National Conference 10 – 12 April 2015 IIT Roorkee
GO FRUGAL: LESSONS FROM SLUM ARCHITECTURE Ar. Kamal Passi 1, Dr. Gaurav Raheja 2
Abstract While the authorities struggle to find ways to cater to the problem of slums, thousands of shelters are being built daily without any major outside support or government scheme. If there is any possibility to access land, people build there and improvements are made over time. This quality must be identified as strength and harnessed if India is to provide decent housing to its growing urban population. Providing Slums with Architectural solutions is like giving cookbooks to a famine hit country. What needs to be understood is that slums are not a problem to begin with. They are the products of various shortcomings in the Macro level planning policies. Yet people in there adapt to the circumstances, and come up with various indigenous solutions in dealing with their problems. It is the idea of frugality, that has helped our society overcome many problems in the past, and is definitely the best solution in the coming future. Get over Green or Smart. Go Frugal should be the next catch phrase. This paper presents a different take on the idea of slums. The main analysis of the paper is to find the various frugal innovations that are being practiced both in materials and management. This paper employs literature based studies to substantiate the conclusions put forward. Key Words: Slums; frugal; architecture of survival; resource management; Jugaad
1. Introduction “Slums are litmus tests for innate cultural strengths and weaknesses. Those people whose cultures can harbor extensive slum life without decomposing will be, relatively speaking, the future’s winners. Those whose cultures cannot will be the future’s victims.” (Kaplan, 1994) One of the biggest challenges that India has to face today is the augmented urbanisation as a result of the economic liberalisation. Close to 16 crore people have moved to cities in the past 20 years, and another 20 crore are projected to migrate within the next 20 years (McKinsey & Company, 2010). But the coping up with this population influx has been a huge struggle for our cities. Our infrastructure is immensely over-strained. As a result, the informal settlements, “slums”, have exponentially expanded in the past few decades without proper access to basic amenities such as sanitation, healthcare, etc. Despite many government schemes and entrepreneurial efforts, no major upliftment can be seen within 1 2
Post Graduate Student of Architecture, IIT Roorkee,
[email protected]; Associate Professor, IIT Roorkee,
[email protected]
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National Conference 10 – 12 April 2015 IIT Roorkee
these dwellings. In order to harness the productive strength of this dynamic urban population, India will need to come up with scalable urban systems capable of housing, employing, and integrating large and increasing numbers of new inhabitants. (Greater Pacific Capital, 2013) “Slum has been defined in legislation to include buildings and areas that are environmentally and structurally deficient. They are considered to be the result of multiple deprivation like employment, income, facilities, etc.” Slums are the result of the gap between the demand and supply (formal) in the housing market. In the absence of deliberate and appropriate policy interventions, the number of slum dwellers will increase in a rapidly urbanising country. Despite the many problems slums have, it would be a fruitful exercise to look into this typology that houses more than 1/5th of the world’s population. There ought to be various inferences one can draw from the frugal lives of the slums and its dwellers.
2. Lessons learnt from the idea of frugality in Slums The amount of learnings one can deduce from these dwellings are enormous, given the fact, they are considered problems to begin with. One should try to understand that these dwellings are homes to the people comprising the base of the economic Pyramid, and on this sound foundation rests the entire economic development cycle. Prof. Akhtar Chauhan, published an article in the book “Minimal Space – Minimal Housing” by Prof. Peter Schreibmayer and Johann Grabner in 1996, in which he talked about the various lessons one can learn from slums. (Chauhan, et al., 1996) To begin with, this is the Architecture of Survival. It is not something anyone wants, but what they need to survive. With limited resources, it eventually boils down to their courage for survival that they are able to come up with such innovative solutions to problems at the face of adversity. Use of scrap as building materials Minimum use of materials to build their living space exemplifies the frugality of the slum dwellers. They use building materials that are easily available in their proximity. The most common building materials used are old tin sheets, plastic sheets, joists, posts, used tiles, rafters and some other junk materials. The creative geniuses of the slum dwellers can be seen when the meet their habitation needs through these materials despite their limited technical know-how.
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National Conference 10 – 12 April 2015 IIT Roorkee
Figure 1 Use of scrap corrugated steel sheets as building material (Source: Prof. Syste de Maat)
Optimum utilisation of living space The shelters in slums are probably the smallest dwellings possible. Rather than composing them as a mono-functional unit composed of typical room layouts, they are conceived as multi-functional living spaces, with over-lapping functions of living and family interactions.
Figure 2 Activities are carried outside, while the dwelling serves as shelter and storage (Source: Prof. Syste de Maat)
Utilisation of urban land for housing The ground coverage in slums in generally observed to be pretty high, despite the fact that the highest elevation they achieve isn’t more the two storeys. And this is very much contrary to the modernist idea of high rise, low density building typology.
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Figure 3 Pavement Dwellings in Mumbai (Source: Prof. Syste de Maat) Dynamic Shelters The shelters of slums are very dynamic in the sense that they expand with the growth in the family, with limitations in functionality of-course. This dynamism of expansion and growth to meet the economic and social requirements is very crucial to the success of the slum community as a whole.
Figure 4 Constant additions to the dwellings (Source: Prof. Syste de Maat) Troubleshooting their own problems as per needs Slums are their own answer to their shelter needs. They are least expensive and most affordable minimal shelters that can be made possible in a given area. The cost of land, basic services and the minimum shelter are not only minimal but can be paid in parts over a period. Community Interaction and Participatory Planning Slums present a very vibrant culture. Community spaces have been incorporated within the slums for social interactions and functions. Be it the minimal space at the doorsteps or the community spaces for various cultural activities. This social network just keeps on evolving. The presence of a worship place (Temple, Mosque, etc) is also very common. Apart from that, any development and maintenance of slums is due to the collective participation of its dwellers. They ensure land management, social security and obtain basic facilities through collective efforts. Sustainable Development
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National Conference 10 – 12 April 2015 IIT Roorkee
The sustenance of slums in an urban area is due to the conscious decision making ability of these communities. They analyse their necessities, priorities and viability very critically a necessary step for their (and eventually our) sustainable development. It is this Architecture of survival that leads the way to sustainable development in our country and around the world. 2.1. Liter of Light: Solar Bottle Bulb One of the most talked revolutionising innovations that has tremendously transformed the dingy dens of slums is perhaps the plastic Bottle Bulb under the Liter of Light Project. Also called the solar bottle bulb, it was developed by Alfredo Moser. It is installed on the roofs of households which refracts sunlight in order to light up the interiors of the room. The innovation lies in the utilisation of cheap, readily available and durable materials to generate natural lighting that will enable the slum dwellers to access affordable and environmentally friendly long-term alternative to electric light for use during the day. (Myshelter Foundation, n.d.)
Figure 5 Dwelling unit lit with Solar Bottle Bulb (Source: Liter of Light Project) Materials: Empty plastic bottle, Bleach and water Mechanism: The mechanism is pretty simple. Fill the empty bottle with water and some bleach. Adding bleach to water checks the growth of algae and ensures high quality light keeping the water clear for a longer time.
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Figure 6 Fixture Detail (Source: www.domusweb.it, www.weburbanist.com) Then push it through a steel plate that serves as a lock to prevent it from slipping. Once it is done, it is then fixed in the roof. About 2/5th part of these bottles is left outside in order to trap sunlight while the remaining 3/5th protrudes into the dwelling. To prevent leakage, a silicone based sealant is applied around the bottle and the hole in the roof. The sunlight entering the bottle becomes omni-directional due to the refracting properties of water, thus ensuring that light enters inside the dwelling unit. This bulb mimics an electric bulb and emits the same amount of light as a 55 W incandescent bulb.
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National Conference 10 – 12 April 2015 IIT Roorkee
This project is a zero-carbon-emitting alternative to the daytime use of illumination. All the materials used are readily available, needing no additional manufacturing resources. This inexpensive technology allows most slum households to install it with the assistance of some social entrepreneurs. Once installed, the bottle is estimated to last about five years before it needs replacement. (Gibby Zobel, 2013) 2.2. Go Frugal: India’s frugal factors “Frugal innovation responds to limitations in resources, whether financial, material or institutional, and using a range of methods, turns these constraints into an advantage. Through minimising the use of resources in development, production and delivery, or by leveraging them in new ways, frugal innovation results in dramatically lower–cost products and services. Successful frugal innovations are not only low cost, but outperform the alternative, and can be made available at large scale. Often, but not always, frugal innovations have an explicitly social mission.” (Bound & Thornton, 2012) Particularly in India, there are a number of factors that compel us to think of a frugal future, and how frugal innovations can greatly serve the society as a whole.
The out of the box thinking mind-set and unusual skill sets required for frugal innovations are abundant, which is evidently seen from the culture of “Jugaad” (Radjou, et al., 2012) The aspirations of the middle class are growing that open up new markets for frugal innovators. They are simultaneously willing to experiment following their price sensitivity. Extreme gaps in services instigate demand for low-cost and efficient solutions in various public sectors like health and energy. The cost of investment for frugal innovations is being lowered by the many social financing institutes. An ‘inclusive’ innovation policy is prioritising getting more for less for more and attempting to develop the institutional conditions that could drive high impact frugal innovations.
2.3. List of Figures and tables Figure 1 Use of scrap corrugated steel sheets as building material (Source: Prof. Syste de Maat) __________________________________________________________________ 3 Figure 2 Activities are carried outside, while the dwelling serves as shelter and storage _ 3 Figure 3 Pavement Dwellings in Mumbai (Source: Prof. Syste de Maat) ______________ 4 Figure 4 Constant additions to the dwellings (Source: Prof. Syste de Maat) ___________ 4 Figure 5 Dwelling unit lit with Solar Bottle Bulb (Source: Liter of Light Project) _______ 5 Figure 6 Fixture Detail (Source: www.domusweb.it, www.weburbanist.com) __________ 6
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3. Conclusions We can see that these dwellings provide us an insight into the various frugal aspects of design and management. Rather than considering them as a problem, one needs to acknowledge them as strength and harness its potential. These settlements termed slums, and actually grown neighbourhoods. We need a new vision and insight for evolving a more efficient neighbourhood with efficient waste management and sanitation in the coming years, which may require us to understand, plan, design, build and manage the already minimum shelters of the slum dwellers. The above lessons indicate that the problems in slums can best be solved not through vertical but horizontal housing. In order to fuse slum-dwellers into urban life instead of further pushing them, we can’t just bulldoze the slums and stack the people into housing blocks. A real solution would involve building high-quality, low-cost, diverse formats in the current areas such that these become integrated with the rest of the city. Also, it is also evident that the earth in its full capacity is not capable enough to sustain the growing materialistic aspirations of its inhabitants. So somewhere there is a strong urgency to popularise and incentivise frugal practices, both in means and its ends.
4. References Bound, K. & Thornton, I., 2012. OUR FRUGAL FUTURE: Lessons from India's Innovation System, London: Nesta. Brand, S., 2010. How slums can save the planet. [Online] Available at: http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/features/how-slums-can-save-the-planet Chauhan, A., 2014. Learning from Slums. [Online] Available at: www.archidev.org/IMG/doc/LEARNING_FROM_SLUMS.doc Chauhan, A., Grabner , J. & Schreibmayer, P., 1996. Minimal Space – Minimal Housing. Graz: Technische Universitaet Graz, Austria . Gibby Zobel, B., 2013. Alfredo Moser: Bottle light inventor proud to be poor. [Online] Available at: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-23536914 [Accessed 18 March 2015]. Greater Pacific Capital, 2013. Transforming India’s Slums: A Critical Step in Creating the New India. [Online] Available at: http://greaterpacificcapital.com/transforming-indias-slums-a-critical-step-increating-the-new-india/ Kaplan, R. D., 1994. The Coming Anarchy: Shattering the Dreams of the Post Cold War. s.l.:s.n.
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McKinsey & Company, 2010. India's urban awakening: Building inclusive cities, sustaining economic growth, s.l.: McKinsey & Company. Myshelter Foundation, n.d. Liter of Light Project. [Online] Available at: http://literoflight.org/index.php [Accessed October 2014]. Radjou, N., Ahuja, S. & Prabhu, J., 2012. Jugaad Innovation: A frugal and flexible approach to innovation for the 21st century. Gurgaon: Random House.
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