ARANYA HOUSING

Submitted by SAAJAN SHARMA

location

Case studyARANYA 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 VastuShilp Foundation, Aranya, was awarded the
Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 1995.

Case studyARANYA 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 socioeconomic 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

Case studyARANYA A housing project, Indore

HOUSING PLANNING

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
plan
with
distributed
open spaces and
street

hierarchies.
Twists
staggers
introduced

and
to

Later stage of
development
with rectified
orientation to
minimize heat
gain and
increase natural
shading. Clear
hierarchy to be
obtained.
Proposed master
plan 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%
Commercial : 8%

SPACE USE

commercial facility; 7%

residential; 60%
open space; 8%

pedestrian; 24%

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 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

SERVICES

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

SERVICES
As
shown
in
option
1
the
conventional
method
of
placing toilets in
front
goes
against cultural
and
aesthetic
priorities
and
manages
to
connect
eight
toilets to one
manhole
As in option with
2, 3
sewerage
and
4 toiletsline
at
every
on
street.
back
create
maintenance
related 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.