Anupama Kundoo Architects

Line10

An Urban Hillscape

Line10 is a housing project located

in Auroville, Tamil Nadu, for 1955
inhabitants. Located in Aurovilles
residential zone between Sector 2 and
3, this project is a new typology of
housing that concentrates urban living
in contemporary arrangements taking
advantage of new technologies while
retaining the intimacy seen in ancient
and traditional human settlements.
Line10 is a protype for co-existence,
not only among the people of diverse
cultures, but also between human
settlements and the larger universe,
an arrangement that keeps the inhabitants in contact with climate, vegetation, resources of water and energy,
the earth and the sky.
Unlike the tower typology, this structure is more like a long horizontal
sloping mass, that like a settlement on
a hillscape provides much needed interesting vistas in an otherwise almost
flat city.

Anupama Kundoo Architects

15.08.2015

Line10
Foreword

The construction of Auroville was initially envisaged

within a short time period of 15 years.
Aurovilles history however took a different course with
developments significantly slowing down during the
early three decades during which the inhabitants were
scattered across a widespread area mostly outside the
limits of the city proper. Thereafter, the city center and
the residential zones have developed noticeably and
Auroville is clearly now ready to take its next logical
step in its urban development. In order to enable most
of Auroville to be realised through low-rise, low-tech
structures, the city plan relies to a great extent on the
10 concentrated lines of high-rise compact housing
development, called Ligne de Force by Roger Anger,
Aurovilles chief architect.
In order for the rest of Aurovilles housing to develop
flexibly allowing diversity of architectural expressions,

the housing typolology of the Ligne de Force structures need much more structure and infrastructure,
and along with some of Aurovilles other central buildings, will be Aurovilles most defining urban elements.
In describing the Ligne de Force structures Roger
Anger had pointed out that A macrostructure, like a
mountain, cannot be changed easily. The macrostructure
is an arrangement of space involving an underworld of
sewage pipes, of water and electricity connections, main
circulation ways wandering through the surface relief,
natural or artificial climatic conditions bathing the whole
complex. Once the macrostructure is positioned, everything becomes possible. On this structure is laid an outer
skin, changeable and plastic so that it may be stretched,
so that its colour may be altered. Such an approach is the
only one that will allow an evolution of the town in time
and within a given space. The clothing of the town may
be changed, renewed without drastic destruction.

Anupama Kundoo Architects

15.08.2015

Line10
Why Now?

As Aurovilles residential areas have reached the stage

of detailed development plans, it is time to take up the
detailed project of one prototype Line10 of Ligne de
Force structures for the following reasons:
1)
The project will lead to a better understanding
of the peculiarities of high density housing envisaged
in Auroville, including the extent of public life meant
to be contained within it.
2)
This is necessary to unblock the developments
foreseen in lands adjacent to it, particularly in Sector
2. If Sector 2 is developed without taking key elements
of the Line10 into consideration, these may remain an
impossibility, while instead the clarity about Line10
could lead to more careful planning of housing, facilities and movement within the western parts of the
Sector.

3)
Realising Line10 will establish a concrete alternative of the sprawling residential structures seen
today, and will complement them through representing the complete spectrum of diverse urban living
experiments envisaged here. A concentrated urban
settlement will provide Auroville will ample housing
to receive numbers of new Aurovilians that require to
be accomodated, and possibly give the Auroville dream
a new boost through receiving people of a new generation. It will concntrate the needed infrastructure
and will be the next large construction for collective
work and collective life. Line10 could be taken up as
the fitting project to be launched during Aurovilles
50th birthday celebration in 2018, as a project that
truly symbolises the collective experiment and one that
reflects the dimensin, scale and boldness with which
Auroville has been conceived.

Anupama Kundoo Architects

15.08.2015

One has to learn to live together as one will not always have enough land to build a house kilometers
away from ones nearest neighbor. One has to take an inventive step, an urbanistic one that is part of
Aurovilles message. One should include contemporary life, human relationships, technology and the
respect of nature, within a very creative context to show to the world that it is possible. (Of course,
for the time being we are simply continuing to perpetuate the hollow, comfortable, and uncreative
system that has nothing to do with the future, nor with Mothers dream.)
- Roger Anger, 1988

Anupama Kundoo Architects

Line10

Overview | Context

Anupama Kundoo Architects

15.08.2015

Line10

Overview | Context

Anupama Kundoo Architects

15.08.2015

Line10

Overview | Site Plan

Anupama Kundoo Architects

15.08.2015

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Line10 | Design

Rather than being monolithic, this

high-rise structure is a conglomeration
of structures ranging from ground level
at the crown area to 12 stories in the
peripheral area.
The group of structures avoid the
sensation of a dense, opaque mass and
the arrangement is perforated, porous
and offers many through and through
views and penetrations.
When seen from the crown it appears
to be an inviting walk into an urban
hillscape that is gently rising and along
which the typology of housing units
are progressively changing.

Anupama Kundoo Architects

15.08.2015

Line10

Design | Orientation

Line10 is oriented NW to SE, running

500 meters in length from near the
existing Solar Kitchen to the periphery
of the city.
The cells in the building are oriented at
a slight angle to the NS - EW axis.

Tropic of Cancer

June

July/May

September/March

December

auroville

12N

Equator

Tropic of Capricorn

Auroville recieves heat and light from

the south for a majority of the year.
The units in Line10 are organized to
minimize glare and heat gain while
providing natural daylight to the
building for the whole course of the
day.

Anupama Kundoo Architects

15.08.2015

Line10

Design | Massing

The building mass is broken into two

distict regions:
1. Earth Mass - Low Tech
A wider podium like building mass of
1-3 stories that projects beyond the
towers outline in fluid and organic geometry, connecting the structure harmoniously to the surrounding low rise
structures of the residential area. This
heavy mass of buildings is built of red
earth sourced from the Matrimandir
lake excavation. These lower structures
are free from the column grid outline
and can be freely arranged to create the
best enclosures according to site adjacencies. On the uppermost level of the
Earth Mass is the Plaza level circulation, the elevated walkway connecting
public space on the city level.
2. Sky Mass - High Tech
A geometrically ordered column-frame
structure, this lighter though taller
mass appears to be reduce the height
visually from 12 to 8 stories.
This massing strategy helps connect
the megastructure to the lower-rise
developments adjacent to it in a harmonious continuation.

Anupama Kundoo Architects

15.08.2015

Line10

Design | Facade
The facade of the Sky Mass is designed
for optimal performance. It allows
maximum light and wind into the
building unit while keeping the heat
gain to a minimum. This is accomplished by the orientation of the cells
in Line10, and the strategically placed
protusions on the face of the structure.
Horizontal and roof screen elements
for shade will also be seen as a defining element characterising the weather protected movement through the
Line10, with sudden expansions of
space such as courtyards, and hanging
gardens.
The western face is a structure for
urban agriculture that gives this face a
distinct quality from the eastern face.

This element allows for sunlit gardening while protecting the interiors and
west facing balconies from the harsh
sun.

Anupama Kundoo Architects

15.08.2015

Line10

Design | Ventilation

The plan of the Line10 has two strips

of housing running along each other,
widening from the tallest to the shortest end.
The diffferences in heating of the
building mass and cavity create a pressure difference that creates local winds.

Vertical breaks in the facade wall allow

air to cut through the mass and pass
through the entire structure.

Anupama Kundoo Architects

15.08.2015

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Line10 | Public Spaces & Networks

Line10 defines various networks in the

city of Auroville.
Public Spaces - There are 3 levels of
public space that are interconnected
and flow through all the various structures of the Line10 with their distinct
characteristics and paths of movement.
These spaces are not all in the same
level necessarily but begin at ground
level towards the crown area and climb
higher progressively towards the outer
limits of the city. The 1955 apartments
of the Line10 are arranged into smaller
communities within shared facilities
on community level, keeping the intimate character of successful housing
developments.
Green Network - An extensive network of green spaces, designed and
natural, exist in and around the structure of Line10.
Urban Network - Pedestrians and
cycles flow all over and through the
structure of Line10.

Anupama Kundoo Architects

15.08.2015

Line10

Public Spaces | Heirarchy

Unlike current housing developments

and particularly high-density ones
that are often mere dormitory spaces
where inhabitants return at the end of
the day to retire, this development deliberately includes a range of collective
facilities and public spaces to create
alive neighbourhoods that are not
deserted during the day. These areas
contain activities for the inhabitants
while allowing an easy coming together, just as streets and plazas in the
past were convenient meeting places of
active contact and dialogue. Though
the built forms are contemporary, the
spaces and enclosures will retain the
spatial intimacy and hierarchy of small
to large spaces as found in old traditional cities. The project demonstrates
that high-density living need not compromise on human scale and intimate
human interaction.
Most high rise housing involves public space only in the ground level and
each floor above this level is accordingly further away from the facilities.
In Line10, care has been taken to
uniformly distribute the public spaces
through out the structure so as to not
create dead areas of monotonously
stacked apartments, with long distances to the services.

Sky Level

Community Level

Plaza Level

Anupama Kundoo Architects

15.08.2015

Line10

Public Spaces | Plaza Level

City Scale - The public spaces on

this level are easily accesible from the
ground level although the plaza level
itself is a playful arrangement shifting
between the ground and two upper
levels. This gently rising upper level
circulation is arranged over the terraces
of the lower mass of buildings which
protrude at the base of the high-rise
structure. This allows city level movement of people through the public
areas of the Line10 and intersect the
various activities proposed there. Even
without climbing the roof level circulation of the Line10, the Plaza level
walkways with its rising levels convey
the same characteristics of a housing
settlement on the hill, even though
much gentler, and provides an elevated
view of the city from the peripheral
rea towards the centre.

Anupama Kundoo Architects

15.08.2015

Line10

Public Spaces | Community Level

Building Scale - within the various

structures of the Line10 there is a community level route connecting community level. These spaces are welcome to
the guests of residents but not automatically obvious to the other inhabitants, keeping a smaller scale and intimate quality than the other two levels
of common space. Community kitchens, common guest accomodation,
children common room etc are some
of the public spaces that are linked to
this route of public movement.

Anupama Kundoo Architects

15.08.2015

Line10

Public Spaces | Sky Level

Neighbourhood Scale - the sky level

circulation allows inhabitants of the
Line10 to take the uphill path to their
homes connecting neighbourhood
scale public spaces located at the various terraces through an open-to-sky
path starting at the Crown and arriving finally at the highest point of the
structure which houses a caf/common
meeting room with a spectacular view.
This path meanders through urban
agricultura and semi-covered terraces
where people can stay and meet.

Anupama Kundoo Architects

15.08.2015

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Line10

Public Spaces | Green Network

The entire site and context is scattered

with different scales and types of green
spaces - all interconnected to each other by multiple corridors.

Anupama Kundoo Architects

15.08.2015

Line10 | Housing Units

As the housing development ranges from ground storey structures to

twelve storey ones, the apartment units
themselves allow a range of possibilities to suit the diversity of Aurovilles
inhabitants.
The ground floor apartments are a
unique opportunity to live in the city
centre in a courtyard house typology
with individual roof terraces for example. The broad density calculations
follow the guidelines set for the city,
with an average of 30sqm per person.
Cells refer to single or couple units of
30 sqm each.
Flats refer to approximately 75 sqm to
be occupied by 4 people.
There is additionally the provision of
other apartment sizes as well as collective living clusters of larger groupings
such as for students and youth, as well
as senior citizens.

Anupama Kundoo Architects

15.08.2015

Line10

Housing Units | Overview

Line10 Overview:
Total Population: 1955
Adult Population: 1469
Children: 486
In Cells: 983
In Flats: 972
Site Area: 19000 m2
Built Area: 49400 m2
Voids and Green Spaces: 26600 m2
No. of Floors: 12
Total Number of Cells: 819
Total Number of Flats: 243

FLAT

CELL

75m2

30m2

2/3/4 occupants

1/2 occupants

- Roger Angers Calculations for the 11 Lines of Force, 1980

Anupama Kundoo Architects

15.08.2015

Line10

Housing Units | Construction System

Wall Panels

Fit between mullions

and stacked
Prefabricated elements will accelerate
construction and reduce the cost and
time involved significantly. Hybrid
systems will be involved including
ferrocement prefab elements and RCC
structures. The construction will generate employment and be inclusive in
its approach.
The project is not be limited to being
realised by the existing capacities within Auroville, though the local skills will
be valued and incorporated.
In line with what was initially conceived for Aurovilles development, the
project will be materialised through a
balance between those who will live in
Auroville and those who will create it.

Mullions

At the junction of two

slab modules.

Slabs

180 x 180 cm precast

ferrocement slabs.

Structural Frame

RCC skeleton running

under and above units

Anupama Kundoo Architects

15.08.2015

Line10

Housing Units | Modules & Flexibility

1. Sky Mass
Slab modules of 180 cm come together
to form the floor of the apartments. A
catalog of modules are available for the
owner to choose from - each optimized
to perform a set of functions.
The slab modules are the support system for the wall panels and mullions,
both of which also come in a variety
of materials and finishes that can be
selected and modified by the occupant.
2. Earth Mass
Further flexibility is provided in the
housing of the Earth Mass. Mud construction and the lack of a rigid structural grid allow the form and the plan
to be morphed to suit any needs.

Anupama Kundoo Architects

Plans - Flats in Sky Mass

Plans - Cells in Sky Mass

Ferrocement Modules
15.08.2015

Line10 | Intervention

The proposal strengthens the existing

developments adjacent to the site,
takes into consideration existing natural features and peramboke land intersections while announcing the quality
envisaged in the city as a whole.

Anupama Kundoo Architects

15.08.2015

Line10

Perambooke Land & Water Channels

Anupama Kundoo Architects

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Line10

Ground Floor Plan

Anupama Kundoo Architects

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Line10

Perambooke Land & Water Channels

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Line10

Second Floor Plan

Anupama Kundoo Architects

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Line10
Section

Anupama Kundoo Architects

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Line10

Detailed Section

Anupama Kundoo Architects

15.08.2015

Line10

Detailed Section

Anupama Kundoo Architects

15.08.2015