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| Wednesday, 24 November 2004 |
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Compiled by Edward Arambewala Unplanned housing and the eco-system : A critical look by Architect Jayantha Domingo While critically looking at the ill-effects caused on the eco-system by the unplanned over ambitious housing programmes of the recent past, at the same time it is also important to study the positive efforts taken towards housing development.
In the State sponsored housing programme there are certain environment friendly positive examples at both programme and project levels which need further evaluation in order to find strategies for a new approach to mass housing with minimum damage to the eco-system. In order to encourage the rural folk to build houses using the traditional materials and technology inherent to different regions in the country, a national low-cost housing competition was conducted annually. Some of such houses were planned and constructed by the owner builders in the rural areas. Since this was a competition with new attractive prizes all the participants put their maximum effort to construct well-planned houses using the locally available materials and technology and a whole range of building materials such as wattle and daub, sun-dried bricks, stabilized mud walls, stone walling etc. for the walls and thatch, straw and country tiles for the roof.
At the same time there was a conscious effort to plan out home gardens with proper surface water drainage and water sealed toilets. Much importance was given to the aspect of traditional detailing and decorative work while being cost conscious. The houses constructed countrywide under this programme had the least damage on the eco-system and hence should have been promoted as a strategy. But quite contrary to this in the rural housing programmes of late, the owner builders were not encouraged to adopt these methods and also with the popularising of the false values to use cement blocks for walls and corrugated asbestos sheets for roof the eco-friendly folk building tradition is on the verge of disappearing. Similarly under the Hundred Thousand Houses Programme out of the large direct construction housing projects which were constructed for the middle income people, there are several projects which demand of further study in terms of compatibility with nature. They are i. Hantana Housing Project in Kandy. It is quite clear that adequate attention has not been given to the study of the major housing development programmes of the past in terms of eco-sensitivity. This has to be done at the levels of planning of these settlements, use of materials and technology and design of housing units. It is the wish of the author that this article will stress the need to study this subject much further. "It has been argued that it is no longer sufficient that the design satisfies the client, can be built within the budget allowed, and earns the aesthetic approval of Architecture peers. The designer of a building must also realise the responsibility that resides in making any part of the built environment, however small, that design for the few affects the many". Brendon and Robbert Vale, 1991 Courtesy - SLA JOURNAL VOL 101 - No. 15 ############### Bangladesh : karim Residence by Architect Shatotto
These symbols complement architecture, at the same time unfold the understanding of hidden meaning and layers. Bringing the nature inside a mundane form has always been an architect's greatest challenge as well as desire. Water and the human spirit Water and architecture are always complementary to each other. As human beings, we cannot defy the existence of water in our lives. Water has a strange effect in evoking emotions and strange connotations between humans and their mind. It is a symbol of sacredness and purity. It is definite and infinite at the same time. It is colourless, yet full of colour, reflective and formless, yet form can be attainable.
With Hindu ritual, it is believed bathing within the sacred waters of the Ganga River, washes away all sins and sorrows. So in each state, water is used to attain the crossing of the threshold from earthly time to divine time, and the act consists of prayers and meditation. It is used in its most physical form to attain purification from the profane world. Creating a tripartite relationship between nature, the building and water is like the reflection of a prism: evocative in its essence and at the same time scientific in its approach. Using water as an architectural element to enhance the feeling of space and to create a sense of serenity and belongingness, is a divine attempt. These sorts of feelings and emotion was re-created in the Karim Residence. The Idea for this project was to create a tranquil living space. Using nature's palette of shrubbery and a water-body as a symbol of reflection and purification, this place a private single family residence in the midst of Dhaka city is an oasis amongst the busy urban context. It has the power to be tranquil and in peace with the dwellers. A meditative garden, where the water body rests,acts as a transcendental zone for all its dwellers and helps in creating a connection between man, nature and his creator. Garden as a connector
The first segment is the lawn, in the front of the house where visitors entering the gateway, get a first glimpse of greenery. The extended hidden part of the garden flows along the plan of the house simultaneously and horizontally and is transformed into a creeper court. This garden is more private and meditative. At the end of this garden, where the green grass ends, water begins in the form of a rectangular reflecting pool. These garden spaces are surrounded by a first layer of low shrubbery along with some tall deciduous trees. The asymmetrical arrangement of the garden elements, in particular its pool, complements the symmetrical order of the architecture. On the 2nd floor, a small lawn has ben designed, separated from the ground floor garden by a glass pavilion, which acts as an extended living room for the family. This pavilion space visually creates a transparent vertical connection between the ground floor greenery and the upper level gardens, with its creepers and vines connecting levels of oasis, like the hanging gardens of Babylon. Symbolic pathway towards the water This garden complements and expands on the symbolic theme of pathway and mystery, to form a complete composition of serenity. The path that leads to this water body includes a sequence of pathways, doorways, windows and spaces of richness and complexity that suggests a symbolic journey, more like a preparation for relaxation. The ground floor plan, flowing alongside the garden and the water pool, acts as a functional space for daily activities, with a view of the garden and the sound of the water. The pathway to reach the water body has been carefully designed to create visual mystery. People entering the foyer of the house, get a first glimpse of the garden with its crisp light. This section of the path has a unique combination of granite slabs in white and black to symbolise the balance between, sacred and secular. Though this private garden and the pool can be viewed from the house, it can only be reached through one particular doorway. The dining space overlooks the reflecting water pool. The windows, with its framed view, extend the visual continuity from inside, into the low shrubbery onto the reflecting pool. (Courtesy - Architecture Asia) |
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Produced by Lake House |
Architecture is a form of translation where symbols, beliefs, faiths
and reasons merge into creating spaces with scale and material form, to
define human emotions. For ages architects have used their inborn
imagination to attain that is to be born. Using nature as the laboratory,
architects from ancient time, created spaces where myths, legends and
rituals became a part of their architecture.
For ages in different cultures and faiths, water has been used purely
as a symbol of purification. From the Shinto faith to Zen Buddhist temples
and teahouses, water has been used to attain purification through
ritualistic ablution. Christianity has a similar ritual centring on the
use of holy water; in Islam, the act of ablution with water before each
prayer and entering the mosque is also considered holy.
The garden is used here as a connector of human life and nature's
cycle. On the ground floor, there is a rectangular lawn, edged with shrubs
and a pathway that leads to the water body. This L-shaped ground floor
garden has been segmented into two parts.
