Low Cost Housing Technologies

Kimaya and Eco-Friendly Architecture

Reforms and Routes in MHADA for

Affordable housingKIRAN KALAMDANI

ARCHITECT URBAN DESIGNER CONSERVATIONIST

What isThe literal meaning of ‘Kimaya’ is the ancient alchemy

of distilling gold from simple metals – a process lost

over centuries to the mankind.

‘Kimaya’ is a partnership firm offering

consultancy for various aspects like architecture, urban consultancy for various aspects like architecture, urban

design, conservation, valuation and interior design.

Being established in 1990, it has over 215 projects to its

credit. We offer earn while you learn programmes for

young persons and so far more than 60 such people

have benefited from it. We often work with

international and national organizations in academic

and professional projects.

Kimaya aims at balancing charity and profit, theory and

practice, conservation and new-build, tradition and

innovation, global and local perspectives.

What is Eco-Friendly

Architecture

� In tune with the aims and aspirations of the people for whom it is created

� In tune with nature and with its immediate � In tune with nature and with its immediate surroundings, the past and the immediate future

� Where the ecological, social and financial attributes of materials and techniques of construction and its maintenance are understood as objectively as possible.

HEAVIER ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT

OF THE URBAN SETTLEMENT

TRIBAL RURAL URBAN

Three Frames of Reference

� 1. Shodhgram at

Gadchiroli a tribal

village project by Dr.

Abhay and Rani Bang

Sevagram at Wardha

� 2. A vision for the twenty first century village by

Mahatma Gandhi which wonderfully balances

ECOLOGY, ECONOMY & SOCIAL JUSTICE !

Hundertwasser Haus - Vienna

� 3. Tree tenants, window

rights and salvaged relics

used to enrich urban living

in urban public housing.

KunstHausWien

In the Meadow Hills, model,

1989. www.hundertwasser.at

SUNPATH AND CLIMATE GRAPH OF

PUNE

Institutional Development,

SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL

Some institutional buildings are characterised by low-rise and play meaningful roles at the national, state

and local levels. NICMAR experiments with cost-effective and ecologically sustainable building

techniques for its campus, which itself is an outdoor museum of such building techniques.

The pleasant entrance of the NICMAR campus.

CAMPUS STRUCTURES FOR NICMAR,

PUNE

View of the Central Courtyard.

The Hostel Block for about 40 students is constructed entirely in ferrocement floors and roof and concrete block masonry.

Area = 4,500 Sq.ft., Cost = Rs.14,17,500/- (Rs.315/- per Sq.ft.)

Roof of the hostel block is formed of hyperbolic paraboloids and frustums of a cone. The courtyard in the centre is a lively, social space and a passive cooling device.

The brick jalis in the hostel block ensure natural light and ventilation.

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Floor slab plan showing detailed arrangement of precast planks

Curing of precast beam on site. Interlocking of T-sections with interwinding

reinforcement

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Lifting of precast member on a siteREINFORCEMENT DETAIL: Fixing of weld mesh [cast

in slab] to precast beam

Detail of Interlocking T- sections with intertwined reinforcement.

In this case where T- section is kept inverted, the void

of 100 x 100 is left in between the two joint as shown

in the detail. In this the plain surface on top is

achieved by inverting T –section.

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In this type of roof the gap between two T-sections

is filled with brick bats which is then covered with

layer of ferro cement

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PRECAST FLOOR SLABS

The precast planks of floor slab can be cast well in advance,

saving time. The construction of structure & casting of the slabs

can be done simultaneously, to increase the speed of the work.

The use of precast floor slab planks considerably reduces the

curing period of the slab . The entire slab was laid in position

within a week.

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Picture showing how broken brickbats are used as filling between the inverted T sections of the floors which are later covered

with a layer of 38 mm thick cast in-situ ferrocement.

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Curing with gunny bags is very essential & gives satisfactory results in the hot dry climate

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A simple flat surface in the shade is needed for arrays of precast units

The Canteen is made up of concrete block jali walls and is one of the most popular and well-ventilated spaces of the campus.

The hyperbolic paraboloid roof of the Building Centre.

Area = 400 Sq.ft., Cost = Rs.86,000/- (Rs.215/- per Sq.ft.)

Religious institutions like like the Prayagdham

enjoy considerable political and religious

patronage but are a city in themselves having

nothing to do with the city or the villages

Good old values and more…

A Residential School

for Mr. Shaikh Jaweed

Sarfraz at Naigaon,

Near Prayagdham,

Uruli Kanchan, Pune,

has had a number of

teething problems,

despite good intentions.

nothing to do with the city or the villages

around.

CAMPUS FOR SAWAB PUBLIC SCHOOL,

NAIGAON, PUNE.View of the 14-acre campus during construction.

Low-rise structures of Classrooms Complex create an interesting skyline.

Administrative Building:

A modest structure using conventional construction technology merges with the surrounding environment.

Columns and arches of corridor of classroom block. The wasted and broken bricks were used to create diaper work, bands above lintel level.

Local craft skills were used in brickwork.

Arch under construction

Different types of columns used for construction.

Dormitory block under construction showing Rat-trap bond brickwork, stonework, steel portals and ferrocement roof panels.

Masonry and roof details of the Dormitory block showing use of Clay tiles on recycled pine battens/purlins on steel Portal Frame, with Rat Trap bond Brickwork.

Doors and Window made using recycled pine wood.

MVM SCHOOL,

LAW COLLEGE ROAD, PUNE

Client’s participation in the

project was encouraged

Façade of internal

courtyard

External Facade

Main Concerns: An easy to

use and visually stimulating

building for the user age-

group at a reasonable cost.

A COMPARISON OF THE 3 CASES

MVM NICMAR SAWAAB

•CONVENTIONAL BUILDING TECHNIQUES

RESULT IN LARGER ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINTS

•IMBALANCES IN VARIOUS FACTORS ARE

EASILY READABLE IN GRAPHICAL

PRESENTATION

PRACTICAL EVALUATION TOOL FOR

URBAN AREAS

SUSTAINABLE BUILDING

PRACTICES WORKSHOP

DEVELOPMENT ALTERNATIVES

A PRESENTATION BY

ANJALI & KIRAN KALAMDANI

Nature’s designs for Pune…

Pune as a Lake District…

Heritage Zone in Old Pune

Secondary & Intermediate Cities

Early Quotes…“Town planning is not mere place making,nor even work planning. If it is to besuccessful it must be folk planning… to findthe right places for each sort of people,the right places for each sort of people,places where they will really flourish. Togive people in fact, the care that we givewhen transplanting flowers, instead of harshevictions and arbitrary instructions to ‘moveon’, delivered in the manner of officiousamateur policemen.”

-Patrick Geddes (1912).

Early Quotes…

Rudyard Kipling (1896) “…half your trouble is the curse of

America… sheer, hopeless, well-ordered boredom; and this is

going some day to be the curse of the world.”

Slums – Improvement or

Rehabilitation?Slum Improvement at

Anandnagar –

Cost Rs.5 Lakhs.

Slum Rehabilitation

at Bhatnagar –

Cost Rs.5 Crores+.

Urban Fringe of Cities in PuneSlums developed along the

Mutha Right Bank Canal tend to

pollute the water corridor mean’t

for farmers beyond the Pune

Municipal Limits.

Hills and hill-slopes areHills and hill-slopes are

being partly abused and

partly properly used.

Ecological concerns are

lowest on priority for the

sensitive parts of the fringe.

Walk-up apartment blocks

vying for space and views of

the scenic lakes and hills

around are filling up the

valleys.

House on the brook…

House for Mr. Rahul & Mrs. Leena Mahajan at Talegaon

Detached houses offer ultimate

freedom of choice but are

vulnerable to natural and man-

made calamities.

AN APPLICATION MANUAL OF COST

EFFECTIVE & INNOVATIVE BUILDING EFFECTIVE & INNOVATIVE BUILDING

TECHNIQUES

ANJALI KALAMDANI

KIRAN KALAMDANI

Use of locally crafted basalt

stone and calcium-silicate

bricks at the Moraya Gosavi

Mandir at Chinchwad

Use of local motifs

in calcium silicate

bricks at the

Savitribai Pule

Memorial in Bhavani Memorial in Bhavani

Peth , Pune

Savitribai Pule Memorial in Bhavani Peth , Pune for

Pune Municipal Corporation (work ongoing)

The house of Mahatma Phule

An 1885 Map of Pune City from the District Gazzetteer

Survey Drawing by Col Leith showing the typical urban fabric in 19th century Pune

A line drawing of the old city of Pune with 18 Peths

As strong as a tree and

as graceful as a flower

our buildings should

grow with us and perish

so easily that only a

sweet memory

remains…

Let us create an

architecture where our

future can look back

and smile!

Thank

You!