Energy and Buildings, 15 - 16 (1990/91) 837 - 849

837

C l i m a t e a n d H o u s i n g F o r m - - a Case S t u d y of N e w D e l h i
ASHOK B. LALL, MADHU PANDIT,.NAVEEN KULSHRESHTA and PAUL APPASAMY

B-25 Chiragh Enclave, New Delhi 110048 (India)

ABSTRACT

New Delhi's climate is a difficult climate to

design for, being composite in nature: it experiences a d r y - h o t summer with temperatures up
to 45 C and winters with temperatures down to
3 C and an in-between h o t - h u m i d season. The
city of Delhi has a long continuous history and
each stage of its development, from medieval
times through the colonial period until the New
Delhi of today, is to be found intact as a standing record. Each period of the city's historical
development has been marked by a distinct
pattern of urban growth. It is interesting to
note that while climate has been an important
and constant factor, the overlaying of cultural,
socio-economic and technological changes resulted in widely different forms of urban structure being adopted.
The changes in housing form that occurred
through the three stages of the city's development were analysed systematically keeping climate as a constant factor with the variables of
construction, urban structure, social patterns
and symbolic language being seen as dynamic
counterpoints to understand the resultant built
form. This was used to identify principles of
housing design of the traditional and colonial
forms of housing which could be adopted to
serve present-day needs and to identify those
irreversible developments which make our
present situation significantly different from the
past.
The lessons learnt from the analysis commended: (a) from the traditional housing
form - - the value of a tightly knit urban structure that shelters both outdoor and indoor
spaces, and the street and court as socially
meaningful spatial configurations; (b) from the
colonial example - - the use of vegetation as a
microclimate modifier combined with a relaxation of built density to respond more favourably to humid and cold seasons. The
factors that distinguish the present situation
0378-7788/91/$3.50

from the traditional and colonial situations are

motorized vehicular access, relatively low mass
of building construction materials and techniques, and the pressure on land causing high
population densities and high-rise construction.
The lessons of this research are applied to
two housing design projects for the middleincome group category of housing. These architectural solutions, which aim at optimizing environmental qualities for housing along with
climatic comfort and energy utilization, suggest
some limits of density and land-utilization beyond which environmental quality and energy
efficiency would decline. It is recommended that
such design exercises be undertaken to establish both the lower and upper limits of density
and land-utilization for housing so as to
provide a more holistic basis for fixing town
planning norms.

BACKGROUND

New Delhi is a city undergoing rapid

growth and change. The increasing pressures
on urbanization are leading to progressive environmental degradation. Whether it is with
respect to natural ecology, energy efficiency,
societal integration, or meaningful community expression in built form, there is a growing sense of breakdown in the urban fabric of
the city. There is a pressing need to evolve
urban development parameters and principles
for the design of the urban environment that
are based on a holistic logic while recognizing
contemporary realities. This paper presents
some work towards evolving such parameters
and design principles in the area of housing
for the middle-income groups of the city's population. Though the work described here has
specific reference to New Delhi, it should be of
value for other urban centres located in the
same climatic region of North India.
~ Elsevier Sequoia/Printed in The Netherlands

838
Our approach has been qualitative rather
than quantitative. We started by trying to
understand the dynamics of housing design
through an analysis of the development of
housing form in the history of the city. On the
basis of this analysis we were able to define
some guiding principles which have then been
tested in two designs for contemporary housing in New Delhi that were prepared in response to housing design competitions. The
designs serve as illustrations of the potential
of the principles being proposed and also
provide empirical information for defining
quantitative parameters on town planning
norms - - such as density, floor-area ratios and
ground coverage.

METHODOLOGY
The city of Delhi has a long, continuous
history and we are fortunate that complete
built environments from each stage of its dev e l o p m e n t - from medieval times through
the colonial period until the New Delhi of
today - - are to be found intact as a standing
record. This provides an ideal opportunity for
a comparative study of the architecture and
planning of successive periods. Now it is interesting to note that while climate has always been an important and constant factor,
the urban forms that developed in the succeeding periods differed widely. Each period
of the city's historical development is marked
by a distinct urban pattern. It is the inevitable
march of cultural, socio-economic and technological change overriding the imperatives of
climate that accounts for the differences. Evidently, climate by itself does not determine
the form of the built environment.
In our search for guiding principles applicable for our needs today, we recognized that
the present-day technological and cultural
context precludes housing solutions that simply imitate the past. We also recognized that
although design strategies which must address today's critical issues of ecology and
energy conservation do have to be designed
around the locus of climate, they would necessarily have to evolve a symbiotic relationship
with the contemporary 'way of life'. They have
to integrate social and cultural patterns and
be economically and technologically feasible.
So our framework for analysis of the devel-

opment of housing form through the three

main historical periods -- the traditional city
of Shahjahanabad, the colonial capital of New
Delhi, and the post-independence new city
was designed to help us identify:
(a) principles of planning and design of the
traditional and colonial forms of housing
which could be adopted to serve present-day
needs;
(b) irreversible developments which make
for our present situation being significantly
different from the past.
We should then be better able to state principles of planning and design that take advantage of lessons learnt from our past while
recognizing present realities.
We selected representative buildings and
neighbourhoods from each historical period
and analysed them through a matrix of determinants of building design. Climate was
placed as a central constant whereas the variable factors of technology and socio-cultural
change were seen as dynamic counterpoints.
The broad headings under which these determinants were organized were:
(a) c l i m a t e - the ways in which the built
environment interacts positively with climate
through the cycle of seasons;
(b) c o n s t r u c t i o n - the implications of materials, construction techniques, and organization of skills on the design of buildings;
(c) urban structure - - the rationale for utilization of land, systems of access and routing
of services;
(d) social patterns
the relationship of
buildings and spaces to the patterns of living,
work and leisure, both in the home and at the
community level;
(e) symbolic l a n g u a g e - specific forms of
spatial and object design that embody social
and cultural meanings.
Each of these headings in turn yielded a
cluster of sub-headings. Thus, the matrix was
formed by arranging these determinants according to their headings and sub-headings
vertically, and arranging the examples of
housing from the succeeding periods, in a
chronological order, horizontally (refer to Appendix 1). The observations entered in each
coordinate of the matrix were then read as
horizontal and vertical sets. The horizontal
sets gave some understanding of the directions of change and development that have
been taking place. The vertical sets, on the

839
Mar ADr May Jun Jul

CLIMATE

Aug Sep Oct

Nov Dec Jan Feb

COMFORT
ZONE

,I
[

~l

I[

II

II

PASSIVE STRATEGY
FOR COMFORT

Built
Space

Open

Space
FAIR

Figure I

Built
Space
FAIR

GOOD

GOOD

POOR

GOOD

FAIR

FAIR

GOOD

Open
Space

Figure 2
( ~[llt'l)l])ttl

11[)t~[~%l Viii

~11"x,
I II1"('

Space

FAIR

Open
POOR

Fig. 1, Summary of climatic performance of traditional, colonial and contemporary housing forms.

o t h er hand, gave an understanding of how an

a r c h i t e c t u r e evolves towards solutions that
satisfy a number of determinants simultaneously.

CLIMATE PROFILE
New Delhi's climate is a composite climate
(see Fig. 1). Temperatures range from a maximum of ar o u n d 45 C to a minimum of about
3 C. The diurnal variation of temperature,
which is substantial (20- 25 C) for most of the
year, is dampened during the humid monsoon
season. A two-month h o t - d r y season is the
hottest. This is succeeded by a longer h o t humid period. A period of comfortable
w eath er follows before winter sets in. The
winter, which is mostly c o l d - d r y is of a longer
d ur atio n th an the h o t - d r y season. The
weather turns pleasant once again before the
beginning of summer.

Passive strategies to obtain comfort need to

respond to h o t - d r y , h o t - h u m i d as well as
c o l d - d r y conditions. They are of four main
kinds. First is shading and protection from
exposure to external environment, i.e., control
of insolation and insulation against heat and
cold. Second is the use of thermal mass to
dampen diurnal t e m p e r a t u r e variations. Third
is the control of air movement. And the fourth
is the use of vegetation as a modifier of microclimate (Fig. 1).
The climatic performance of the representative examples of housing from the three historical periods along with conclusions drawn
from the analytical matrix are summarized
below.

TRADITIONAL CITY
As representative of the traditional city
we picked a small section of the city of

840

~o~

(a)

(b)
/

\.

(c)
Fig. 2. Examples of traditional housing, (a) Typical haveli. (b) Part plan of city showing dense contiguous construction
with narrow streets and small courtyards. (c) Cutaway axonometric view of a typical haveli.

S h a h j a h a n a b a d , a n d l o o k e d closely a t two
h a v e l i s (Fig. 2).
T h e c h i e f c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of the b u i l t f o r m
are c o n t i g u o u s b u i l d i n g s w i t h small courty a r d s a n d n a r r o w streets, w h i c h m i n i m i z e exp o s u r e to the e x t e r n a l e n v i r o n m e n t a n d
provide well-shaded interior and outdoor
spaces, a n d a h e a v y b u i l d i n g m a s s w h i c h h a s

the effect of d a m p e n i n g the v a r i a t i o n s in daily

temperatures.
T h i s d e n s e e n v i r o n m e n t p e r f o r m s well for
the h o t - d r y season. It does not, h o w e v e r , perf o r m as s a t i s f a c t o r i l y for the h u m i d a n d cold
s e a s o n s since by the v e r y n a t u r e of its density,
it i n h i b i t s free a i r m o v e m e n t a n d p e n e t r a t i o n
of sunshine. P e r h a p s the m o s t significant

841
COLONIAL CITY

advantage of this built form is t h a t the outdoor spaces function as open rooms which are
used for every kind of hum a n activity at all
times.
These characteristics of the built form can
be said to have evolved in response to the
climate, but they were equally the results of
other important factors. The continuity of
buildings expresses a close-knit social structure and the mutual dependence within social
groups for security. Compactness of urban
s tr u ctu r e is also a function of the limitations
of traditional modes of transport; proximity
was a necessity for city functions. The meshing together of a variety of activities into a
dense s tr u ctu r e is a result of the overlapping
relationships between work, home, and
leisure.
It can n o t be said t ha t the traditional city of
S h a h j a h a n a b a d provided an ideal solution for
climatic comfort, nor can one say categorically t h a t climate was the primary factor in
determining its form. Its validity lies in the fact
t h a t it was a balanced synthesis t ha t served
sociological and cultural needs as much as it
dealt with a complex and variable climate to
produce a fairly liveable environment.

In contrast to the dense, tightly knit structure of Shahjahanabad, the colonial capital of
New Delhi is expansive and spread out with
buildings set amongst lawns and broad treelined avenues. The colonial city would appear
to be a complete contradiction to the wisdom
of the traditional city! But it must be remembered t hat for the British, comfort in the Indian climate was a major concern and t hat it
was carefully provided for.
For our analysis we selected a housing estate t hat was built for middle-level government employees (Fig. 3). Here, the buildings
are of a heavy mass, inner rooms are shaded
by ample verandahs, and windows are protected by projections. This provides a fair
measure of protection to the indoor spaces
against climatic extremes. In addition, the
garden setting becomes a means of modifying
the microclimate of the estate; avenues of
trees, shrubs and lawns control dust and bring
down temperatures appreciably. Homes group
around the gardens to form garden courts and
the surrounding roads and paths are designed
as tree-shaded avenues. The garden is seen as

(a)

(b)

ff" -Tl
a

(c)

~ ,

(d)

Fig. 3. Colonial housing. (a) Two-room flat. (b) Three-room flat. (c) Part plan of housing estate showing arrangement of housing blocks to form garden courts and streets. (d) Typical elevation.

842

an integral component of the spatial s t r uct ure

of the housing environment.
In terms of indoor comfort, the colonial
buildings perform better for the cold and humid seasons when compared with the traditional
city, as
the
openness of the
environment allows easier access to winter
sun and a freer passage for natural breeze.
Round-the-year climatic performance of the
built spaces is perhaps more satisfactory than
in Shahjahanabad. But the open spaces
around the homes being more exposed to the
weather are usable only as recreation spaces
during mild weather.
But the garden was not merely a device to
modify microclimate. For the planners and
designers of the time it was an expression of a
cultural predilection to celebrate nat ur e as an
extension of the home. It was a part of the
utopian dream of the Garden City which
sought a r e t u r n to a meaningful relationship
with nature. The garden became a signifier of
civilized living and of status. While bungalows, which were built for the top end of the
social heirarchy, emulated the villa surrounded by gardens, collective housing for the
middle and lower ranks was modelled on the
squares of English towns where the garden
courts with their symmetrical arrangements of
the enclosing housing blocks were formal symbols of a social group.
Coupled with the idea of the garden was
the arrival of the motor car. Motorized transport overcame the constraint of distance and
encouraged horizontal dispersal of city functions. At the same time it imposed a new
discipline of roads, junctions and roundabouts
as a r atio n ale for s t r uc t ur i ng space.
The colonial city structure therefore was
an expression of a new set of cultural values
on the one hand, and a function of motorized
t r a n s p o r t on the other. The city plan imposed
an order whereby functions were segregated
into discrete elements as opposed to the organic continuity witnessed in the traditional
city. The imposition of these abstractions on
city life brought about a complete change in
the n a t u r e of public open space. Where the
extension of the home had once been the narrow lane and the bazaar, it was now replaced
by the garden court, the tree-shaded avenue
and the park.
This colonial legacy has influenced our values and life-styles significantly. Our placing a

high value on the garden and the park as an

essential component of the housing environment has been one of its most significant aspects. This value became embodied in much of
the town planning legislation and designs of
post-independent India, especially for new urbanization, irrespective of climate or culture.
In the context of the climatic region typified by Delhi, incorporating vegetation integrally in the city fabric has certainly proven
its merit as a means of modifying microclimate, (apart from its inherent aesthetic appeal). But the extension of the garden idea
toward an "openness" that results in the loss
of a habitable public realm for the city is not
appropriate.

CONTEMPORARY CITY
Today's housing environment is conditioned by many recent developments:
The availability of electricity and electrically operated devices has meant both a rise
in the acceptable standards of comfort and the
ability to obtain comfort without relying on
the building's st ruct ure and envelope as a
sensitive foil against climate.
$ T h e new technologies of cement, steel,
glass, etc., have resulted in buildings whose
mass is as little as 60% of the mass of traditional or colonial construction for the equivalent volume enclosed. This reduces the
capability of the buildings to dampen the
effect of t em perat ure variations.
The privately owned vehicle is now occupying more of the open ground. The park and
garden located next to the home are being
eaten up by roads and parking.
The economics of scarcity are beginning to
create pressures on land which demand higher
and higher densities of development.
Climatologically, due to their lighter construction, buildings now deal only moderately
with the extremes of winter and summer (Fig.
1). By and large, it is found t hat open spaces
have lost much of their value. The space between buildings is being given over to the
motor car. The green areas tend to be provided as segregated entities or as undefined
patches without meaningful or functional integration with the homes. They cease to function as microclimate modifiers of the housing
environment. The need for open or public

843
space to give cohesion and continuity to the
city fabric, and the desirability of a useable
outdoor environment are virtually forgotten.
The performance of contemporary housing
construction is generally less satisfactory
than the traditional or colonial forms for indoor as well as outdoor spaces. Poor microclimate control means that, for the extreme
conditions of both summer and winter, there
is a greater dependence on electrically operated devices to obtain comfort. This is a significant area for energy conservation.
The above-mentioned weaknesses are
amenable to a fair degree of correction by
careful design, as argued below, but when
densities are driven high by pressure on land
(say above 120 dwelling units/hectare) it is
found that the environmental optimum becomes irretrievable.

LESSONS
(1) The lessons offered by the traditional
architecture suggest that a tightly knit built
form is called for, to reduce exposure to the
external environment and to compensate for a
relatively lighter mass of building fabrics/materials. Continuity and mutual sheltering and
shading must be achieved. And the open
spaces should also be contained and protected
by the building forms.
(2) The colonial example suggests two further principles. Firstly, vegetation, which can
be integrated at every scale of the housing
environment (the home, the cluster and the
neighbourhood), to become an individual as
well as social asset serving both environmental and aesthetic values. Secondly, while
achieving a sense of protection to the open
space, sufficient openness is still to be retained to enable insolation during the winter
season and to promote adequate air movement
during the h o t - h u m i d season. This calls for a
well-judged balance between closure and
openness to optimize round-the-year performance.
(3) From the social and cultural points of
view, the street and court character of the
public spaces, which is employed in traditional as well as colonial examples, suggest
themselves as spatial patterns t h a t provide a
sense of community identity, have a human
scale, and are functionally useful.

(4) Looking at present-day realities, the

following factors are to be accounted for in
the design of housing environments; these are
factors that distinguish the contemporary situation from the past.
The legacy of the colonial experience which
places a positive value on greenery requires
integration into the urban structure. Homes
within a setting of lawns, flowers and trees,
and with the preference for a 'green' aspect as
an extension of indoor spaces are equated
with a wholesome environment for living.
The motor car needs to be given its appropriate place. The conflict between vehicular
access, pedestrian movement and recreational
space needs a balanced resolution.
The third factor is the growing pressure on
land. It is to be ensured that progressive increase in this pressure, which is caused chiefly
by the short supply of land, does not attain
levels beyond which a decline in environmental quality will be inevitable. Design experimentation would need to establish limits of
densities of development within which optimal environmental conditions can be obtained.

TWO DESIGN PROPOSALS

Two designs for housing environments
which draw upon the lessons learnt above, are
presented here for discussion.
The first design (Figs. 4 and 5) gave primacy to the application of the science of climatology. Each and every dwelling unit in the
entire development, be they multi-storey flats,
town houses, or walk-up apartments, had an
ideal orientation which ensured insolation
into the homes during winter and protection
from the sun during the summers. The shallow
depth plans in all buildings ensured good
cross-ventilation. The spatial pattern that
combined the homes, circulation routes, and
recreational space with gardens and trees
emerged from staggering identically oriented
blocks to form court-like spaces of varying
dimensions. These courts were protected from
the eastern and western sun by virtue of their
n o r t h - s o u t h displacement. The north sides of
the buildings which were constantly under
shade took the function of paved access paths,
whereas the south sides had balconies and
terraces with planters, looking onto gardens

844

Fig. 4. DDA housing: part plan showing clusters forming courts and gardens. Joint competition 1 entry by Ashok B. La11
and M. N. Ashish Ganju for a competition for middle-income group housing called by the Delhi Development Authority,
1987.

which would receive

the winter sun. The
north-south
distance between buildings was
determined by the angle of incidence of the
midday sun in mid-winter. The single orientation, although
ideal from a climatological
standpoint, both for outdoor as well as for
indoor spaces, resulted in a regimented and

repetitive urban form. The court spaces and

the paths lack clear definition and symbolic
significance.
The second design (Figs. 6 and 7) for
another housing project placed primary importance on creating socially and culturally
meaningful forms. It also made a deliberate

845

~ V 7

ou.~

COURT " O U S E 5

OUmT

C0URT .OUSTS

now .ouses

Fig. 5. DDA housing: typical cross section. All residents face southwards such t h a t main rooms, balconies and gardens
receive the winter sun. The area adjacent to the n o r t h face of buildings is paved and used for circulation of pedestrians
and vehicles. J o i n t competition entry by Ashok B. Lall and M. N. Ashish G a n j u for a competition for middle-income group
housing called by the Delhi Development Authority, 1987.

Fig. 6. NTPC housing: site plan. Tight knit clustering of dwelling units to form community garden courts (9). Controlled
vehicular access (shown shaded) along an internal street and a peripheral motorable road. Competition entry by Ashok
B. Lall, for NTPC Housing at NOIDA, near New Delhi, 1989.

846

L
Fig. 7. NTPC housing: part plan showing clustering of houses around small garden plots and forming definite streets.
Competition entry by Ashok B. Lall, for NTPC Housing at NOIDA, near New Delhi, 1989.

attempt to see the housing design as a complement to the surrounding urban developm e n t s - so as to complete the formation of
streets and avenues to make well-defined
neighbourhood elements.
Drawing upon the analysis of both traditional and colonial examples, where orientation as a principle to govern the planning is
rarely followed, we sacrificed the theoretical
ideal for the most advantageous orientation.
Not having the design fix of identical orientation enabled a freer modulation of building
mass to achieve:
contiguity of s t r uct ur e and mutual shading;
a definite formation of streets, courts, entrances and enclosures to give a richly expressed h i e r a r c h y of socially significant and
functional spaces;
a h i e r a r c h y of green spaces, from the small
private garden to the shared c our t yar d and
finally, to the public park; an intimate integration of these with the buildings provided
h u man scale and a sense of protected and
sheltered open space.

We assumed in this design t hat the treatment of wall surfaces and window openings
would be varied according to the dictates of
the orientation of each location. As was customary in traditional and colonial architecture, devices such as screens and awnings
would be used to control sunlight.

Scale and intensity of development

The vertical scale of the designs is worth
discussing briefly (Figs. 8 and 9). If one looks
at the relationship between the volumes of
built and open spaces, it will be seen t hat a
scalar balance between horizontal and vertical dimensions of the protected open
s p a c e s - the streets and c o u r t s - is to be
maintained. The volumes should provide a
sense of shade and shelter, without completely
cutting out the winter sun from the lower
parts of buildings and the ground. The closure
of space should also permit a reasonable permeability for air movement. The houses need
to remain close to the ground in order to
benefit from the microclimate generated by

847

Fig. 8. First design.

Fig. 9. Second design.

vegetation. And, very importantly, human

scale, which is a function of an intimacy of
open spaces without an overpowering dominance of surrounding buildings, is to be ensured.
We believe that the two projects illustrated
here optimize this overall balance, and that
any further densification of development and
increase in heights of structures would have a
negative impact. The designs do indicate certain limits of density and floor-area ratios if
holistically optimized environments are to be
planned.
The indicated upper limits are around a
density of 120 dwelling units per hectare, permitting an average construction height of four
stories, with 70% of the ground kept open to
the sky.
Apart from the loss in environmental quality that results when these limits are exceeded, the impact on energy consumption is
also negative. The consumption of energy embodied in building materials increases dramatically for tall structures. Whereas four- to

five-storey construction can be managed using

load-bearing brickwork and stabilized mudblock construction, taller structures become
dependent on an extensive use of steel and
cement, which are energy-intensive construction materials.
The greater height of buildings distances
the indoor spaces from the advantageous
microclimate generated by vegetation. They
are more exposed to the elements, resulting
in a higher dependence on electricity for
comfort. Needless to say, taller constructions
also become dependent on electricity for
the transport of piped services, people and
goods.
An increase in population density is accompanied by an increase in vehicular density.
Here again, we feel that beyond the limits
of density indicated above, the problems of
protecting recreational and pedestrian areas
from the intrusion of the motor car, will
require more expensive and energy-intensive
solutions such as underground or multi-storey
parking.
The designs shown here concern themselves with the upper limits of the intensity of
development for housing environments. This
paper deals with urban housing for the middle-income groups with the average dwelling
unit size approximately 80 m 2. We recommend
that similar exercises in design need to be
performed to determine the lower limits. At
lower densities too, costs of transportation
and distribution of services become uneconomic. Microclimate control becomes less
effective, apart from losing the potential of a
public realm that forms a meaningful city
structure. Operational limits defining the desirable intensity of housing development suitable for the urban expansion of Northern
Indian towns of the composite climate belt
can be arrived at by conducting prototypical
design studies. The limits so arrived at should
be used to guide future urban development
plans, thereby redressing the balance in favour of a humane and ecologically sound environment for our homes.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
S. Prasad, A study of courtyard houses in hot-dry and
hot humid regions of Northern India, Unpublished
Ph.D. Thesis, Royal College of Art, London, 1987.

848

APPENDIX

Climate
Shading

Shahjahanabad
{Traditionall

Lodi Estate
( G o v t staff quarters}
(Colonial}

Sheik Scrai
{Group housing b~,
housing agencyl
{Contemporar))

Anandgram
(Advocacy for aided selfhelp community housing}

Narrow
access
routes
shaded by buildings and
contiguous development

Roadside trees for shade

Partial mutual shading of

units. Shaded access

Trees

3-storey dense carpet of

buildings dampens temperature variations within the
urban fabric

Greenery for shade and

cool

Garden grounds at "town"

level
Small "chowks' at neighbourhood level
Narrow streets

Housing blocks form

garden court
Broad planted avenues

Housing blocks forming

pedestrian streets, and,
paved green or parking
courts

No parks within neighbourhood

Hierarchy of spaces from
'family' to 'extended family'
to outsiders

Courtyards,
gardens

None?
Roof terrace?

Private front court, balconies, terraces

Transitions along the hierarchy implied rather than

physically marked

Needs specific research

Air Movement
Modif3,ing
microclimate

Urban structure
Open space
Public

Private

Comments

terraces, few

For the middle class, immediacy of playground and

symbiotic relationship between house and garden
seen as integral components
of housing form
For the poor citizens, homemaking encompasses open
rooms for living, work and
play
No 'parks' needed

Movement and
transportation

Tree-like hierarchic strutture of streets, cul-de-sacs

Predominantly pedestrian
with quiet vehicles

Network hierarchy
Primaryimportancegiven
to authorized transport
But with shaded pavements
Segregation of service
functions service lanes
No conflict seen between
vehicular movement and
play area

Broad network with culde-sac for vehicles but

diffused network for pedestrian movement
No service lanes
Clear separation and expression
of pedestrian
movement and vehicular
movement

Pedestrianized
environment
accessible by emergency vehicles

Motor car ownership and

desire for direct access by
vehicle enforces its own spatial order
A pedestrian precinct at the
community level connects to
motor transport system at
higher level
The degree of motor intrusion permitted into a
housing environment is a
variable

Allocation of
functions

Only salient social functions pre-determined: city

market, mosque, palace
Occupation of land according to social sets of varied
functions although functions
are
distinguished
by building type

Single function

Single function

Salient social functions predetermined, occupation of

land according to km
No distinction between home
and workplace

Mix of activities was natural

to traditional settlements
Present-day attitude assumes
a need to protect housing
environment from interference by all other activities
This attitude springs from
those who may be well to do
with means of transport and
servants etc.
Does that permit the luxury
of seclusion?

Construction (process)
Relationship
Household
1
M~ister mason, craftsmen

User's role

Institution

Community

Promoter

Engineer/architect

MarkTeet
[ User}

"NArchitect
User

Crafts

Common pool of crafts

people used by all members
of neighbourhood

Contractor
,~
User

Each household directly

involved in building its
own home. Neighbourhood environment formed
by accretion of individual
building acts

Centralization of design
Household becomes passive consumer with no
involvement in production process
Design determines 'total'
environment housing as
employment benefit

Centralization of design
Household become passive
consumer with no involvement in production process but user can exercise
some choice

Each household to be directly

involved in building its own
home
Community-level design
guided by architect

Contractor-based
construction organization

C o m m o n pool of designer/
craftsmen to b e used by all
members of neighbourhood

Promoter

Y
Promoter

Contractor

%,

J
Designer

Construction (labour)
O Organization
of labour

Common pool of master

masons and craftsmen used
by all members of neighbourhood

Contractor-based
construction
organization

Selection

Masons/craftsmen selected
on basis of reputation

Selection on basis
competitive rates

of

Selection on basis of tompetitive rates

Increasing scale and complexity of construction organization

I. Employer and promoterbuilt housing is now a real

need arising from mobility
of employment
2. Construction process involving centralized design
and large-scale capital-intensive building methods are a
consequence of ( I ) above
3. User needs require rationalization into 'standard'
profiles
4. Increasing alienation of
user from processes of design and construction militate against (3) above being
sensitive

5. Need to devise methods

of interaction to return 'control' to user Anandgram
model?

849

Skills

Decorative crafts relied

upon marginally

Shared architectural language with individual expression

Institutional image conveyed in architectural

form

Individual security =
collective security

Security not a concern

for designers

Security not a concem for

designers

Extended family security

Caste group security

Social conflict--fear of riots

due to communal and class
tensions and organized crime
(drugs. burglary) exist today. though not always acknowledged by the planner

Community

Caste identity = neighbourhood

Uniform employee status

andcommon employer =
neighbourhood

Social groupings not related to neighbourhood

Disperate community

Community = neighbourhood
Nuclear identity within extended family grouping

New urban housing tends to

have only the one dimension
of class for community
The exception being employers and cooperative housing

Home and
livelihood

Close interweaving of residence and trade

Residencesseparated
from work/shops

Residences
separated from
work/shops

Home = work

In present metropolitan society, work for majority is

away from home

Leisure

Leisure for men

streets conversation
shops conversation

Evening walk
Play in garden
Radio

Evening walk
Play in garden
Radio, T.V.
Reading

Two-in-one

For the middle classes, T.V.

is a major group activity
Individual leisure activity at
home more common due to
audio gadgetry and magazines

Play

Within house
Streets
Open areas in city fabric?

Planned children's playgrounds

Open grounds

Planned children's
playgrounds

Within houses
Between houses
Maidan

Organized
sport,
e.g.,
cricket, football, etc., require
more grounds

Maintenance

Private land by residents

Public areas by state (dry
latrines, etc.)

Maintenance by
employer
Social segregation of
"menial' class/work
provision of service lane

Maintenance by resident's
association and public service agencies

Maintenance by residents

Shift in sense of responsibility for maintenance of cornmon property toward an

impersonal "authority'

Collective status defined

by the institution without room for individual
expression
Individual homes are
subsumed under the institutional image of the
'block'

Individual units are expressed but without distinction of status

Sense of community expressed as court around

green

Sense of community expressed as streets and

courts

Social patterns
Security
( Social
conflict)

Symbolic language
Expression
Individual status finds expression within a cohesive
of status
urban structure

Expression of
community

Signs
Entrance
Boundaries

Icon[paradigm

Sense of community
expressed by:
(1) Character of street
(2) Integrating work and
living quarters

Construction systems
more capital-intensive
Decorative crafts not
required

Technology of decentralized
low-capital crafts
Decorative crafts sought to be
provided

Skills of applied decoration

integral part of architecrural meaning

Deliberately structured relationships and intense interaction

~Design' resulting from above
process seen as articulation of
aspirations and demands

Extended family clustered

around its own open space
away from the street which
is a place for exchange between different groups within
Anandgram
and between
Anandgram and the city
Important

Significant

Breakdown of language

Strong signals, e.g..

Windingness of streets
--Width of streets
---Hierarchical access system
Formation of mohallas,
sometimes with gates

Garden as symbol of
community
Front (proper), back
(dirty)

Courts and streets clearly

defined as symbols of
community

Collective palace

Wants to be a villa

Highly developed sense of

boundaries, closure and proximity