This article from UNAI member university Dr. Bhanuben Nanavati College of Architecture (BNCA) for Women?is the fourth?in the UNAI START series that looks at Sustainable Development Goal #11: Sustainable Cities and Communities. Schools and departments of urbanization at UNAI member institutions were asked to submit articles highlighting research and work?relating to the design and construction of more resilient and sustainable cities for the 21st century, and?to showcase the importance of addressing urbanization?in achieving?the 2030 Development Agenda. Please note that the articles are for discussion, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the 51勛圖.
Cities, the built environment along with planning and infrastructure, are vital for development and its economic importance has been increasingly realized by developing countries. Steering a course that is not only sustainable, but inclusive is a tremendous challenge.? As a country, India has the world's largest youth population with 65 per cent of its population below the age of 35. Young people are ready to act, but often need direction so it is paramount that institutions provide the support to turn ideals into concrete and meaningful action.?
As architects and planners, the things we design and build can themselves become catalysts for bringing together communities. With a history of empowering women through education the Maharshi Karve Stree Shikshan Sanstha's Dr. B. N. College of Architecture (BNCA) took forward this idea and looked at how concrete actions and projects can inspire its students. As the 51勛圖 Academic Hub for Addressing Poverty, BNCA generates collaborative projects with a multidisciplinary approach so that its students can advance SDG #11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, through the architecture and design work they do.?
The initiative started with work on a housing unit in Shinyanga, Tanzania. Taking into account community development and local context, the students worked on building compressed brick blocks with local technology and resources to design a sustainable housing unit for a widow. The project also helped build capacity within the community and provide environmental education through a partnership with Green contributors and Savannah Plains International School.
Another project completed under the auspices of this initiative was the design of a community center and dry compost toilet in a village in Lusaka, Zambia. The design aimed to develop a sustainable multi-use community block to be utilized by the local school, its students and teachers, as well as youth in nearby villages.
Another innovative project undertaken by the BNCA team was the revamping of shipping containers for school utility classrooms done in Montego Bay, Jamaica. ?The team also carried out a study on eco-tourism in Jamaica and proposed a Heritage Trail for Montego Bay for its next phase, which is under review by representatives from the Ministry of Education, members of the parliament and the Ministry of Tourism. This endeavor could set an example for sustainable tourism and development for other cities. BNCA also participated in a planning scale workshop was conducted on 'Urban landscapes for a better tomorrow' in October 2015 at Maribore University, Slovenia in collaboration with Demola, Slovenia. Students generated prototypes for green roofs which will be installed in Lima, Peru.
With the increase in pace of urbanization the role of planning in cities and suburbs has become crucial. Villages and cities coalesce together with their inter-dependencies and form larger agglomerations. In large cities, 30 to 40 per cent of the population lives in slums.? In order to increase access to adequate and affordable housing, BNCA has developed various academic design programs and collaborations for knowledge exchange. The department of Digital Architecture of BNCA has added social housing design as part of its academic curriculum. 'How can density and social housing integrate a wider array of functions and spatial economies?' was one of the design queries put forth along with contextual mapping of slums. Students worked on digitization of spaces and modules and further developed distinctive designs. Using new technologies the digital architecture facility has been contributing towards innovation in the Asian context.
In June 2016 the school held a holistic village initiative, to examine the importance of creating healthier cities and the role of public spaces in social inclusion. The intensive master planning workshop was a collaborative initiative of BNCA 每 UNAI and BUSarchitektur, Vienna. This unique workshop provided students the opportunity to gain a different perspective on planning and implementing holistic societies. Different housing types such as affordable and compact housing were studied, documented and developed in architectural designs by the students.
We are continuously active with the city council and other ongoing urban interventions to contribute our academic expertise. In order to deal with rivers and riverfront development in our community a workshop was conducted in collaboration with the National University of Singapore. Students studied the urban stretch of the Mula-Mutha River in Pune and devised infrastructure, community based and environmental solutions. The proposals were presented to municipal council members and political activists.
Design programs and briefs are conducted to address sustainable urban development and designs must have at least one distinctive component of energy efficient, green building in conception and can be exhibited in the built and the un-built. A RURBAN?housing design brief aimed at planning 'smart villages' while preserving local architectural characters, lifestyles and local economies, while another design brief examined the upcycling of containers to create modular, eco-friendly and cost effective container housing. Container homes are not only economical to make but take considerably less time to build when compared to traditional houses.
Most recently BNCA students worked on emergency shelter design that aimed to develop a small scalable shelter covering as many human needs as possible. It involved implementing built modules of the shelters with the help of MEGAPLAST in Budapest.?? The combination of academia, industry and technical experts led to making the product visible and was done in collaboration with DEMOLA. Through this process students were exposed to a number of challenges and gained experience building emergency shelters and working across disciplines to complete the project.
Dr. B. N. College of Architecture of Pune has been active in facilitating a free and interdisciplinary environment that aligns students and faculty with the Sustainable Development Goals.? BNCA strives to provide students with hands on experiences along with international collaborations and exposure so that their academic experiences have real world applications.
About the Authors
Prof Asmita Divekar is the?Director UNAI Hub at?Dr.B.N.College of Architecture for Women, Pune India
Ar.Shubhashweti Sinha contributed to this article.?