RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village | Architecture Thesis on Community Development

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RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village | Architecture Thesis on Community Development

Information

  • Project Name: RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village
  • Student Name: Pradyumna Lalit Vikharankar
  • Awards: Winner in Eduwik Architecture Excellence Awards 2022 | Second Place Winner in Mango Architectural Thesis Award 2022 | Special Mention in Archmello Thesis of the Year 2023
  • Softwares/Plugins: AutoCAD , Adobe Photoshop
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Excerpt: ‘RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village’ is an architecture thesis based on community development by Pradyumna Lalit Vikharankar from the Rachana Sansad’s Academy of Architecture, that seeks to improve the quality of life through natural and self-sustaining practices and attain an ideal village. By taking the Sindhi Sirasgaon settlement as a model, the thesis addresses the paradigm shift caused by a centrally planned economy. Through specific landscape and architectural techniques, the project presents an opportunity to deal with the issue in an ecological manner.

Introduction: Argument : A Paradigm Drift – India’s rural settlements are renowned for their ability to survive on their own. Since economic liberalisation, the definition of wealth has changed and is now limited to monetary factors. This has had a rapid impact throughout the country, with 70% of the population living in rural areas, and has ultimately led to the rise in dependency.

The progress rate is arguably faster in the metropolitan regions since they serve as the country’s economic centres. This is because economics is linear, and the regions’ growth rate is primarily based on consumerism. Village industries stagnate because they are unable to find a quick market, which is the responsibility of an urban centre.

A direct result of a centrally planned economy is that people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds move to more urban areas in search of opportunities to be exploited, while others in rural areas experience a sense of deprivation. The tension that results from this change between these communities’ goals and customs gives rise to the paradigm shift.

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Site Context

RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village | Architecture Thesis on Community Development
Site Location (Source: Google Earth)
A Case Study : Sidhi Sirasgaon

A  rural settlement named Sindhi Sirasgaon, located 25 km west to the main city of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar [then Aurangabad], Maharashtra is identified as a potential site for the dissertation intervention. Agriculture is the primary source of income in the community, according to an analysis of its economic patterns, with a profit-loss margin of zero.

RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village | Architecture Thesis on Community Development
Binary Study and Settlement Layout & Proposed Interventions
The community has untapped potential when it comes to cotton, which is the main crop and a few other allied crops. Cotton stalks, a byproduct of cotton, are used as a raw material to make handmade paper and boxboard. The same was sold to the industries nearby, the transaction being stopped during the pandemic. The transaction’s pause is viewed as a chance to take advantage of and build a local and circular economy.

RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village | Architecture Thesis on Community Development
Basic Volumetric Overview
An analysis of the site’s geographic features reveals human activity, particularly repetitive farming practices that have contributed to the land’s salinity. This presents an opportunity to address the issue in an ecological manner through specific landscape and architectural techniques.

Design Process

RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village | Architecture Thesis on Community Development
A Paradigm Drift – Imbalanced Dependencies and Understanding the Potential of a Community – Practicing / Hidden
Approach : Policy Proposition

At present, a resilient community operates on nine parameters: food, security, healthcare, education, shelter, trade, clothing, connectivity, energy and disaster management.

RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village | Architecture Thesis on Community Development
The Gandhian Principles
Trade functions as a nodal parameter at the macro level, connecting a community’s potential—whether it be in building, dairy, art, craft, or resource management—with the circular economy. The path of abundance refers to a household’s ability to live independently of its resources on a micro level. 

RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village | Architecture Thesis on Community Development
Experiment – Implement – Analyse – Expand
One potential approach is to intervene at the institutional level by enacting policies that support the development of local economies in the communities. In terms of the physical world, the macro-level intervention is designed to be a village industry that links a community’s potential with the economy to create a green economy system. A household is considered a microscale study element for rethinking self-sufficient living practices.

Final Outcome

RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village | Architecture Thesis on Community Development
Site & Response to its Adjacencies
RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village | Architecture Thesis on Community Development
Ground Floor Layout – Thoroughfares & Courtyards
RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village | Architecture Thesis on Community Development
Section AA’ – Trisecting the Spatial Arrangement
01 Svravriti : Unit for Hand-made paper & Box board Production

Since the government is the one proposing the intervention by means of KVIC, there is a higher level of authority involved. In light of this, it is considered an opportunity to work with specific architectural elements that serve as models for reviving these archaic practices from a modern perspective, while also responding to the ecological context and drawing inspiration from the cultural roots of rural practices.

RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village | Architecture Thesis on Community Development
Section BB’ – Identifying Communal Spaces
RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village | Architecture Thesis on Community Development
First Floor Layout – Terraces as Elevated Verandahs
While the intervention’s macro-level programme addresses the socioeconomic needs of the community, its micro-level design strategies are intended to address the activity and occupancy patterns that have been observed in the immediate setting. 

02 Residences : Wada & Aalay

RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village | Architecture Thesis on Community Development
Wada Layouts – Transitioning from Existing to Proposed
RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village | Architecture Thesis on Community Development
Aalay Layouts – Transitioning from Existing to Proposed
RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village | Architecture Thesis on Community Development
Section AA’ – Adding Volume Sectionally to Achieve an Idea of Multi Storey and Potential of a Residence for a Communal Benefit
The true concept of a rural household can be revived in order to instil the sense of a lifestyle on the paths of abundance. There are two areas of study for ownership in rural India. Large homes are the focus of individual ownership, whereas smaller homes are the purview of government housing programmes; thus, the two interventions employ two different strategies. 

RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village | Architecture Thesis on Community Development
Section AA’ – Subtracting Volumes for Cross Ventilation
RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village | Architecture Thesis on Community Development
Low Impact Strategy – Local Timber Techniques and Low Impact Strategy – Bricks
Circularity is an underlying principle for the main goal of making the homes ecological. By employing conventional methods for material conservation and passive cooling, the structure seeks to enhance the same.

RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village | Architecture Thesis on Community Development
Low Impact Strategy – Circularity
Conclusion: The project succeeds in its primary goal to improve the quality of life by implementing natural and self-sustaining practices. The natural and local trading system is strengthened by the agro-credit society’s incentives for community participation. The binding of the programmes connects the concepts of community, people in the community, and the goals they have for reaching a stage that can be called an “ideal village”.

[This Academic Project has been published with text submitted by the student]

Site Context

RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village | Architecture Thesis on Community Development
RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village | Architecture Thesis on Community Development
RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village | Architecture Thesis on Community Development
RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village | Architecture Thesis on Community Development
RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village | Architecture Thesis on Community Development

Design Process

RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village | Architecture Thesis on Community Development
RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village | Architecture Thesis on Community Development
RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village | Architecture Thesis on Community Development

Final Outcome

RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village | Architecture Thesis on Community Development
RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village | Architecture Thesis on Community Development
RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village | Architecture Thesis on Community Development
RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village | Architecture Thesis on Community Development
RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village | Architecture Thesis on Community Development
RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village | Architecture Thesis on Community Development
RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village | Architecture Thesis on Community Development
RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village | Architecture Thesis on Community Development
RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village | Architecture Thesis on Community Development
RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village | Architecture Thesis on Community Development
RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village | Architecture Thesis on Community Development
RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village | Architecture Thesis on Community Development
RE[V[I]V]AL : An Attempt to Re-think of an Ideal Village | Architecture Thesis on Community Development

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