Sustainability & Plurality in Built Environment
- a case study of RECONSTRUCTION:
opportunities and barriers to a inclusive,
sustainable and plural response
By Radha Kunke
John DSouza, CED, 29th March 2011
SETDEV final Seminar, Hyderabad
First, A TRIBUTE
Then the question…
What we know
…
Post Disaster..
the built environment constructed
over hundreds of years
will be reconstructed
In just ten years…
Thus, every decision, action has
immediate impact..
The slogan.. Build Back Better..
But what is BETTER?
We look at 3 Disasters
Gujarat earthquake
Tamil Nadu tsunami
Bihar Kosi floods
• The Gujarat earthquake of 2001
• 7904 villages in 21 districts of 25 districts.
• 370,000 houses destroyed, 922,000 damaged
• loss of Rs. 21,262 crores.
The tsunami of 2004
• damaged more than 150,000 housing
units in the states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra
Pradesh, Kerala and Pondicherry
• estimated damages of Rs. 994.0 crore
($228.5 million).
• .
In Bihar, August 2008,
the flood waters of the Koshi
• damage across 3000 sq km of land area in
five districts
• 3,40,000 dwellings were destroyed
Gujarat
• The reconstruction was a progressive
owner driven approach
• choice of building materials and
technology firmly in people’s hands.
• created spaces for people’s knowledge
system to be expressed.
• initiative legitimized traditional and
alternative practices and
TN Tsunami
• Government responded with total control
over reconstruction process with little or no
choice or control in people’s hands.
• Agency like UNDP decided guidelines
• NGOs implemented using outside labour &
materials
• Delegitimized and rejected traditional
practices of the people.
Bihar Kosi Floods
• Delay due to conflict between centre &
State
• People went ahead with their own
reconstruction
• Using bamboo and mud as materials
• Old IAYconcrete houses in dis-repair
• Some Combo techniques evolved by
people
What we know is the S & T of construction
- Dominant
- Traditional
- Alternative
In
- building materials,
- design, &
- techniques and methods
KNOWLEDGE SWARAJ
Not so much about
Getting rid of rule by the “the other”..
Or self-sufficiency..
But being capable of governing, ordering
our built environment,
In construction..
70% of the people build their own homes all different, using a variety of locally
available materials, completely custombuilt and contextualized, energy efficient
and user-friendly. ( Plurality, Sustainability)
natural materials being used: mud, stone,
grass, bamboo, wood and a host of other
local materials,
Plurality in Reconstruction
30% Of BE built by Govt. /Mainstream
Government’s policies
Institutions, govt. & private alike
Do not recognised the 70%, dismissing them
as frail, temporary and unsafe structures.
They reject the dominant, in favour of the
modern and new materials of concrete and
steel.
The Case Study
The 30% does not recognise the 70%,
dismissing them as frail, temporary and unsafe
structures. They reject the dominant, in favour of
the modern and new materials of concrete and
steel.
Sustainability in reconstruction
• Looked more as DURABLE, TOUGH…
• So stronger buildings, heavier materials..
Concrete, Steel etc.
Thus,
Guidelines in TN..
Embankments on the Koshi ..
As also the Japanese nuclear plants!
RCC .. ‘safe’ and durability
If technical requirements are not strictly
followed, they only end up becoming a
hazard during calamities..
People are not familiar with its requirements,
nor can they maintain/repair themselves .
Costs are also high..
Jugaad
Jugaad.. Contd..
The Lawrie Baker Option:
filler slab, exposed brick, rat trap.. Combo..
The larger policy decisions are being clearly
being taken away from the people and are
being made by the Establishment
Need to articulate & mainstream
Ethics in Built Environment.
based on
plurality, sustainability, justice,
swaraj, and ahimsa
Radha Kunke, Architecture & Development