SHANAG
Village housing project
Situated at the core of Kochi which is surrounded by the ocean on all sides, the site has very rich soil allowing plants to be nourished and ensure their wellbeing, making it perfect for establishing a botanical research center. It is not an alien concept of growing different species of plants for the residents of Kochi - farming comes naturally to them as it is one of their primary sources of income including fishing and tourism.
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Looking back at the design, it brings back all the memories from the documentation trip our class took to Manali. Being brought up in Mumbai where the weather is fairly moderate throughout the year, travelling to a place where the temperature dropped insanely was a different experience for me. We studied everyday lives of the residents of the village which would help us design houses which were not only built around their lifestyles but also with the materials that they are used to. All the materials such as stone, wood and labor are very accessible from the site.
The documentation not only helped me understand the ways of life of people staying under extreme weather conditions but also taught me different techniques to build and adapt to different climatic conditions. It was the first experience I had working and building around contours, and paying close attention to the sun and wind path and the timings of sunrise and sunsets.
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The site was in a very peculiar shape with a water stream flowing along the site to teach us to design spaces that were very site specific and I believe it has a lot to do with the users that are going to occupy the space and the kind of spaces they are accustomed to. Designing a space affects the users physically, mentally but also has a great impact on their subconscious state.
The houses designed for the residents were for four different families and one house designed as an extension to the current house. All the houses were built on the ground floor going below earth level as the temperature is always warmer under the earth’s surface. I learnt during my site visits that it was not the temperature that affected me but the wind that was flowing around so I built all the activities that would happen during the night underground to keep the spaces warmer and all the activities during the day were designed on the east side of the house that got sunlight and warmth through the glass roof.
All the activities happening during the day are preferred to be done outside under open sun to ensure higher body temperature, such as doing the dishes, laundry, and feeding the cattle. So, it was essential to provide an open front yard that would help them to continue using the open space for similar activities. Lastly to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the users, the underground rooms are provided with windows that let in enough sunlight during the day and not be logged with snow during harsh climates because of the placement of the window is parallel to the contour hence letting the snow melt by.
