Urban kheth
Of Houses and Homes
Our houses are not just a place to stay but these are buildings that contribute to the society and environment. In our research study of houses and homes, we found out that the slum dwellers rent out their houses provided by the govt to outsiders and go back to their slums because of the need for money. Just a concrete roof does not solve their problems of financial instability. so, we at the studio wanted to go further into the issue and see if we could understand the problem at the core.
Is a concrete roof enough?
Hyderabad has traditionally had a major slum rehabilitation program underway called VAMBAY housing which claims to have solved the issue of slums in the city, we take a closer look at this ‘solution’ to see its impacts and deliver a method to truly solve the problem, rather than just the symptoms.
one such example
01
We visited the much talked about government housing near Rasoolpura, After going in through narrow lanes, at the end of a cement road we reach. This government housing seemed very familiar in format, to the one we had previously studied and it was because this was part of the same scheme. This was part of the VAMBAY scheme and not much has changed. The things that did change seem to have been for the worse. For example the road here was not a pucca road of any sort. Our first stop was at a small kirana store at the entrance of the colony. And then at a home where the owners were selling earthen pots, another store after that and finally two homes overlooking the nala with interesting expansions into the nala. Although the living conditions seemed to be improved with regards to the Rasoolpura slum the tenants here seemed to be dissatisfied.
In all of Hyderabad, we have around 6 such settlements, housing over 3500 families.
LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT THE EXISTING SCENARIO
A solution, that makes them relevant in their context, building a relationship between the haves and the have-nots.
So, a lot of farmers, a lot of empty space, and a city that is paying for food grown without pesticides. What could the solution be ?
Total terrce area available for farming - 3050 sqm.
Farming on the terrace can feed over 600 families in vegetables, considering that the majority of the resident are from an agriculture background, obtaining the manpower to do so becomes much more easier. With the help of simple pulleys, most of the logistics would be taken care of, the manpower to do so can be obtained from the pool of construction wagerers working in the colony.
EXISTING
PROPOSED
So, what are they going to grow ? And how do you know it could work ?
WHERE CAN THEY SELL ?
Local store Local market Vegetable truck
WHY FARMER'S MARKETS ?
THE BRANDING
After the initial phase of direct to market produce, the brand can develop simple products that are community made and introduced into the market with investments made by the community itself
