This conference aims at expanding the scope of affordable housing initiatives in India. For the most, affordable housing has been seen as the result of state interventions responding to the needs of the urban poor. More recently, non-state actors (both profit driven and charitable) have entered the market for the provision of affordable housing.  The government is now actively encouraging market driven interventions that cross-subsidize the construction of affordable housing stock.

The Slum Rehabilitation Scheme in Mumbai is an example of this approach where land is released from erstwhile occupied lands in officially designated ‘slums’ through relocating residents in vertical structures, while providing valuable “transferable building rights” to developers. In other cities developers are directly purchasing cheap land wherever possible and targeting new buyers from the lower middle-class sector who were so far unable to afford housing at market rates. There housing is made affordable by lowering construction costs, minimizing the footprint of individual units and scaling up the size of housing projects.

Yet, expectations are still far from being met, both in terms of quantity and quality of affordable housing. According to some projections India still needs 27 million more units, while managing to produce hardly 1 million in the past 10 years. This need is likely to grow to 35 million units by 2025. Even more dramatic is the poor quality of stock being produced today.

The logic that consists in making housing affordable by reducing the cost of construction has lead to all kinds of malpractices. After a few years in existence, affordable housing blocks typically start crumbling down, leading to rising maintenance cost and lowering real estate value. Very soon they look and function worse than those they were meant to replace, and ready to be redeveloped themselves.

Between 1997 and 2002, the government and the builders built 500 000 houses in urban India, when in the same time, people built 8.5 million units in so-called “slums”. This conference will discuss new ways of conceiving, producing, financing and designing affordable housing, which break the self-defeating logic in which affordable housing seems to be locked in today. It focuses on a much-overlooked aspect of Indian cities: the ability of so many neighbourhoods to produce their own homes.

The so-called slums of the city are in many ways attempts at increasing affordable housing units through a different construction and financial system. Of course the discussions will take into consideration many dimensions – legal, political and economic – but also issues of design, the history of urban planning, twentieth century visions of modern cities and other rarely discussed concerns that are pertinent to a critical and effective policy on and practice about affordable housing.

The conference builds on weeks of pedagogic exchanges with students of  the Sir J.J. College of Architecture, URBZ, leading practitioners from India and abroad, and local contractors and masons. They have documented existing construction practices in the neighbourhoods of Shivaji Nagar -Govandi, Bhandup and Dharavi and evolved their own visions through this learning experience.  The students’ work that will be exhibited and presented during the conference, includes an in-depth understanding of the local construction processes and examines physical construction and financial sustainability.

This study opens up the possibility of re-looking at affordable housing in a manner that transcends, statist, private sector and market driven approaches and strives for a realistic and more effective model based on user’s involvement, community networks and local economic dynamics. Can we develop new models? Think out of the box? Support effective affordable housing initiatives as they are already unfolding in our shadow cities? We hope the conference starts asking – and answering – such questions towards this end.

See the conference page, for full programme and speakers’ bios.

About 60 fourth year architecture students from Sir J.J. College of Architecture participated in the Affordable Housing workshop.

The 3-day long affordable housing workshop was conducted at the J.J. College of Architecture, Mumbai, on January 23^rd, 24^th and 25^th, 2012. It was a follow- up from 6 weeks of 9 groups of students documenting the work and processes of a contractor’s building methodology and construction techniques. This included a timeline tracking the life of the structures studied and activities that revolve around them. The sites they frequented were sprinkled all over the city – Shivaji Nagar, Nerul, Vashi, Bhandup, Charkop and Dharavi. The 4^th year students participating in the workshop, along with being guided by their teachers Profs. Mustansir Dalvi and Yashwant Pitkar and Matias Echanove and Rahul Srivastava, had an array of resource people, each with their specific set of specializations, to help them out with different aspects of the design. This design was basically an insertion or mutation within the existing typology which was to emerge/evolve during the course of the workshop, through exchange of information with the resource people. These were Sameep Padora, Founder of  sP+a, Mumbai; Marco Ferrario, co-founder of MicroHome Solutions, New Delhi; Poonam Mulchandani, independent architect, Auroville; Alexis de Dulca, head of Affordable Housing at Lafarge, Chennai; Rajeev Kathpalia from the Vastu Shilpa Foundation, Ahmedabad; Thomas Demschner, senior structural engineer at Lafarge, Lyon and Ritu Mohanty, urban designer at Edifice, Mumbai.

Day 1 was a day of orientation and introduction. Prof. Dalvi brought the freshly arrived resource people  up to date with the events of the weeks gone by. He spoke about the seminar and workshop having which covered issues of housing in the city in a counter-intuitive manner unusual for the design curriculum in place. It stood beyond the realm of real estate and affordable housing envisioned by the state. Since most of this was built directly or indirectly by the users themselves, it was worth recognizing as an alternative explored in this studio. He proceeded with explaining the methodology adopted for the studio and its objective so far. This included re-looking at the houses documented and proposing changes to the contractors, who would be invited on the final day. These could be functional, aesthetic, procedural and much more and would be produced on the basis of the information and knowledge absorbed from the interactions with the contractor and the subsequent lessons inferred from the site visits added to the inputs from the resource people. (Photo: Sameep Padora of sP+a with students during the workshop).

Rahul and Matias spoke about the kind of approach they had tried to inculcate right through the workshop. According to them, practice and the production of knowledge is connected. But there exists a hierarchy in knowledge production. The point is to subvert this hierarchy and invert the notions regarding who really is the expert. Therefore, the students would absorb  knowledge from the contractors, in turn passing on this new acquisition to the resource people who would reflect ideas from these existing circumstances. They spoke about how the sites in question could not so easily be described as’ slums’. Urban practitioners and planners cannot work with certain terms and this was one of them. Thus, new terminology needs to be generated to define this phenomenon. Just like hundreds of different typologies cannot merely be grouped into being ‘suburban’. This understanding led to their insistence that students reconstruct existing narratives of these sites and look at them in a dynamic way-not just as they currently exist, not just purely as structures, but also the process through which they are built, on the basis of a timeline. The ‘field’ in fact, becomes the centre of the whole pedagogical process. To engage, instead of to observe is necessary. The space informs and the student listens and in the future, shares. This entire study would most importantly, involve forging a deep sense of connection with the place and the contractor. This relationship would be strengthened through mutual sharing where one would constantly learn from the other. Also, the student would try and address where the entry point for an architect would be in this situation. The role of the student would also be to take a lead in interactions with the resource people and sustain a dialogue. This would be an important subversion which would eventually dissolve the expert-non expert dynamics. Then the output will not remain purely academic and will be one that can be executed successfully on site..

The resource persons then took turns to introduce themselves and their work so the students could get an idea of what kind of questions they could bombard each one with.  The students then proceeded to explain, a group at a time, the sites, the documentation, introduce the contractors they had collaborated with, elaborate on the timeline, investigate into structure, materiality and costs with diagrams, technical drawings and physical models. The discussions were punctuated with small question and answer sessions till everyone was familiar with each site, the houses, the families, the contractors and the workers involved. Here are a few panels on display.

Marco Ferrario of Micro Homes Solutions (New Delhi) with some of the students.

Rajeev Kathpalia of the Vastu Shipla Foundation in Ahmadabad looking at students’ project.

After a short break the entire assemblage moved to the studio space where one on one interaction ensued and ideas were thrown back and forth. These were discussions about what could now be contributed by students for a better design once the process and structure was analyzed more deeply. To be kept in mind at all times was the context, the practicality and the ability to communicate these ideas to the contractor at the end of the workshop. This was carried over to the next day.

Day 2 had more resource people joining in as the exchange continued and students started generating models and drawings for their insertions while consulting the relevant sources of information. There was a small lecture by Alexis, Thomas and Jean-Michel on the efficient use of ready-mix concrete while Poonam provided an alternative viewpoint involving use of locally available material and appropriate technologies with low environmental impact. The students spent the beginning of the day absorbing from as many people as possible and the rest of it, processing this new-found data and applying to their respective subjects.

JURY: Contractor Syyed Mohammed Gous (Chand Bhai) responding to the students’ proposals.

Contractor Pankaj Gupta discussing construction techniques with students.

Day 3 was the final day when all the discussions of the previous days culminated into a set of breakthroughs on each group’s desk. This meant last minute consultations to allow for clear articulation because the day was to end at a special moment, when the contractors viewed the work of the students and critiqued their design suggestions.Contractors Pankaj Gupta, Syyed Mohammed Gous (Chand bhai) and Anwar ji arrived right on time and were taken around by the enthusiastic students. They looked slightly amused at the painstakingly detailed documentation of their self built houses and site, as well as that of the other contractors. One by one each project was discussed, though the focus was on the student’s new input. The contractors carefully listened and then countered the arguments with reasons why these would or would not work on site, taking all aspects of the existing situation into consideration. There followed a vibrant exchange with inserts and rebuttals from all the actors- the students, the contractors and the resource persons which continued well into the evening. Design suggestions varied from changes in materials to consistency to light, ventilation and circulation. Some were well received and some debated, eventually leading to everyone in the room having participated, reacted and resolved the issue in some capacity or the other.

Affordable Housing Programme at Sir JJ College of Architecture, Mumbai (2011-2012)

Curated by URBZ/Urbanology @ Sir JJ College of Architecture, Mumbai

Sponsored by Lafarge Studio+

Affordable housing is seen as both, a high social priority by the government and NGOs as well as an unprecedented financial opportunity by developers. The result is the large-scale production of low-cost housing blocks which quickly turn into vertical slums. In the meanwhile, local contractors and end-users are building far more numerous housing units of better quality at lower prices in Mumbai’s many unplanned settlements. Often dismissed as slums, locally developed neighbourhoods produce a powerful counter-narrative to the mass production of low-cost housing. This program brings together architects, engineers, contractors and end-users to explore this dynamic sector and innovate in the field of affordable housing.

Lafarge’s Studio Plus sponsored a four-month long programme on affordable housing that combined seminars, fieldwork, a workshop, a studio, a conference and an exhibition. This programme was held at Sir JJ College of Architecture in Mumbai and organized conjointly by URBZ/Urbanology and JJ Faculty members. About 60 fourth year architecture students participated in the programme from start to finish and made it a success. The programme was organized as follows:

Affordable Housing Seminar: Dec 5th, 2011 to Jan 22nd, 2012

Faculty and guest lecturers: Mustansir Dalvi, Yashwant Pitkar, Rahul Srivastava, Matias Echanove, Ayaz Rajgara, Ashley Fiahlo, Supriyo Bhattacharya, Jal Arya, Alexis de Ducla, Poonam Mulchandani and Sonia Faleiro.

The seminar was held twice a week over a 3 hours period for a period of six weeks. It involved guest lectures, discussions and fieldwork in various parts of the city. It aimed at giving a theoretical and practical introduction to the field of affordable housing from the point of view of incremental, local development. Students interacted with contractors in groups and studied the construction of small houses in locally developed neighbourhoods around the city. The houses they studied typically cost between INR 2 to 8 lakhs. Students used their architectural backgrounds to document and analyze everything that is related to house-building, including construction techniques, materials and finance, with a focus on processes rather than final products. In this phase of the program students were given lectures on the production of housing and habitats in unplanned neighbourhoods in Mumbai. They also engaged in fieldwork, spending as much time as they could with contractors in Dharavi, Shivaji Nagar (Govandi), Bhandup and Nerul.

urbz.net/JJAH/seminar

Contra-CT Workshop: Jan 23rd, 24th, 25th, 2012

Resource persons: Rajeev Kathpalia (Ahmedabad), Rakhi Mehra (Delhi), Marco Ferrario (Delhi), Sameep Padora (Mumbai), Poonam Mulchandani (Auroville), Alexis de Ducla (Chennai), Ritu Mohanty-Padora (Mumbai), Jean-Michel Laye (Chennai), Thomas Demschner (Lyon).

The workshop was held over 3 full days. It included practical work in small groups, collective brainstorming sessions and a mini-exhibition (internal to the school). It aimed at digging further into the conceptual, architectural, technical and creative aspects of local construction. It allowed students to express their own visions through the development of proposals. They had the opportunity to confront their learning from the field with the expertise of professionals in the field. At the end of the workshop, the students had a good foundation for their studio projects. The workshop happened between the phase of deconstruction; when students learned from the field, and before the reconstruction phase; when they were asked to imagine a larger affordable housing project based on their learning. Students presented the documentation they had produced in the first 6 weeks of the programme. Then they talked in greater detail with the guest resource people about all the aspects of housing development (finance, labor, materials and technical) and tried to imagine how they could optimize the construction process of a typical house, to the maximum extent possible. The students’ proposals were then presented to the contractors with whom they had worked during their fieldwork.

urbz.net/JJAH/workshop

Homegrown Cities Conference & Exhibition: March 29th, 30th, 2012

Speakers: Claudio Acioly (Nairobi), Michael Bell (New York), Bijal Bhatt (Ahmadabad), Amita Bhide (Mumbai), Mustansir Dalvi (Mumbai), B.V. Doshi (Ahmadabad), Alexis de Ducla (Chennai), Matias Echanove (Mumbai), Marco Ferrario (New Delhi), Pankaj Gupta (Mumbai), Rajeev Kathpalia (Ahmadabad), Rakhi Mehra (New Delhi), Marc Mimram (Paris), Rajiv Mishra (Mumbai), Sameep Padora (Mumbai), François Perrot (Paris), Yashwant Pitkar (Mumbai), Rahul Srivastava (Goa).

The exhibition gave the students an opportunity to showcase their work in the two phases of the programme. It not only features their documentation of local housing construction, but also the ideas they produced during the workshop and their proposals for a 100 unit affordable housing project. The conference brings together affordable housing experts from around the world and from various fields including architecture, industry, research, non-profit and international agencies. The aim of the conference is to look at the potential for creative collaborations between actors in the field, to support the local production of affordable housing and enhance its quality.

urbz.net/JJAH/conference

More photos here and here.

We didn’t realize when we entered into 2012 – so busy was our agenda. Right now we are in the throes of an exciting pedagogic exercise involving contractors from Mumbai’s unplanned settlements and about 60 students of the JJ College of Architecture, Mumbai. This is part of the institutions Affordable Housing class and along with the professors Dalvi, Pitkar, Alexis De Ducla, and others, the class looks at the techniques and processes of how each structure is built in neighbourhhods as varied as Shivaji Nagar, Govandi, Uttkarsh Nagar, Bhandup and M.G. Road, Dharavi. The contractors, Pankaj Gupta, Amar Mirjankar and Anwar along with several others are the resource persons and the groups working with them are making new discoveries every week. These sessions culminate in the workshop scheduled between January 23-25th when we have more resource persons from all over the country who will join the discussion. Will keep you updated. Involved in the program from URBZ are, Matias, Rahul, Priyanka, Masoom, Benjamin, Shyam, Ajit, all of whom will be sending in updates in the coming weeks. A very happy solar new year to everyone!

Mumbai Contra-CT: 
Techniques and Tactics of Local Affordable Housing Production

@ Sir JJ College of Architecture, Mumbai

SEMINAR & FIELDWORK Dec 5th 2011  Jan 22nd 2012
EXHIBITION & WORKSHOP Jan 23rd, 24th, 25th, 2012
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION March 30th – 31st 2012

Affordable housing is seen as both, a high social priority by the government and NGOs as well as an unprecedented financial opportunity by developers. The result is the large-scale production of low-cost housing blocks which quickly turn into vertical slums. In the meanwhile, local contractors and end-users are building far more numerous housing units of better quality at lower prices in Mumbai’s many unplanned settlements. Often dismissed as slums, locally developed neighbourhoods produce a powerful counter-narrative to the mass production of low-cost housing. This program brings together architects, engineers, contractors and end-users to explore this dynamic sector and innovate in the field of affordable housing.

Curated by URBZ/Urbanology
Faculty: Mustansir Dalvi, Yashwant Pitkar, Ayaz Rajgara, Ashley Fiahlo Supriyo Bhattacharya, Jal Arya, Matias Echanove, Rahul Srivastava, Poonam Mulchandani.
+ Guest Experts TBA

For more info, contact us.