CONSTRUCTED OUT OF WASTE - An Activity Center for a Squatter Settlement

By Bhakti Shah

During my thesis studies, I was going through a magazine about the contemporary sustainability, in which one small scale project was mentioned. It was a design for an activity center for a Nongovernmental organization in Ahmadabad, India. This project was serving for a largest part of squatter settlement and functioning as multipurpose activities. These activities includes an informal school for young children, an afternoon school for older boys, evening education for adults and a center for local elderly. Architectural program includes training facility, workshop for the manufacturing of craft based products. It also includes dormitory, admin unit and meditation unit. Total built up area is 515 sq.m. Project is designed by Vastu Shilpa Foundation which is a very renowned non-profit, non-governmental research organization for research and studies in environmental design in India.


Design concept was to provide an interactive and flexible layout suitable context i.e it place & people as well as participatory building construction, to provide locals with the opportunity for economic gain. It is an attempt to recycle the municipal domestic waste into building materials and to address environmental concerns, economic issues & affordable housing amenities.

The project characterized for it construction and material used. Building components were made out of recycling of domestic waste. It serves the purpose to help reduce waste as pollutant, to create means of economic activity & sense of empowerment, to provide affordability & higher quality building alternatives for the urban poor and it is cheaper & higher quality than conventional materials.

Building construction uses six types of building materials & techniques for construction of its walls : Cement bounded fly ash bricks, molded compressed bricks made by landfill site waste residue, stabilized soil blocks, recycled glass bottles, recycled plastic bottles and vegetables crate wood paneling for internal partition walls. Floors & roofs are constructed with filler slab with glass bottles, plastic bottles and bricks, stone slab, cement bounded particle board with clay tile cover, light conduit pipe trusses with GI sheets and clay tile roofing. Door paneling uses shredded packaging wrapper & coated paper waste as reinforcement substitute for fiber reinforced, plastic (FRP) Vegetable crate wood for door frame, oil tin container & blades for the ventilation louvers in the toilet. Fly ash and waste residue molded tiles with inlaid ceramic industry waste as china mosaic.


Reference:
Pandya Y., The Journal of Indian Architecture - Architecture + Design, vol xxiv. October 2007, 68-71.

Nueva Esperanza School / al bordE

By Dustin Stoll

Architects: al bordE arquitectos – David Barragán & Pascual Gangotena
Location: El Cabuyal, Manabí, Ecuador
Collaborators: Xavier Mera, José Antonio Vivanco y Estefanía Jácome
Client: Felipe Gangotena, The Teacher
Contractor: al bordE arquitectos, Pascual Gangotena, volunteers and the community of El Cabuyal
Design Year: 2009
Construction Year: 2009
Project Area: 36 sqm

Most of the schools near the Puerto Cabuyal Community are rectangular shaped concrete structures with barred windows that make it look more like a jail than a school. That is the reason why this project is striving to solve not only immediate problems but to also produce long-term solutions.

It was very important to design the new space according to the principles of an active school. There was also a necessity to have the project closed with the natural environment nearby. The new space must be able to awaken the imagination, creativity, and desire of learning new things within the students, while not creating a feeling of repression.

The local community greatly influenced the design, construction methods, and materials of the new building. Materials include a timber basis above the foundation piles, bamboo walls, wood structure and a roof made of knitted straw scarf or “cade”. The main difference between this new structure and typical indigenous structures is the conceptual thought that has been applied to the design of the new structure.


Source: http://www.archdaily.com/45942/nueva-esperanza-school-al-borde/

Hidden Sacred Place – Nikko Toshogu in Japan –

By Yuko Aoki

Nikko Toshogu is located in Nikko, Tochigi which is approximately one hour and forty minutes by a train or a car north from Tokyo, Japan. Toshogu is stands in a bountiful forest which hides its presence. The history and the architecture of Toshogu are rich and still attract a lot of people from all over the world. Also it is a popular place to visit as a school trip for 6th to 8th grade students because of its historical importance for Japanese people.

The history of Nikko Toshogu started with Ieyasu Tokugawa who ended the Sengoku period, which was the period of war between the fifteenth century and beginning of the seventeenth century. The Edo period started with Ieyasu and was Japan was culturally improved during this period from 1603 to 1868. Ieyasu died when he was seventy five years old in 1616 (Wikipedia).

In Ieyasu’s will, he stated “Enshrine my dead body in Mt. Kuno (His hometown in Shizuoka prefecture) for the first year of the death. (Omission) And built a small shrine in Nikko and enshrine me as the God. I will be the guardian of Japan” (Nikko Tourist Association, 2004). However, Ieyasu had never had visited Toshogu in his life. The reason why he wanted to be buried there was because of a monk’s influence on him. Nikko is believed to be a sacred place (Okawa, 1975). Ieyasu’s last wish came true one year after his death.

The construction of the shrine was expensive. All the detail of the facade was curved and painted by hands. Most of the design has animals and each animal has a meaning. The most famous designs are “sleeping cat” and “three monkeys”. There were several reconstructions and additions to the site leading up to the year 1625, but the shrine people look upon now has changed little since that year (Okawa, 1975).


Now there are a few people who can fix damaged pieces of buildings at Toshogu. It is amazing that visitors still can see the colors and details that they could see 380 years ago.

I have been there once as a school trip. However, I was not aware of the importance of the architecture. I want to re-visit Toshogu and take hours to see all the details.
References:
Edo Architecture:Katsura and Nikko by Naomi Okawa in 1975
http://www.toshogu.jp/shaden/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikk%C5%8D,_Tochigi
http://www.nikko-jp.org/english/toshogu/index.html

Images:
http://www.toshogu.jp/shaden/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikk%C5%8D,_Tochigi

UK PAVILLION, CHINA

By Kang-Hsin Fan


Figure1: UK Pavillion, China 2010.

The pavilion was designed to convey the expo’s theme of “Better City, Better Life”. According to the architects, “The UK, with its millions of gardens, thousands of public parks and garden squares, has pioneered the integration of nature into cities as a way of making them healthier places, in which to live and work. The UK pavilion encourages visitors to look again at the role of nature and wonder whether it could be used to solve the current social, economic and environmental challenges of our cities.”

The UK Pavilion, embodied by Thomas Heatherwick's outstanding innovative design, is a six story high object formed from over 60,000 slender transparent rods, which extended from the structure and quivered in the breeze. “During the day, each of the 7.5m long rods acted like fiber-optic filaments, drawing on daylight to illuminate the interior, thereby creating a contemplative awe-inspiring space. At night, light sources at the interior end of each rod allowed the whole structure to glow” (UK Pavilion, 2010). The pavilion sat on a landscape looking like paper that once wrapped the building and that then lay unfolded on the site. It symbolized the UK's gift to China. . According to Professor Stephen Hopper, Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, “Seeds stored in Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank in the UK, and in our partners’ seed banks around the world, have the potential to enable human innovation, adaptation and resilience; helping current and future generations to lead better lives.”

The UK at Expo had two over-riding objectives: to challenge the Chinese people's perception of the UK from an outdated, traditional one to one where they perceive the UK as a modern, creative, innovative and advanced technological nation and to further strengthen Sino-British relationships.

Reference
UK Pavilion. Retrieved April 16, 2011, from http://www.ukshanghaiexpo.com

A Design Review

By Cray Shellenbarger

The earthquake in Haiti has reminded the design community of its responsibility in the relief efforts of governments. Competitions have come up since then on many levels from the professional to architecture studios. One particular solution for this issue really stands out was submitted by NC Offices in Miami, Fl. It does this because it is a very feasible solution and it references the traditional Japanese tea house.

The basic design was based on four eight by eight modular system. The electric, plumbing and other utilities are condensed in the core of the design to minimize travel distance. The goal is to provide a sustainable building method that will allow for repeated construction in order to established small self sustaining communities. The core contains a 1 kw photovoltaic system and the cistern for rain collection. The design also utilizes composting toilets. The architect designed the frame of the module to withstand lateral earthquake and wind loads. It is a rigid box frame with four inch by four inch H beams for the vertical and horizontal structural units.

The system closely resembles the Japanese tea house design. The modularity of it reminds one of the huts laid out according to the dimensions of the tatami mats. The light walls made from Magnum Boards allow for sliding panels for cross ventilation. This is also resembles the Japanese tea house in the cross section of the wall. The frame of the structure is accented by light wall construction with low and high openings to promote cross ventilation. Each structure is built upon masonry walls to allow the building to conform to any topography.

As designers, we should look at more of these types of designs. It is imperative that designers use their specialized skills to help those in need. Architects must combine their understanding of big picture issues with a detail oriented work ethic to solve these types of problems.

African Nomadic Architecture

By Rhonda C. Daugherty

The book takes a real look at social, cultural and environmental issues that native African have to deal with on a micro-level while constructing tribal huts. The author focuses on poor tribal Hassenyia- speaking nomads; specifically the Tekna, Trarza and Brakna tribes in or near the Sahara desert. The book investigates primitive practices of construction that is still used today. In essences, the social and environmental issues such as the dry weather, weaving, and the gender roles impact design considerations and solutions.

Pussin’s introduction outlines the methods of the tribes’ architectural solutions to be vernacular. The author defines the book to examine “women builders of the Sahara could teach us a thing or two about housing whole populations on the outskirts of Calcutta, Djakarta, and Sao Paulo… This book evolved out of field experiences and research for an exhibition on African nomadic arts and architectures” (Pussin, 1995). Thus, exploring “the [acknowledgment] of gender specificity in creation, recreation, and use of architecture and artifact, and the interfaces between architecture and ritual” (Pussin, 1995). The similarity and connection of gender and ritual practices in nomadic architecture has been extremely practical and beneficial to the human condition of African construction that one will see if he or she reads the book.

Why would one want to read this book? Simply to get a better understand of nomadic African architecture. Many times people develop an appeal to Islamic or Japanese architecture but, African architecture has interesting elements as well that may or may not be investigated or understood. Such as the woman’s role in architecture. Women have more of a dominate role is the nomadic architectural practice. Because of the knowledge in weaving and artifact craft, women take on more of the architectural design role. That fact alone is worth giving the book a try.

Cantonment Bungalow

By Tara D. Loughman

Architect: Rahul Mehrotra
Location: Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India

Throughout the world, most concepts and designs used in architecture today have come from indigenous techniques. One of the most important aspect of a building is its footing and what is used to hold its foundation together. Posts and columns have commonly been used throughout time and have often been used by many carvers as a stone carving technique. This allows them to display their signature decorative abilities.

The Cantonment Bungalow, which was completed in 2002, takes a modern approach to some of these indigenous techniques and concepts. The original structure was built in 1840. Mehrotra was commissioned to restore the bungalow with a balance between the old and new. Vertical supports are seen throughout the structure with an outer colonnade and a series of Tuscan Doric columns. Specifically, the service court area was refurbished to enhance the existing deep timber columns. Unlike the buildings other columns, these specific columns use a more intended base that was originally hand carved out of stone. The Cantonment Bungalow demonstrates the various uses of indigenous materials and techniques while providing a significant approach to a contemporary and modern design.