Understanding the Genesis, Design and Issues of an Informal Settlement
Subject
Architectural Design
,Contextual Studio
,Housing
,Academic Year
3'rd Year
,Complexity Level
Intermediate
,Content tags
Affordable Housing
,Design Thinking
,Urban Development
,Activity Type
Field Visit
,Activity duration
1-2 days
,Objective
o familiarise with Informal settlements in the neighbourhood and understand their issues.
Outcome
Students will be able to develop perspectives around Informal settlements and identify as well as build guidelines of design and development approach of the same.
Requirements
None
Prerequisites
Identify low cost housing settlements near to the college. Arrange a tour. Design a questionnaire for community needs assessment by faculty member (Refer pointers)
Procedure
Visit a low-cost housing settlement. List down observations and formulate design guidelines
Step 1: Answer observation & reflection questionnaire
Questionnaire to be formed on the following criteria –
1) Observations on the land on which the settlement is living, how many years they are living on it for, assessment based on the context, slope of the context, is it low-lying, any nearby garbage dumping space, etc.
2) Observations on basic needs – water, electricity connections, fire, drainage, basement houses (below ground level)
3) Amenities accessibility a) Facilities available b) sanitation and hygiene c) Structural Design of the houses d) Survey with the community to understand their issues with the locality.
4) Type, materials used and Condition of the houses, observations on the thermal distress and other issues they face.
5) Community interaction to understand their lifestyle, livelihood, climate change related and other issues with the houses
Step 2: Ask students to share, discuss collectively their observations, issues they faced and identify problems that need attention and possible design solutions to address them.
Step 3: Students will collectively list down parameters and guidelines related to develop an integrated holistic, participatory development approach towards such settlements.
References
Pointers for Questionnaire (to be designed by faculty member)
https://www.ihda.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Community-Needs-Assessment-Survey.pdf