In September and October our work in Orissa was focused on general housetypes and coming up with an alternative plan for Mangala- and Gokha Sahi in Puri. A couple of plotspecific houseproposals were also made. In November and December after Ingrid Svenkvist and Anna Olsson had left I continued working with house type proposals in Nayapally Sabar Sahi and Gokha Sahi to fit the more problematic plots. In all the areas we have been working with this fall the families/beneficiaries own their own land by heritage. The custom is to divide the parents land on each son in the family. This means that today several brothers share the same hut with their families. Now when each of the sons have their own family they are entitled to 25 sqm each in the slumupgrading program.
My proposals fitted odd formed plots or plots with many families. We also tried houses with a common toilet and wash on the ground floor when space in each apartment was scarce. In previous housing projects there has been a problem in making use for the toilet due to lack of money at the end of the project. So instead of “wasting” the few square meters of each apartment on unusable space the bedrooms increased in size. There is now an ongoing process to get this proposal through with the municipality.
In a couple of cases I have made proposals with 3 different options for the beneficiary. What comes first, is it the size of the indoor space very important or is it ok to have less indoor space if you get more private outdoor space for cooking/sitting or washing? Or are you ready to keep saving money and wait with the building process in order to get both good indoor and outdoor space further down the road? The beneficiaries with probably all have different answers but this is what participation is all about. A final proposal will have considered all the answers. I am curious to know.
My time in India will run out though eventually. I am currently in Kerala and though now this is supposedly familytime and vacation for me I have made a couple of visits to see how sustainable buildingmaterial and low cost construction can be used also in slumupgrading projects. I believe this could all be drawn one step further. Instead of speaking about the amount of windows they can afford I would like to figure out how ventilation and light could be brought into the building in the most efficient way. Once a surveyor of projects is skilled and trained in this the process there is a chance of implementing It.
My proposals fitted odd formed plots or plots with many families. We also tried houses with a common toilet and wash on the ground floor when space in each apartment was scarce. In previous housing projects there has been a problem in making use for the toilet due to lack of money at the end of the project. So instead of “wasting” the few square meters of each apartment on unusable space the bedrooms increased in size. There is now an ongoing process to get this proposal through with the municipality.
In a couple of cases I have made proposals with 3 different options for the beneficiary. What comes first, is it the size of the indoor space very important or is it ok to have less indoor space if you get more private outdoor space for cooking/sitting or washing? Or are you ready to keep saving money and wait with the building process in order to get both good indoor and outdoor space further down the road? The beneficiaries with probably all have different answers but this is what participation is all about. A final proposal will have considered all the answers. I am curious to know.
My time in India will run out though eventually. I am currently in Kerala and though now this is supposedly familytime and vacation for me I have made a couple of visits to see how sustainable buildingmaterial and low cost construction can be used also in slumupgrading projects. I believe this could all be drawn one step further. Instead of speaking about the amount of windows they can afford I would like to figure out how ventilation and light could be brought into the building in the most efficient way. Once a surveyor of projects is skilled and trained in this the process there is a chance of implementing It.
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