
Low-Cost Housing: Remarkable Case Studies in Indian Scenario
To achieve their particular goals, numerous organisations in India have defined cheap housing. The list of specific case studies of low-cost housing in India is provided below. ... Balkrishna V. Doshi, an architect, designed the Aranya Housing. In the past, architects haven't done much to help the urban poor in the Third World with housing ...
Aranya Low-Cost Housing
The Aranya low-cost housing project, in the Indian city of Indore, was developed by the Vastu-Shilpa Foundation, headed by Balkrishna Doshi, starting in 1989. The main value of this project lies in its novel operational strategy for the development of housing, built with very limited financial and material resources, in contexts of social ...
Aranya Community housing- Case Study
Aranya Community housing- Case Study. Aug 8, 2017 • Download as PPTX, PDF •. 19 likes • 9,440 views. Rajat Rana. An architectural case study on the Aranya community housing and township in Indore. Education. 1 of 21. Download now. Aranya Community housing- Case Study - Download as a PDF or view online for free.
PDF Aranya Community Housing, Indore, India
Low Cost Housing, "Aranya" - tar in d' i_ws is eit:. ant Ess½ 8.2 Approach t—wd Len'] * kml . Aranya Low Cost Housing - Township Plan Percent of 65. 1 2 12. 1 .1 6 o. 1.95 o. 67 0. 63 83 o. 76 o. 57 Plat area 139 223 325 474 00 17 58. 3. 25 O. 16 23. 52 8 .16 68. 32 31. of Catagory LIG 11,111 LIG 1 MIG 11 MIG 1 HIG 1 Flats Plots
ARANYA HOUSING CASE STUDY
ARANYA HOUSING CASE STUDY. Apr 25, 2020 • Download as PPTX, PDF •. 1 like • 898 views. AnkitKumarSunny. Follow. This PPT is the collection of information about "Aranya housing" case study , designed by Ar. BV Doshi. Aranya housing project is the low cost housing project built in Indore, Madhya pradesh, India. Read more.
PDF Aranya Low Cost Housing Case Study
Aranya Low Cost Housing Case Study Davis, Juliet Kamala House BV Doshi,2019-06-27 ... case studies from all over the world, this accessibly written book serves both as a point of inspiration and a challenge to Western-centric ways of working. Ultimately, it explores how listening to the aspirations of diverse communities enriches ...
Integrating Housing Wealth into the Social Safety Net : The Elderly in
The existence of such large unencumbered wealth holdings by lower income elderly households creates an opportunity to provide what might be termed "housing safety net insurance" at low public cost. More than reducing the incidence of poverty, such schemes could allow also many of the elderly to be able to move out of poverty and into middle ...
Re-thinking Ews Housing: the Case of Aranya Low-cost Housing, Indore
With the proposals and design laid down, the aim would be to study and improve/ upgrade the collective living area of the EWS category at Aranya Low-Cost Housing with a few stipulated objectives ...
K31 Courtyard by UN Studio: An Architectural Affair
The residential complex at 31 Krzhizhanovskogo Street in Moscow by UN Studio has an award-winning design that attempts to make the most of the location's best features in order to meet the problem of fostering community in a congested urban environment. Moscow is presently undergoing a surge in residential development as a result of the city's new masterplan, which was approved in 2012 and ...
RADIAL CITY PLANNING
Urban studies case study townships d y patil college of architecture ... Aranya low cost housing-BV Doshi. Aranya low cost housing-BV Doshi ...
New Technology Adoption for Russian Regional Energy Generati
The paper adapts the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) methodology of Wagner and Foster [6], which has been upgraded to facilitate combined energy generation processes, to examine the cost structures associated with energy system and applies it to a Russian regional case study. The model run for two fuel price scenarios allowed us to conclude ...

Norman Foster and his High-tech Architecture

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Aranya Low-Cost Housing: A Masterpiece Of Affordable Living By Architect B. V. Doshi

Architect B. V. Doshi: Pioneering Affordable Housing Solutions

Aranya Low-Cost Housing: The Vision

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The Lingaraja Temple, Odisha

Evergreen Line Stations by Perkins and Will

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New Technology Adoption for Russian Regional Energy Generation: Moscow Case Study

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