Report on

Chaerls Coreas Artist Village

Cluster Pattern

The 55 hectare Artist Village brings an interesting mix of Goan atmosphere and culture to Belapur. Designed by Indian architect Charles Correa, the project is a testimony to the capabilities of a genius urban designer when he thinks beyond design. Built for middle and lower income groups, the village is organic in its design and execution. Charles Correa, in providing a housing solution for mixed income groups in Mumbai, derives from traditional building styles that have been severed from the built environment in urban cities altogether. He resuscitates the courtyard style of buildings, which inherently have communal spaces built within their layout.

This housing project offers the quality of life of a village with the sophistication of a city. Each cluster permits the emergence of a hyperlocal community feeling, while integrating each house to the whole settlement at different levels. The hierarchy itself is very organic, as the diagram beside shows. The cluster modules are very simple, yet they are related to each other in a complex way.

His housing project is a blend of the quality of life of a village and the sophistication of a city. Each cluster permits the emergence of a hyperlocal community feeling, while integrating each house to the whole settlement at different levels; the hierarchy itself is very organic. The clustered organisation and overall layout seem to function pretty well, as the movement through it is varied, rich and dense and the scale changes are in harmony.

Despite the projects relatively small site, the architect managed to endow every home with its own private open-to-sky space and a shared courtyard. The communitys site plan divides the units into groups of 21, further subdividing them into seven-unit clusters. Individual houses rely on simple floor plans and building methods, enabling local masons and craftspeople to construct them. The courtyard serves the necessity for a protected family private communal space. The village was produced with the idea that the residents were going to alter it in many ways, making it truly their own, therefore homes are freestanding, so residents can add on to them as their families grow; and differently priced plans appeal to a wide variety of income levels. The development supports Correas theory that low-rise architecture and high-density planning are not contradictory approaches to housing.

Presented by std. no. 0601031