ARANYA HOUSING
Submitted by SAAJAN SHARMA
location
Case study-
“ARANYA” A housing project, Indore
Situated 6 km from Indore, Madhya Pradesh is a housing
project for the middle and lower income groups of
Indian population. Designed by architect B. V. Doshi of
Vastu-Shilp Foundation, ‘Aranya’, was awarded the Aga
Khan Award for Architecture in 1995.
Case study-
“ARANYA” A housing project, Indore
The general objectives or ARANYA were:
1- To create a township where a sense of continuity of
fundamental values of security exist and to plan a good living
environment.
2. To achieve a settlement character by establishing a harmony
between the built environment and the people.
3. To create a balanced community of various socio-economic
groups encouraging co-operation, fraternity , tolerance and self
help generated through a physical planning process.
4. To evolve a framework within design where incremental physical
development can take place within legal, economical and
organizational framework.
Case study-
“ARANYA” A housing project, Indore
HOUSING PLANNING
1 Plan initially prepared by
Indore development
authority which shows a
typical rubber stamping
attitude without any concern
for open space hierarchy ,
circulation system , climatic
orientation or the built
form. Basic grid pattern
envisaged for simple layout
Initial stage proposed
2 plan with distributed
open spaces and street
hierarchies. Twists
and staggers
introduced to
discourage through
traffic.
Later stage of
3 development with
rectified orientation
to minimize heat gain
and increase natural
shading. Clear
hierarchy to be
obtained.
Proposed master plan
4 with interlinked open
spaces, built form
variations, distributed
amenities, road
network hierarchies
and climate friendly
orientation
Housing catagories
•The master plan was divided into
six sectors with a central spine
area of commercial and
institutional land use.
•The town centre in the middle
part of the spine consisted of four
clusters of shopping, residential
and office complexes.
Housing catagories
•The high income group (HIG
9 per cent), is along the
periphery of the national
highway and part on the
south east border of the
arterial road in the south.
•The middle income group
(MIG 14 %) is planned along
the periphery of arterial roads
on north – west side and part
on the south arterial road
along the part of the spine.
•The lower income group (LIG
11%)and the economically
weaker sector (EWS 65%) are
located in the middle of all six
sectors.
DIVISION OF SPACES
Residential : 58 %
Pedestrian : 24%
Open spaces : 7% SPACE USE
Commercial : 8%
pedestrian
25% open space
8%
Other
15%
residential commercial
60% facility
7%
ANALYSIS OF THE PLANNING
1. Houses have been clustered in groups of ten,
separated by open spaces.
2. Each sector with main pedestrian street.
3. Otta, a transitional zone , is provided in front of
each house which is located between private and
public space .
4.Ottas are provided as a meeting place or
interactive place.
5. A septic tank was provided for two clusters.
BASIC PLAN OF A HOUSE/UNIT
• A house plan included two rooms and a living area followed by a kitchen .
• Lavatory was constructed between the front extension and the multi use
courtyard at the back.
• Most houses were provided with an additional access at the back , which allowed
for keeping animals, a vehicle or even renting out part of the house to provide
income.
• For interaction of families an otta (an important feature of the Indian home) was
provided between the service spaces and the cul-de-sac.
• A service core was provided with the prime objective that the basic house when
completed will be sensitive to the lifestyle and daily needs of individuals with the
freedom to integrate indoor and outdoor spaces with privacy within and from
outside the homes, by designing optional plan.
• A cluster of ten houses were
connected to 1 inspection
chamber and 20 houses to one
SERVICES
septic tank.
• A conventional sewage system
was developed for the township,
keeping in view the general
contour of available ground
slope and the road network.
•A well and a lift station were
provided near the final manhole
that discharges the waste water
into the treatment plant,
• An oxidation pond on the north
west corner of the site where the
natural slope helped in collecting
the sewage and was suitable for
the predominant south west
wind direction to avoid odour
pollution.
SERVICES
•The road network, designed
according to the topography,
allowed for smooth gravitational
flow of water. Three reservoirs,
each serving two sectors were
located at higher points of sector
and were interconnected in such
a way that any two could cover
the entire population.
•The system adopted for storm
water drainage was a combination
of an underground storm water
system in wider roads and surface
drainage on internal roads where
ground slopes were effectively
used. The road section dropped
below ground level by six inches,
allowing it to act as the drain.
SERVICES
•As shown in option 1
the conventional
method of placing
toilets in front goes
against cultural and 1 3
aesthetic priorities
and manages to
connect eight toilets
to one manhole with
sewerage line every
on street.
As in option 2, 3 and
4 toilets at back create
maintenance related 2 4
problem.
CONCLUSION
1.Locally available building materials used for low cost
housing.
2. Interactive spaces are created e.g. ottas and pedestrians.
3. No parking space provided due to majority consists of
EWS/LIG groups.
4.Extensions such as balconies, open stairs and porches acts
as both indoor and outdoor characters.
COCLUSION
• Community facilities grouped in local sub centers
• Formal organisation
• Community facilities distributed evenly
• Informality created
• Accessibility improved
• Lower level Community facilities organised in
green spaces .
• The road network, designed according to the
topography, allowed for smooth gravitational
flow of water.
