HUNNARSHALA​
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BHUJ, GUJARAT
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The organisation works across Kutchh, and other parts of India. It was instrumental in the rehabilitation of earthquake-affected people during the 2002 catastrophe. It also went on to document various technologies in rammed earth, CSEB and adobe for the RAY programme, giving earth the validation of ‘pukka’ construction. The material understanding got translated in to many projects, many of which require strong participation and organisation of communities. Currently, there are two units that work under it-Community Empowerment Unit (CEU) and Artisan Empowerment Unit.
Housing Development Landscape
Housing development landscape design
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The housing project under the RAY (now PMRAY) scheme, that provides housing for all, was in GIDC, Ramdevnagar and Bhimraonagar – all localities with EBC and/or earthquake-affected population within Bhuj. Under this programme, the houses were designed by Hunnarshala and the construction, though done independently by the beneficiary, was supervised by them.
I helped with the planning of open spaces that included amenities like a day-care centre/pre-school, play equipment, seating and outdoor furniture, hawker zone, parking (a large number of people were auto-drivers), etc. As a volunteer, I wished to work with community- centric architectural design, which was based on creative, technologicalsolutions. My work here involved working with the already-rehabilitated populace in GIDC, an agglomeration of different communities - and finding a way to create open spaces and usable landscapes within the site. A similar intervention was to be conducted at Ramdev Nagar, smaller communities had been rehabilitated in situ and an open space, already in use, was to be re-worked with the participatory planning and discussion. Moreover, design details and furniture was to be designed for the two sites, which had me visiting various vendors around Bhuj for . Other sites required sewage layouts, and working with sustainable treatment systems.
Apart from this, we also worked on housing schemes for another mass-housing project.
Dormitory
Dormitory design
300 sqm
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This school, located in the verdant hills of the Western Ghats, in Maharashtra, lies on a hill overlooking a reservoir and is surrounded by a lush landscape. It was being built gradually, and they were looking to expand the capacity of accommodation and build a new sports hall. Hunnarshala was asked to prepare a masterplan for the same and design dormitories for students, apart from working out changes to existing ones. The design housed around 20 students, and since the built up was restricted to ground-storey construction, it was seen as an opportunity to create a mezzanine with attic-like spaces for the third-graders.
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Documentation
Graphic documentation
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The team at Hunnarshala was invited by INTACH to document and prepare a report for earth buildings in India. Reports on two places were already made, this was to be the third year and Spiti Valley in Himachal Pradesh was selected as the site. I helped with the documentation work involving renders and graphics for the same.
That is how it was at Hunnarshala.