Today I met three very interesting people. The first was Professor Shailaja Nair, who taught us about Costford's approach to slum eradication. It is different from many countries' way of dealing with the problem of squalid housing. Instead of tearing down the dilapitated structures and putting up new that are beyond the financial reach of the residents--thereby taking their homes and forcibly relocating them. Costford, and the State of Kerala, are working with the residents to build sustainable housing that is only available to them. Once they take possession of the new home it belongs to them to do with as they choose. It is wonderful to hear that instead of viewing slums and their residents as a problem, these wonderful and wise people are reinforcing their humanity.
Mr. R.D. Padmakumar taught us about the life cycle of sustainable building projects: feasibility, design, construction and operation, reuse and refurbishment, and demolition and recycling. There is also balance in these projects between intervention (policy, planning, design, implementation), efficiency (monetary, social, and environmental costs), economies of scale, and the impacts of construction. He explained the importance of buildings as an expression of the local culture and climate. They should be expressive of the arts and crafts of the individual and the community. Sustainable housing starts with the method of the architect and the use of local labor.
In the center of Trivandrum, a railway station was built using local clays and mud. The area that resulted from the extraction of these materials lay directly behind the station, 60cm below the surface of the surrounding area. A sewage overflow pond lay next to it. It was not being used by anyone and ignored by the city at large. Squattors set up homes cobbled together from the detrius of society in the remains of the extraction pit. The third person I met today was Chandrika. She is married and has four children. Her husband is a rickshaw driver. They live in the extraction pit but they are no longer squattors living on unclaimed land. They live in their own home, built with local labor using local materials and a minimalist approach. It is built for the local climate and in harmony with the environment. It is one of several within a stacked apartment building on a foundation raised above the level of the overflow pond. Her family supplied the finishing touches and the rooms are whitewashed in pastel pink and pastel yellow. It is not a large home for six people but she holds the deed.
Mr. R.D. Padmakumar taught us about the life cycle of sustainable building projects: feasibility, design, construction and operation, reuse and refurbishment, and demolition and recycling. There is also balance in these projects between intervention (policy, planning, design, implementation), efficiency (monetary, social, and environmental costs), economies of scale, and the impacts of construction. He explained the importance of buildings as an expression of the local culture and climate. They should be expressive of the arts and crafts of the individual and the community. Sustainable housing starts with the method of the architect and the use of local labor.
In the center of Trivandrum, a railway station was built using local clays and mud. The area that resulted from the extraction of these materials lay directly behind the station, 60cm below the surface of the surrounding area. A sewage overflow pond lay next to it. It was not being used by anyone and ignored by the city at large. Squattors set up homes cobbled together from the detrius of society in the remains of the extraction pit. The third person I met today was Chandrika. She is married and has four children. Her husband is a rickshaw driver. They live in the extraction pit but they are no longer squattors living on unclaimed land. They live in their own home, built with local labor using local materials and a minimalist approach. It is built for the local climate and in harmony with the environment. It is one of several within a stacked apartment building on a foundation raised above the level of the overflow pond. Her family supplied the finishing touches and the rooms are whitewashed in pastel pink and pastel yellow. It is not a large home for six people but she holds the deed.
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