Project Chander Nagar

Project Chander Nagar Dehradun, India

Project Chander Nagar

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WORKSHOP architecture

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Introduction

WORKSHOP architecture is a non-profit design+make studio that focuses on participation, learning by doing, and cultivating a deep understanding of place.

Living temporarily with the communities we are working with, we bring new ideas whilst engaging in local building crafts and materials, to bring about an architecture of exchange that is both challenging and pragmatic.

The studio is led by Clementine Blakemore, Alexander Furunes and Ivar Tutturen.

10.08.12

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Project Chander Nagar

WORKSHOP architecture

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Contents

Project Chander Nagar (2012) was a

...

April

July

collaboration between WORKSHOP architecture and an Indian charity ‘Nanhi Dunya International Movement for Children and their Friends’. The structure was designed and built collaboratively

WORKSHOP Defining the studio p.2

Place & Partner The wider context

with the local community, skilled

p.6

craftsmen, a local contractor, three UK

Sourcing Funds How we raised money

engineers, and a team of students from

p.10

the NTNU / AA Visiting School ‘Building Community I’.

Defining the Project Creating the brief p.16

Spending Money Project budget p.80 Communication Translating ideas p.84

Telling the Story The complete blog p.130

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August

September

October

November

December

Engagement Local interaction p.20 Research Local precedents p.30

Design Process Evolution of ideas p.42

Construction How we built it p.54

Occupation & Use Activity in the structure p.96

Reflecting What we learnt p.112

Project Chander Nagar

April

WORKSHOP architecture

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Place & Partner

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We believe that architecture should be deeply embedded in the social, economic, cultural and climatic context of the site. Our aim is therefore never to implement something new, but rather to build upon what is already there. Through our partners, we are able to gain a greater understanding of the place and the local people; invaluable incites which shape our design process.

Working outside of Europe has given us the opportunity to encounter people who lead totally different lives from our own. We hope that our projects will be a productive learning experience for the people we are collaborating with as well as for ourselves; each viewing the other from an outsider’s perspective, interested, and inspired to learn. For us, architecture is a means to exchange knowledge, using designing and making as a platform to discuss, re-think and innovate.

“The little world (nanhi dunya)

Nanhi Dunya is an educational charity in Dehradun

of today’s children can make or

that was founded by Leikh Raj Ulfat in 1946, with the

mar the big world of tomorrow.

ambition of working for the needs of children and

To help in the evolution of

the community. Based on Steiner education, the

complete, balanced, just, and

organisation has since developed its own character,

independent human beings, let

identity, and traditions. The charity runs twelve schools,

us live to serve the child.”

primarily for children who come from economically

— Professor Lekh Raj Ulfat

deprived backgrounds, including those with special needs. The schools, which collectively serve over a thousand children, are located in impoverished areas in and around the city of Dehradun, and families contribute what they can afford in order for children to attend. Whilst this ensures inclusion for all, it means that the organization is financially stretched, and its infrastructure is under pressure. We were introduced to the charity via a friend at the AA, who had worked with Nanhi Dunya and knew the people running it very well.

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Dehradun Capital of Uttarakhand

Elevation 440 – 557 m Climate 3.6 – 35.3°C Monsoon June – September Seismic Zone IV Population 580,000 Language Hindi, English & Gharwali

Chander Nagar

Dehradun

Uttarakhand

Place & Partner

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In April 2012, Ivar made a recce trip to Dehradun,

in London processing the information, and trying

to meet the organisation and understand the wider

to understand what type of project would have the

context of the place and people living there. Although

most positive impact. Although we were concerned

we wanted to leave certain things open until we

by the charity’s inability to articulate a clear brief,

were arrived in August, it was important to define

or to prioritise their needs, we agreed that our work

the general scope of the project – not only so that

would focus on renovating and improving a single

we could prepare before moving to Dehradun, but

school, Chander Nagar, with the aim of developing a

also so that we could communicate the intentions

design strategy that could be applied to the others

of the project to potential funders, who would want

in the future. The ambition was not only to renovate

to understand what they were contributing to and

Chander Nagar physically, but to revive the spirit of

why. Whilst Ivar was visiting the schools, meeting

the organisation as a whole, and help ensure its long-

the community, researching local materials and

term sustainability.

documenting building crafts, Alex and Clem were

India

Project Chander Nagar

July – September

WORKSHOP architecture

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Sourcing Funds

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The money raised for our projects is not only donated for charitable purposes, but also due to a belief in the importance of architecture motivated by social values. The funders, usually architecture firms, often express their desire to work in this way, and are thus enthusiastic to support us with our projects. From our point of view, being in some way ‘accountable’ to a range of different firms is very productive, and allows the local dialogues taking place on site to join an international discussion.

Our main targets for potential sponsors were small to medium sized architecture firms, who might be interested in supporting a small scale community-driven project – even if this isn’t the type of work they normally do. The document we prepared was a twenty-page A5 booklet that outlined the context, the charity, our aims, and our previous experience. We sent this out to more than sixty firms in the UK, Norway and India, and secured meetings with as many of them as possible. In general the Norwegian firms were more responsive than in the UK; we didn’t get any responses from the Indian firms that we contacted. Our previous project in the Philippines had just been published in MARK magazine, which was helpful in demonstrating the potential for publicity to our funders.

At the start of the process, the aim was to complete two projects during our time in India: a classroom and toilet facility (which would be funded by a number of different sponsors) and a craft shed, which would be built during the NTNU / AA Visiting school (funded

by Lund + Slaatto, with in-kind support from Ramboll UK). In the end, due to time constraints and difficulties in our relationship with Nanhi Dunya, we decided that the project would focus only on the craft shed – and agreed with the other sponsors that we would transfer their contributions to a future project. These firms were: David Chipperfield Architects, Rojo Arkitekter, Svein Skibnes Arkitektkontor, Øystein Thommesen, Madsø Sveen Arkitekter, Carl-Viggo Hølmebakk, Per Knudsen Arkitektkontor, Solem Arkitektur, Arc Arkitekter, Rambøll Trondheim, Arne Winther and Eggen Arkitekter.

Project Chander Nagar

WORKSHOP architecture

Funding Document

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Sourcing Funds

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Sponsor Statements

Lund + Slaatto As practicing architects we firmly believe that construction, spaces and buildings have the potential to change lives for the better. The work we engage in everyday has a wide focus, ranging from masterplanning down to solving details, but every so often one must lift one’s gaze up from the issues of the everyday to contemplate the wider context. Therefore Lund+Slaatto have begun to act as a sponsor for architectural outreach projects. In 2012 we gave our support to WORKSHOP architecture for Project Chander Nagar. We are very proud of the work that these young architects are doing. Through the work they are doing we hope to make a small contribution to improving the lives of people.

Sourcing Funds

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NTNU

Ramboll

The department of art and architecture at NTNU aims

Ramboll is a leading engineering, design and

to contribute to the development of high-quality,

consultancy company. From across 200 offices we

comprehensive and sustainable architecture through

apply our engineering skills and passion to a wide

our educational offerings in two main areas: the

range of projects around the world. We place trust

technical and environmental aspects of the design

in the power of design to create a better future. As

and use of buildings, and the preservation and

a company with a strong commitment to society,

development of existing built environments, where

Ramboll is obliged to contribute to improving the

history, cultural understanding and protection or

situation for some of the world’s most vulnerable

preservation are important aspects. Supporting the

people. We want to help where we can and also

students to initiate their own projects and research,

support non-profit organisations in relation to

NTNU has become a platform for students that wish

humanitarian aid and development projects.

to explore socially sustainable architecture abroad.

The Charity Task Group – organised by employees in the UK – supports many charitable projects in the local community. We provide the framework to allow any employee to initiate and maximise their charitable giving, through contributing planning or engineering services on a pro bono basis. These are opportunities to truly employ multi-disciplinary working alongside our core values of sustainability, protection of the environment and assisting local community activities. About 20 projects are initiated each year. This year the charity projects have taken our colleagues to Bangladesh, Pretoria (South Africa), Gambia, Romania, India, as well as many more closer to home throughout the UK. Through our relationships with WORKSHOP architecture we were pleased to support Project Chander Nagar with time and expertise. We believe that the best contribution we can make to charitable projects is at a hands-on level, where we can use our knowledge and skills to make active contributions to the project objectives.

Project Chander Nagar

August

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Defining the Project

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Our aim is not only to provide built infrastructure, but to use the building process to identify and address the underlying needs of our partner organization and the wider community. The ambition is to work collaboratively with local people, creating opportunities for them to develop skills, thereby empowering them to improve their livelihood after the completion of the building process. Supporting and building upon existing strengths within the organization and the community is vital for the sustainability of a project. The only way for our projects to be socially sustainable is if they are rooted in the actions of the people that we are building for. The intention is to strengthen local people, and build pride and a sense of responsibility towards the place to which they belong.

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Having decided to work at Chander Nagar, we spent the first few days re-assessing whether this was appropriate in light of what was possible in the time that we had available. Although we knew the project was going to be a challenge, especially given how much the school was struggling, we resolved to initiate a process with the parents, teachers and local community to encourage them uplift themselves. One key concern was how poor the existing buildings were, and how hard it would be to successfully renovate them in the few months that we would be there.

Working closely with the charity, we therefore decided to build a new classroom, including toilet facilities, in an area of the playground. The intial idea was to develop this as part of a larger master plan, that Nanhi Dunya could implement slowly over time as and when they received funding. As a part of the project, we agreed to design and build a lightweight structure that would initially function as a space to test materials and build mock-ups in and that could subsequently be used as an additional classroom for the school. Informed by our interactions with the local community, this space was to be designed and built with the NTNU / AA Visiting School participants, along with a team of local labourers and craftsmen.

Although improving the school’s toilets had been something we wished to address from the start, Nanhi Dunya did not indicate that this was their priority until much later in the project. During the course of our time in India we became aware that inadequate sanitation facilities is one of the most significant challenges facing the country’s education system 1 Only 46% of primary schools in Uttarakhand offer toilets for females, as opposed to 77% in Delhi, making the provision of toilets in schools a particularly pressing issue in the state which we were working in. Two months after we arrived, in October 2012, the

– particularly the lack of separate toilet cubicles for girls, which is one of the contributing factors to the low attendance of female students1. In terms of built infrastructure, focusing solely on improving or rebuilding the toilets might have had the most significant impact not only on the school, but also on members of the local community, many of whom depend on the sub-standard facilities currently in place. However, the

Indian Supreme Court ruled that the

breath of Nanhi Dunya’s needs and ambitions – from the provision of

denial of access to water and toilet

mid-day meals, to additional classroom space, to higher salaries for the

facilities in schools violates the right

teachers, to the incorporation of vocational training into the curriculum –

to free and compulsory education.

The government subsequently made it obligatory for all public schools to be equipped with adequate facilities within a six-month period.

made it difficult to identify toilets as the priority.

From our point of view, strengthening the community, was as important as the built outcome – and this was something we struggled to convince Nanhi Dunya of. Explaining the advantages of using the design phase to encourage the parents to engage in their children’s education, and the construction phase to offer the opportunity for skill development among local people, was a challenge; their perception of us as architects was that we should be able to provide as much built infrastructure as possible, using as little time and money as possible. We identfied that raising the teachers’ salaries would have a far greater impact on the school – much more than any built space we could provide. If the teachers were motivated, all they needed was a tree and a group of students to gather underneath it. Generating income to attract, retain and reward the women teaching the children was vital to the success of our project.

Defining the Project

Above Sketches and ideas mapped out during our initial conversations about the project.

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Project Chander Nagar

August – December

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Engagement

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Engagement is one of those over-used words in development jargon that has become difficult to define. For us, it is about getting to know the community we’re working with, finding ways to involve individuals, and ultimately transferring ownership of the project to them as users. It is also a way to help ‘flatten’ the relationship between us, who come with a formal western education and the people with whom we are working, who have practical skills and local knowledge. The combination of these different forms of insight is invaluable to the success of the project.

Engagement makes the process an even playing field, where each party understands the value of what they can bring to the table.

Our strategy for engaging the local community was two-fold: firstly through a series of events at the school, and secondly through a focused skill training program with three of the mothers. In addition to introducing ourselves, the purpose of our interactions with the parents was to understand better their socio-economic conditions, listen to their concerns and aspirations for their children’s education, and try to find out the ways in which they could contribute to the project. While we had mistakenly assumed that many of them would either be unemployed and therefore willing to work as labourers, or otherwise skilled in building crafts and therefore able to train others, most of the parents in fact were employed in professions unrelated to construction. Others looked down upon it, or weren’t used to doing physical labour. Consequently we found ways for parents to contribute through their own professions – selling the fruit and vegetables for the meals prepared throughout the Visiting School, or sewing the cushions for the interior of the building.

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The training program focused on wood-block printing,

Finally we wanted to engage the children in the

a traditional Indian craft that would both be a useful

process, and offer them something in return for their

skill for the mothers, and also easy to integrate into the

school playground being turned into a construction

children’s curriculum. One of Nanhi Dunya’s founding

site for three months! Their boundless energy and

principles is the importance of creativity and skills

warmth towards us, was a motivation throughout the

in a child’s education, and we wanted to address the

project. At the very start we photographed each one

school’s lack of facilities for these types of activities.

of them, printing the images on a piece of paper with

The three mothers we selected for the scheme spent

a blank space for them each to draw in. These were

nearly a month training at Chhaya, an ethical business

pinned in our studio to help us get to know the kids,

that supports vulnerable women, and then relocated

and for them to identify themselves as a community.

to the school to transfer their skills to the teachers and

Later we held film-screenings in the evenings, inviting

children. The intention was to develop the space built

not just the Chander Nagar students but other

during the Visiting School as a wood-block print studio

children from the area. Raising attendance levels was

to be used by the school and community to generate

something we wanted to help with during our time

additional income. For the mothers who were chosen

there, and we hoped that these kind of interactions

for the training program, all of whom happened to

and activities would create an energy in the school

be Muslim, the experience of spending time outside

– enthusing the children, and making them more

of their homes and working independently was very

engaged.

positive.

While these interactions with the community were very

It was clear from the beginning that empowering

productive as independent events, they could have

the teachers was vital to the long-term prosperity

been organised within a more planned framework –

of the school – as it was their energy, dedication

providing us with a clearer sense of what we wanted

and enthusiasm (or lack thereof) that would make

to learn from them, how we should follow up, and

the biggest difference to the children’s learning.

the ways in which the outcomes could feed into the

Negligence and absenteeism among teachers in

design.

India’s public schools is a major problem; surveys show that 25% of teachers in public schools were absent during unannounced visits, and among those who were present only half were engaged in teaching1.

Although Nanhi Dunya takes small contributions from parents, and so officially is a fee-paying school, it suffers from similar problems. Apart from the Principle, who has been there for more than twenty years, most of the teachers are very young and inexperienced; they train on the job at Nanhi Dunya before moving on to better paid positions elsewhere. In addition to trying to generate income to pay them better, our challenge was to provide spaces that worked for the teachers and would make them enjoy their time at the school. As well as observing how they worked day to day, we conducted design workshops to discuss their needs – sketching out ideas on paper, and setting up ideal furniture configurations in the playground.

1 Kremer et. al., 2005, and The PROBE survey 1999.

Engagement

Top One of the Visiting School participants working with the mothers we had trained in wood-block printing, finalising the design for the interior space.

Above Girls being taught how to mix ink by one of the mothers, during a wood-block print class.

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Project Chander Nagar

WORKSHOP architecture

Top Some of the designs for the wood blocks drawn by the mothers, that were carved in Delhi.

Above One of the mothers showing her design for the woodblocks (opposite).

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Engagement

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Project Chander Nagar

WORKSHOP architecture

Top Discussing needs, hopes and design ideas with the parents.

Middle Mocking up configurations of classroom furniture with the teachers.

Above One of the mothers pointing out her son’s drawing during our initial meeting.

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Engagement

One of the father’s sketches from the workshop.

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Engagement

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Project Chander Nagar

September – October

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Research

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One of the pleasures of working abroad – particularly in a place like India – is the wealth of architectural traditions to explore and learn from.

The intelligence embedded in vernacular design, which has grown and evolved over centuries in response to climate, use and culture is something which we try to integrate into our projects. Our buildings are the result of an amalgamation of local traditions, our own architectural heritages, and our instincts as contemporary designers.

In parallel to our research into the innate capacity of the community, we spent a lot of time investigating local building materials and construction methods.

As in all our projects, we were keen to reinterpret vernacular traditions to create a contemporary architecture that is grounded in the local, whilst able to address today’s needs and aspirations.

Most of Dehradun’s historic buildings are typical of the British colonial architecture found across India: solid brick structures with features that respond to the climate such as verandahs, steeply slanting roofs, deep eaves and good ventilation. Arches and vaults, which are adept at withstanding the region’s seismic activity, are very common. In old areas of the city, such as Paltan bazaar, small shops with timber shutters that open up across the whole width of the unit line the streets. Often these shutters are folded outwards, revealing rows of items for sale that are hung on the other side. The most frequently used colour for painted timber and concrete alike is blue – we never discovered whether this was auspicious in some way, or just very popular.

Project Chander Nagar

WORKSHOP architecture

Dehradun’s contemporary buildings, which are cropping up very rapidly as it transforms from a small regional town to a sprawling city, are in no way responsive to local conditions: concrete and steel buildings with glazed facades, and flat roofs with exposed rebar to allow for the easy construction of additional floors. Generic shopping malls on recently widened roads are challenging the city’s older markets, which are found in a network of narrow souk-like streets. Without ignoring the aspirations of these new buildings, we wanted to learn from the tacit wisdom of the older structures found in the city.

Throughout the first month of the project we went on a number of trips to research and source local materials – namely brick, stone and timber. In the end, much of our research into heavy building materials was not used as we designed a light-weight structure in order to avoid planning permission; the options for which were were either steel or timber. Given there were no vernacular steel traditions to learn from in Dehradun and the city had a wealth of precedents for the application of timber, we decided to develop a timber structure.

Although we were interested in using more abundant materials with less of an environmental impact, such as bamboo and earth, we didn’t have enough knowledge or experience using these to alleviate the charity’s concerns about the lifespan of a more ‘natural’ building. This is something we’re keen to address in our next project, through an extensive period of research and testing. We were, however, successful in our aim to use only local merchants, thereby supporting small independent traders. Some of the shop keepers we met became very supportive of the project, providing materials either free of charge, or at a discounted price. Whilst our intention was to boost the local economy, we were also happy to come across this type of generosity, and tried to encourage the community to support each other as much as possible rather than depend on the shortterm financial input that our project was providing.

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Research

A series of material samples collected and documented throughout the project.

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Timber props and exposed brickwork of a building under construction.

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Research

Local building expert, Kapil Sanghi explaining the need to tie the corners of brick buildings for seismic stability.

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Project Chander Nagar

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Top A local carpenter sharpening his tools.

Above Logs of eucalyptus at a Dehradun timber yard.

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Research

Top A local carpenter assembling a carved timber frame.

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Above The carpenter’s workshop.

Project Chander Nagar

Intricate carving on a timber door frame.

WORKSHOP architecture

Decorative carved timber eave trimming.

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Research

A dry stone wall typical in older rural houses.

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A female labourer passing a bowl of stones to a mason.

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Research

Rain Protection Design responses to the heavy monsoon rain include awnings over the top of windows that act as ‘eyebrows’, protecting the openings below. This one features decorative tin which has been cut away to form an intricate pattern around the edges.

Water Drainage Some flat-roofed brick buildings have solved the issue of water drainage with a built-in metal channel that allows the water to run off the building. This solution is durable and can not be dismounted and stolen.

Indoor/ Outdoor Spaces Wide-spanning brick arches rendered with pigmented plaster.

This colonial-era building is located in an abandoned overgrown site in central Dehradun.

These arches span a 8m wide outdoor/indoor space. In this climate these spaces function as buffer zones for the extreme heat and cold.

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September – October

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Design Process

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The name of our studio – WORKSHOP architecture – is indicative of our collaborative approach to design, and the way in which we try to ‘think with our hands’.

By physically testing ideas at 1:1 on the site, in such a way that people can interact with them, we try to communicate form and scale directly in order to understand how this will shape use – for our own benefit as well as the building’s future users’.

The nature of community participation in the design process is something that the studio is exploring with each project. Our ambition is to create an overall framework – in terms of the structure and the process of making – which the community can act upon. Judging, however, where our input should end and their contribution should start (not to mention how to choreograph this process successfully) has been difficult. In this particular case, the NTNU/ AA Visiting School which we led in the middle of the process, became the focus of the project. Democratic design within a group including the three of us, fifteen participants, and three engineers – with the strong input of the client and a local contractor – was of course challenging, but incredibly rewarding. Having been on site for two months prior to their arrival meant that we had gathered a significant amount of research and ideas that could be implemented in the rapid design phase. However, to a large extent the project was completed in two weeks, demonstrating the effectiveness of working intuitively with a lot of energy and enthusiasm.

Our original brief was to design two classrooms, that could be opened into one larger space, with a toilet attached. We explored this in the context of a master plan, which proposed the continuation of the existing buildings around the edge of the plot, creating a large open courtyard in the middle that would protect the school’s beautiful mature trees. Our first design iteration, which we presented formally to the charity’s trustees and the contractor that we had engaged for the project, proposed a one story building with a breezeway acting as an entrance into the courtyard. This open space at ground level, reminiscent of the traditional ‘dog trot’ typology in the US, also functioned to separate the classrooms from the toilets. Additional space was provided in the roof cavity, which spanned the length of the 1 An English portmanteau originating from two Hindi words ‘Bahar’ (indoors) and ‘Andar’ (outdoors)

building, and could be used as a staff room and community meeting area. Verandahs1 ran along the front and back of the structure, creating a shaded walk way that would be cool in the summer, and protected from the heavy monsoon rains.

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Top A sketch elevation of the first iteration, showing the open breezeway dividing the classroom from the toilets.

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Design Process

An early exploration of a shallow barrel vaulted brick structure.

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The main criticisms that we received were in regards to the location of the toilet and the building as a whole; the former was deemed too close to the classrooms, and should in fact have been located on the other side of the plot according to an ancient Hindu architectural doctrine called the Vastu Shastra* and the latter was viewed as taking up too much of the school’s open space. Accordingly, we moved the building backwards towards the road, and decided to rebuild the toilets where they were, using the existing septic tank and improving the cubicles.

Roughly three weeks after this original presentation the contractor informed us of ‘set back’ regulations which stipulate the amount of open space that must be left around the edge a plot. The set back is determined by the overall size of the plot and what it is used for, in our case this amounted to 7.5m on the two sides that ran along roads, and 4.5m on all other sides. The existing buildings had been built before these rules were introduced; the only space available for our new structure was a small area right in the middle of the plot. In light of this, the charity proposed an alternative – the demolition of one of the existing buildings and the erection of a new structure with MDDA approval for a ‘re-roofing’ permit. Although we were concerned about demolishing any of the school’s built infrastructure, however run down it was, this seemed like the only feasible option and so we proceeded to adapt our designs for 2 Hindi, meaning strong and permanent.

the new location. The concept was the same as it had been at the start – a ‘pukka’2 brick volume at ground level, with thick walls containing storage

3 Hindi, meaning light and temporary.

and child-sized spaces, and a ‘kutcha’3 timber framed structure on top.

This sal wood frame would project over the front of the building, and extend down to the ground to create a walk way connecting the new building to the adjacent classroom. It would also extend to the right, creating a new roof for the renovated toilets. As a design, it offered a very intelligent model for how to create an additional story above existing brick buildings – something Nanhi Dunya could emulate in many other schools.

*

The Vastu Shastra is an ancient Hindu doctrine defining a certain set

North-west Vaayavya

North Uttar

North-east Eshanya

of principles on which architectural designs should be based.

East Purab

West Paschim

South-west Natruthya

South Dakshin

South-east Aagneya

Design Process

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At the point when we had finalised the drawings for this modified design, our attention shifted to the Visiting School, and the idea of a light-weight structure (not requiring planning permission) that would serve as a workshop space to test materials and mock-ups during the construction phase of the main project, and subsequently as a multi-functional space for the school and wider community. Informed by the success of a semi-exterior space at one of Nanhi Dunya’s other schools, which could be easily transformed to accommodate a range of functions, and was climatically pleasant to be in, the students’ brief was defined as a ‘pavilion’ that could house craft activities such as carpentry and woodblock printing. Integrated storage that would allow valuable things to be locked in the otherwise open structure was a key feature of the design, as was a cladding system that would create a sense of enclosure, whilst retaining a visual connection with the playground and maintain proper ventilation. Surrounded by mature trees, the structure had to respond to its surrounding – extending out between trunks at the front, and around a tree at the rear.

Advice and input was garnered by a number of visitors to the site during the design phase, including Anshu Sharma from SEEDS, and Gaurav Raheja and Sanjay Chikermane from IIT Roorkee. One significant impact on the design was Anshu’s suggestion to install a ‘Raniket’ roof system, rather than the ubiquitous corrugated tin sheets. This system, which uses rolls of flat tin laid on plywood sheets and then screwed sideways onto battens running down the slope of the roof, not only creates a timber ceiling underneath (advantageous aesthetically and in terms of acoustic insulation) but also avoids compromising the water-tightness of the tin with vertical perforations. This again, was intended to act as a prototype to be implemented in Nanhi Dunya’s other schools, many of which suffered from badly insulated and leaky roofs.

Mock-ups had allowed us to test various construction methods, such a lime mortar, which we planned to use during the Visiting School, and to refine in the main project. Two weeks after the students left however, when we were completing their structure and finalising the detailed drawings of the new classroom, we received new information from the charity – that demolition would not be possible under a re-roofing permit, and we would have to build in front of the set-back zone after all. Given how delayed the project already was, and what a bad solution simply moving the existing design forward by 4.5m would be, we decided to abandon the second phase of the project. Although it was a very difficult decision in terms of letting the community down, the communication difficulties we were experiencing with Nanhi Dunya showed no sign of abating, and ending the project seemed the most responsible thing to do.

We were keen to see the pavilion, by this point re-named as the ‘Chander Nagar Rangshala’, completed and used by the community and decided to focus our energy on this during our remaining few weeks in Dehradun.

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The mock-up wall that we built to test a number of things, including lime mortar,

Ivar engaging the children through a space

jali brick work, and the insertion of timber elements within the structure.

making exercise with bamboo and fabric.

Design Process

Top Testing out three-dimensional spaces during the Visiting School.

Above Using our bodies to check the proportions of the building section.

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Design Process

The site plan of the school, highlighting the structure we built, which was nestled between trees at the top edge of the playground.

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Axometric view of the structure from the rear, showing the flat tin ‘Ranikhet roof’ and the rear plinth, which extends around an existing tree.

Short Section

Design Process

Front Elevation

53

Back Elevation

Project Chander Nagar

October – November

WORKSHOP architecture

54

oundation

ame

adding

Construction Foundation Foundation

55

Slab

Frame

Frame

Roof

Roof

Slab

Taking on the roles of contractor, procurer and labourer helped us to establish an intimacy with the materials that we were using – understanding where they come from, how much their price fluctuated during a project, how much they weigh, and what they smell like.

Frame

Foundation

Frame

Slab

Slab

Roof

Roof Cladding

Frame Roof

Roof Cladding

Cladding

Furniture

Furniture

The main bulk of theFurniture construction took place in less that two weeks Cladding

Furniture

during the Visiting School – thanks to the skills and energy of the people involved. While the students and Ramboll engineers learnt a lot from the local craftsmen and community members with whom they were working, they also set an example for the local people – toiling away from early in the mornings until late in the evenings. This mutual exchange was what made the project so rewarding, and the bond between everyone involved by the end of the process was incredibly strong. Each person

Cladding

Furniture

Furniture

bought something different to the table, whether it was the sheer strength of the Norwegian ex-army boys, the linguistic and cultural translation offered by the Indian students, the attention to details possessed by some participants, or the high spirits and humour demonstrated by others.

Setting up a kitchen on the site was one of the best decisions we made; hot, fresh food and tandoori-baked bread helped us through even the most stressful and exhausting moments.

As in other phases of the project, the most significant challenge we faced during construction was ineffective communication with the organisation, resulting in indecision and delays. Whilst we tried to protect the participants from some of the tension, it was important to explain what was causing the hold-ups, rather than hide what was going on. Delays with material deliveries were another cause of frustration amongst us all, and we learnt to be more prepared in terms of scheduling – important on any construction site, particularly so in India!

Having to design details as the building was under construction was slightly frantic and sometimes resulted in mistakes. One of the most significant was the fact that the distance between the frames was slightly too wide for a plywood sheet to span, meaning that we had to come up with a complex pattern of plywood sheets for the roof. On the other hand, working at this pace after a period of design procrastination was very refreshing for us, and it was amazing to see how resolved the finished building was in the end. In many ways, this was probably the most exciting part of the project – and certainly generated the most interest among the wider community. This was the moment when people understood that we were here to work hard and get things done.

Project Chander Nagar

1

WORKSHOP architecture

Foundation Reinforced concrete ring-beam; metal footings set into concrete columns; brick retaining walls between columns.

56

Construction

1 Digging the trench for the ring-beam.

57

2 Setting up the plywood formwork for the concrete columns.

3 Positioning the metal footings before

5 Brick retaining walls built between

pouring the final part of the column.

the columns.

4 Laying the bricks for the retaining walls.

Project Chander Nagar

2

WORKSHOP architecture

Slab Infill material inside retaining walls; rebar mesh; cast concrete slab.

58

Construction

1 Shoveling infill material.

2 Compacting the infill material.

59

3 Propping up the rebar mesh with a broken stone.

4 Smoothing the front extension with a float.

5 The slab curing.

Project Chander Nagar

3

WORKSHOP architecture

Frame Timber frames slotted into metal footings at the base and tied together with a beam at the top.

60

Construction

1 Jigs used to measure the angles during the assembly of the frames.

2 Partially assembled frame lying on the ground.

61

3 Completed frames stacked and treated with neem oil.

5 Working late into the night to install all the frames.

4 The first frame installed at the center of the structure.

Project Chander Nagar

4

WORKSHOP architecture

Roof Plywood sheets resting on the frames; timber battens screwed into plywood; flat rolls of tin screwed sideways into timber battens.

62

Construction

63

1 Working out how to bend the tin.

2 Screwing the plywood sheets onto timber beams.

4 Lifting the plywood sheets onto the roof.

3 Metal benders shaping the flat tin sheets to fit around the battens.

5 Positioning the tin sheets around the battens.

Project Chander Nagar

5

WORKSHOP architecture

Cladding Timber slats screwed onto battens set within the structural frames; steel cable cross-bracing attached in two of the bays.

64

Construction

65

2 Evenly spaced slats.

3 Suspending fabric in one of the bays.

4 Printed fabric hanging over the slats.

5 Steel cable cross-bracing in one of

1 Screwing in the sal wood slats.

the back bays.

Project Chander Nagar

6

WORKSHOP architecture

Furniture Sink, workbench, shelves and platform installed – ready for occupation!

66

Construction

67

1 A carpenter notching the joints for the furniture frames.

2 Treating the finished platform boxes with neem oil.

4 Some of the completed furniture in the space.

3 Pouring the concrete slab around the sink cavity.

5 Children sitting on shelves slotted within the timber frame.

Project Chander Nagar

WORKSHOP architecture

68

DETAILS C

E

D

F

A

Construction

B

69

Project Chander Nagar

A

WORKSHOP architecture

Steel Footing Custom-designed steel footings, that were fabricated by a local merchant, and painted by us to protect them from rust. Short lengths of rebar were tied to the bottom, to increase the amount of material submerged in the concrete columns (in response to a concern that they were too short).

70

Construction

B

Lintel Timber beam notched into the top member of the frame, and screwed into the vertical member of the frame.

71

Project Chander Nagar

C Reinforcement Angles Custom-made flat steel reinforcement angles, painted black, and bolted to the highest point of the timber frames on either side.

D Perpendicular Joint Joint to connect two members perpendicular to each other – used between the beams and the columns.

Two 2”x2” lengths, notched out at the joint, slotted together, and bolted with a 10mm diameter bolt.

WORKSHOP architecture

72

Construction

E Extension Joint Joint to connect two members in-line – used to lengthen beams and lintel.

Two 2”x2” lengths tapered at the end, overlapped, and bolted with three 10mm diameter bolts.

F Angled Joint Joint to connect slanting members – used at the rear of the structure.

One notched 2”x2” and one tapered 2”x2”, slotted together, and bolted with two 10mm diameter bolts.

73

Project Chander Nagar

WORKSHOP architecture

Furniture The furniture design addressed the need to store and lock things in the otherwise open structure, and was informed by local precedents that we had observed in shops and homes. The space was divided into two zones, with a sink and workbench at one end for ‘messy’ activities such as painting, carpentry, and chai preparation, and a raised platform at the other for gathering, reading classes, sewing and so on. The raised platform was originally intended to be a fixed element attached to the frame of the building, but was later designed as four free-standing boxes that could be stacked or removed altogether – ensuring maximum flexibility in the space. Built-in shelves between the bays adjacent to the raised platform can be used as desks to work at, or for sitting on. We also made three tables for wood block printing, two at a height suitable for adults, and one for children. Most of the furniture was made by a skilled carpenter who spoke little English, meaning we had to produce a full set of technical drawings that communicated our intent. In contrast to the earlier phase of the project, when we were producing construction drawings literally minutes before they were required on the site, we had to run through every last detail of the furniture design and sign off each drawing before the carpenter and his team started work. While this was undoubtedly a more efficient and less chaotic way of going about things, it made it more difficult for the carpenter to participate in the design process.

74

Construction

D

75

C

B

A

Project Chander Nagar

WORKSHOP architecture

76

A Storage Unit A Boxes for raised platform with storage drawer beneath. Two units in total with different partitioning.

Framework with plywood & shelf cm

h

nc

.1i

53

34cm 13.4inch

5 13

Framework m .5c 58 nch i 23

m 0c

12

11 7

cm

46

h

nc

.2i

47

in

ch

cm

3 12

h

nc

.4i

48

4cm 1.6inch

1.8mm PLYWOOD

9mm PLYWOOD

6cm 2.36inch

6cm 2.36inch 135cm 53.1inch

6cm 2.36inch

Construction

77

B Storage Unit B Boxes for raised platform with flip down cupboard doors at the back, and trap doors at the front.

m .5c 66 inch .2 26

m 5c 13 inch .2 53

1 47 20c .2 m inc h

Framework with plywood & lids

54cm 21.3inch

53.8cm 21.2inch

3 12 1.5c .4 m inc h

Framework & interior plywood

Project Chander Nagar

WORKSHOP architecture

78

C Table Joint Work tables which can be latched

cm 90 ch in 5 3

9 35 0cm inc h

9 35 0cm inc h

68cm 26.8inch

cm 90 ch in 35

68cm 26.8inch

together to form one longer unit.

m 0c 18 nch i 70

m 0c 18 nch i 0 7

Construction

79

D Sink & Desk Units Work bench unit, with cupboards underneath. The sink is installed in a cast concrete slab at one end.

cm 110 inch .3 43

84cm 33.1inch

79.7cm 31.4inch

cm 7.7 16 inch 66

6 24 2cm .4 inc h

30cm 11.8inch

28cm 11inch

3 14 7.4c .7 m inc h

Project Chander Nagar

‌

WORKSHOP architecture

80

Spending Money

81

We endeavour to make buildings that are appropriate in term of materials, scale, construction – and budget. Bringing money to economically impoverished places carries great responsibility, and we try to spend project funds in a way that will create long-term benefits rather than provide short-term solutions.

The project was never about making a building as cheaply as possible; it was about using the building process to invest in skills and crafts which are rapidly dwindling in India – something we always understood we would have to pay for. For us, cultural and social value is of equal importance to monetary value; in terms of materials, we try to consider the embedded environmental costs as well as the actual trading price.

As we continued to fundraise throughout the early stages of the project, the total budget expanded over time. A generous donation from Lund+Slaatto specifically for the Visiting School in late September allowed this project to evolve from a temporary shed to a permanent space. It also enabled us to train the mothers, who would be the first users of the Rangshala as a studio space, in wood block printing.

We were keen to invest in something that could generate income for the school and the community in the future, and based on earlier conversations with Nanhi Dunya, understood that they would embrace the commercial potential of the Rangshala. However, for a charity with such meagre income, it was hard for them to see how much we were spending on this aspect of the project when there seemed to be so many other ‘more urgent’ needs – and it remains to be seen if they will operate the Rangshala as a place of economic activity. Ideally, the budget should have been discussed very honestly at the start of a project so that a mutual agreement could have been reached about how funds were to be allocated.

Although being in control of spending is important, it would have been useful if we had had fewer direct financial interactions with the community. Distributing wages once construction started, for example, inevitably transformed people’s perception of us as initiators and organisers to wealthy and powerful individuals – and therefore independent from Nanhi Dunya. Whilst in this particular case it was not necessarily a bad thing to keep a little distance from the charity, normally we would prefer to appear unified with our partners, so that our departure doesn’t disturb any of the processes that we have initiated.

Project Chander Nagar

WORKSHOP architecture

82

Total Budget

Material

Labour

Tools

Mock-ups

Transport

₨

379,722

67,270

55,923

43,975

11,916

kr

39,395

6,979

5,800

4,560

1,235

£

4,459

790

657

516

140

Total

₨

694,684

kr

72,062

£

8,156

Spending Money

Consultation

Design & Admin

Block Printing

33,000

45,322

57,556

3,422

4,702

5,969

387

532

675

83

Receipts from the course of the project.

Project Chander Nagar

‌

WORKSHOP architecture

84

Communication

85

As for all architects, good communication is vital to the success of our projects, and is one of the biggest challenges we face. Working in countries and communities where English (not to mention Norwegian!) is a second language, and the culture is unfamiliar, presents barriers which have to be surmounted in range of ways.

Face-to-face interactions are invariably the most efficient way to communicate, particularly among parties that don’t share a common first language. Direct encounters with the parents and community were vital for engagement to take place, and ensuring these took place usually involved going from door to door inviting people to events in person.

Although we had a number of volunteers to help us translate on these occasions, we didn’t employ a translator to be with us on site all the time.

The resulting lack of clarity in our interactions with people on a daily basis was not only frustrating, but became exhausting over the course of the project.

Whilst at the beginning of the project we organised relatively formal design presentations with the charity, which were very effective at raising problems and concerns in a direct way, we unfortunately couldn’t continue with these as Nanhi Dunya’s leaders travelled abroad for a significant period of time. The resulting email correspondence was problematic in terms of delayed response time and incomplete processing of information. On their return, we resumed meeting in person but the momentum of the project was such that it was hard to plan and prepare for considered design presentations. Whilst we knew what type of tools communicate most successfully to a non-architectural audience – models, perspectives showing context and people, cartoons breaking down processes, diagrams rather than text – the sheer quantity of logistical work involved in preparing for the Visiting School, keeping track of the accounts, blogging etc often prevented us from sitting down and preparing these.

By the end of the project many of our meetings were taking place at our house. We initially thought that it would be a good idea to talk over a cup of chai in the evening away from the hubbub of the school and building site, however, in retrospect it would have been preferable to hold meetings in a neutral location that retained some formality and didn’t infringe on anyone’s personal space. Overall, this was probably the most difficult part of the project, and developing strategies to cope with communication from the beginning – or at least being more aware of what to watch out for – would have helped us a great deal.

Project Chander Nagar

WORKSHOP architecture

Top Clem presenting to Nanhi Dunya and

Above A volunteer, Rishu, helping

its Trustees.

us to communicate with parents

Left One of the sketch models we made – something people could interact with, and easily grasp.

during a workshop.

86

Communication

The full set of drawings we made to communicate with a carpenter, who didn’t speak any English.

87

Project Chander Nagar

WORKSHOP architecture

88

Email Correspondence Subject Sophie, Ivar and Alex

we started a building process of a study for street chil-

From Alexander Furunes

dren. Children who has parents and a home to sleep

To Alok Ulfat

but have to be in the street working or begging to get

Cc Ivar Tutturen, Sophie Ramsbotham

their own food. Their parents live in the slum and have

Date 24.10.11

no money to send their children to school. The center provide everything they need so they can follow the ordinary Philippine school, they get food, school uni-

Dear Alok, We have heard so much good things about you, and

forms and help with their home work it also becoming a social arena for playing and creative projects.

your thoughts for the new center sounds really inter-

Our part in the project was to organize the building

esting! And we are looking forward to hear more about

process. We involved the children’s parents in develop-

your ideas and passion for this project. We are really

ment of the center and later in the building. Trough

excited about the project and think it is very interest-

workshops, meetings and material testing we came to

ing to take part in this development and find ways your

a final result. The effects of involving the parents were

philosophy can merge together with the architecture.

bigger than we thought. The learned new skills, they

Hopefully we can create an active forum to use differ-

felt committed to the building and to each other, they

ent methods like workshops, conversations and the

showed that people from the slum also can do a great

knowledge of the place to define the architecture and

job and last but not at least the effect it had on the

make a collective understanding and passion for it.

children. They were so proud of their parents and they

It is important to get an overview and understanding

cold feel that their parents cared about them and their

of the intensions, possibilities, culture etc., so we can

future. The project is not just a project anymore; it is

work out plans that can fit to the purpose. In this way

people and their lives.

we can make a physical environment that can con-

Blogg: www.projecttacloban.blogspot.com.

tribute to creative processes and make places where

Together we can find possibilities and what kind

people feels comfortable so they express them self in

effect they can have in this project. Enabling people to

the best way.

contribute and get involved - to see how we “indirect-

After the first glimpse of the project we thought it

ly” or directly can contribute to the local environment

would be interesting to start looking at the center as

around. Architecture has many different layers and it

a hole, so all the thoughts and the possibilities can

can contribute in many ways. The process of creation

be taken care of. In this way we can make a strategy

has a lot of possibilities. The way we built it and what

of how to develop the center from start to finish, and

kind of material we use and what kind of craftsman-

find good ways to use the site so all the activities can

ship where does the money go? Etc…..There are many

fit together. The center can then develop through a

aspects to the design and building of a building- the

process where the most important parts can be cre-

history, the passion and the thoughts of the one who

ated first.

have participated. The people who have made it pos-

We, Alex Furunes and Ivar Tutturen, are both in

sible, the craftsmanship, the material all this will give

the 5th year of our architectural education in Norway

the place an atmosphere! And we want to create a

and we want to use this project as a case for our last

good atmosphere!

semester in the university in Trondheim. We are so

It would be really great to hear from you about your

happy that Sophie let us take part in this very interest-

thoughts and visions for the project, or ideas for how

ing project.

it can develop, and to get an understanding of the

We have a time frame to follow in the university so

context and scale of the initiative.

we think maybe it is best that our role in the beginning is to help develop the project and make a strategy for

Best regard from Alexander Furunes and Ivar Tutturen

how it could be built.

We did a project in the Philippines 2010-2011 where

…

Communication

89

Subject Questions/Things to resolve this week

We need to get as much specific information as

From Clem Blakemore

possible in regards to the budget for the funding

To Alok Ulfat

document:

Cc Alexander Furunes, Ivar Tutturen, Sophie Ramsbotham Date 2.4.12

Hello Ivar, Alok and Sophie, Nice to speak to you Ivar, nice to see you Alok.

We’re sad we’re not there with you! We have been working on the funding document and will send that

a) construction • laborer’s wage per day

• cost per cubic meter of concrete • cost per septic tank etc.

• cost per timber stud / per batch of bricks etc.

• cost to submit a planning permission request (how long does this take?)

• cost of insurance on the construction site (we need to be clear about who is accountable; presumably

to you tomorrow for feedback.

Nanhi Dunya?)

In the meantime, here are some questions that we need to clarify over the next few days. It might be easiest to make written responses under each of the questions... but lets try and speak tomorrow as well?

b) living • cost to run a car per month

• cost to rent a room per month (even if we live in the house, we need to account for this on the funding

1. Client Group Who exactly are the clients; why is it not the children currently attending the schools?

document) • cost for food per month 5. Future

We would like to build something that serves the local community first and foremost, rather than actors

If no other groups from the AA come after us, how will the project be completed?

coming to Dehra Dun for short-term drama workshops.

2. Program What exactly is the program; is it a theater for the school children?

Even if there is a long-term ‘big vision’, we have to know what the ‘first phase’ is. This has changed a

We are concerned about starting something new from scratch: there is obviously already a lot of infrastructure which Nanhi Dunya is already struggling run...how does the board intend to maintain another new project?

Things to achieve this week:

number of times over the past few months.... but it’s impossible to try to raise funds without knowing this.

Take photos that we can use for perspectives, to make renderings etc...

(We now need clear information about square footage, capacity, etc.)

What is the need that we, as architects, will be

Remember to take a photograph together for the funding document (The full board of Nanhi Dunya, Alok, Sophie and Ivar)

responding to, and hopefully resolving? As soon as we

Map available building materials or local build-

know this, we will start to feel passionate about the

ing techniques that might be interesting to develop.

project. Is a theatre the most valuable thing we could

Where would we buy these? Are there more local busi-

contribute to this community?

nesses we should focus on?

3. Relationship with Nanhi Dunya Is the Nanhi Dunya board aware of our involvement,

Have a workshop with the children - or the teachers and parents of the children - who will be using the the-

and 100% supportive of it? Who are the board mem-

atre. What resources are they lacking at the moment,

bers, and can we include them in correspondence

what would type of space would they like?

from now on?

If we are building a fee-paying school for drama

Visit craftspeople that Alok has in mind that we might collaborate with.

workshops, on what basis are we asking people in the UK to donate money? Is the intention that it’s profit-

Take lots of footage for the film that we can then use on Kick Starter. Think that’s it for now!

able; if so is there a business plan?

4. Funding

Speak tomorrow, Alex and Clem

Is Nanhi Dunya able to raise any extra money for the project? If we raised £10000 could they raise £5000?

…

Project Chander Nagar

WORKSHOP architecture

90

Subject Re: Questions/Things to resolve this week

Subject Chander Nagar Update

From Alexander Tutturen

From Clem Blakemore

To Alok Ulfat

To Alok Ulfat, Kiran Goyal

Cc Clem Blakemore, Ivar Tutturen,

Cc Alexander Furunes, Ivar Tutturen, Kapil Sanghi,

Sophie Ramsbotham

Kshipra Uniyal

Date 5v.4.12

Date 4.10.12

Please Alok Answer me and Clem by writing.

Its important to keep the communication going if we are going to come next year.

Best, Alex

Dear Kiran and Alok, Namaste from Dehradun - hope you’re both enjoying your time away! We just wanted to update you about our progress: Planning Permission We had a meeting last week with Kapil about the planning regulations, and also visited the MDDA our-

…

selves yesterday to meet with Rishu’s father’s friend, who works there. Attached to this email is a drawing of the Chander Nagar site showing the extent of the ‘set-back’ rules - the area around the edge of the site on which it’s forbidden to build. These measurements are based on: 1. the size of the plot

2. the fact that it is a school Apparently the set back rule is intended to ensure there is adequate ventilation between buildings, and to prevent fires from spreading - it seems a bit over the top, but that’s the way it is! We have also marked on (in the darker red) the 20cm that will allow for potential road-widening in the future, as Cheelgh Ghar Road is only 8.8m wide (and will need to be 9m in the future).

Taking into account Alok’s concern that the siting of our first proposal didn’t allow for enough of an open ‘playing field’ - we’ve moved the footprint back as far as is allowed. We’ve also reduced the footprint on each side, so that it adheres to the regulations.

It is vital that we are ready and prepared to start with the main building phase as soon as we’ve received approval from the MDDA. Nanhi Dunya will need to gather the additional information we need

Communication

to submit with the application; Kapil will help explain exactly what we need but this includes: • Proof of Ownership “Register Deed”

• PWD “Public Work Division” - measurements from boundary wall to the road

• Fresh Society Registration Paper for Nanhi Dunya

• NOC ‘No Objection Certificate’ from water, electricity, municipality

• Municipal Committee Receipt

Alok - could you help source some of these things

91

We are planning a big event at the end of the workshop, on Saturday 3rd November. The idea is that it´s a celebration of the ´Laboratory´that the students have built, as well as an opportunity to discuss and critique the main kindergarten project. We have invited a number of important people from Delhi, including someone from from CURE, and SEEDS. Aanchal Sodhani from the British Council will also be joining us. The plan is for them to arrive around lunch on the 3rd, have presentations/discussions in the afternoon,

once you’re back in Dehradun next week? It would be

a big meal with the community in the evening, and

really great if we could start preparing as soon as pos-

then they will stay the night and travel back to Delhi on

sible, so that the process doesn’t drag on and delay

the 4th. We will pay for their travel and accommoda-

things too much! Also - we were planning to wait until

tion, but it would be good if you could recommend a

Kiran is back before we submit the documents, as they

modest and nice hotel. It´s a real honor that they want

need her signature - but could Alok sign the papers on

to come up, as they´re very important people, so its

Kiran´s behalf?

important the day is planned really well!

Mock-ups

In terms of accommodation for the 15 students, I

We’d like to start making two mock-up brick walls

had a look around Avikal with Shivum the other day,

next week (starting Monday 8th October), at the same

and I think if we can get the two bathrooms ready in

time that we start building the brick kiln. It’s important

time, it will be perfect! Thanks for letting us use it. If

for us that we are active on site, and working with the

possible, it would be great to use the whole building

parents and craftsmen, as we continue to refine the

- so that we can separate sleeping and eating, as well

design and prepare the drawings for the MDDA. The

as make sure there is enough privacy... but we can talk

walls will be roughly 2m long, 2m high and 60cm wide

about this in person.

- they are marked on the plan in black. The kiln will be

We have asked Gur if he could provide breakfast

roughly 2.5m diameter, and is also marked on the plan.

and dinner for the students, to be eaten in the ground

Could you confirm before next week that you’re

floor of Avikal, but would like to cook lunches on site

happy for us to start constructing the mock-ups and

in Chander Nagar (possibly employing a mother to

the brick kiln, as it is very important that these are up

help assist a professional cook or Mina, if she is happy

and running before the start of the workshop on the

to do this).

22nd October!

Student workshop The idea for the workshop is to build a pavilion or shed structure (that does not require planning permis-

Sorry if this is too much information in one email but we thought you´d want to be kept informed about our plans.

Let us know if you have any questions - Kiran we

sion). This will be used as a laboratory space to test

can speak on the phone any time, and Alok we will see

materials, structures and building crafts for the new

you soon - give us a call when you´re back!

building. It will also act as a platform to engage the

Lots of love from Clem, Alex and Ivar

community in the work we´re doing.

Project Chander Nagar

WORKSHOP architecture

92

Subject Re: Chander Nagar Update

Subject Re: Chander Nagar Update

From Clem Blakemore

From Alok Ulfat

To Alok Ulfat, Kiran Goyal

To Clem Blakemore

Cc Alexander Furunes, Ivar Tutturen, Kapil Sanghi,

Cc Alexander Furunes, Ivar Tutturen, Kapil Sanghi,

Kshipra Uniyal

Kiran Goyal, Kshipra Uniyal

Date 6.10.12

Date 7.10.12

Dear Kiran,

Dear freinds

I’m not sure what number to reach you on, so

namaskar

haven’t called you yet!

But we just wanted to let you know that we had a

Thank God we are not makning the building due to the set backs or what ever they call it.

meeting with Alok last night - and are now reconsider-

Please make a map for the building according to

ing the existing buildings at the bottom of the site,

the new site.so that we can work on the planning

as the location for our new building. He told us that

permission.Any new school building has to be made

you’re in agreement with him, and we think it’s a very

earthquack prroof. So columns are important.

good idea as well:

We can start breaking things whjen we are positve

• it goes back to our initial idea of using what’s there

and get a green signal form MDDA.

• it leaves the playground nice and open

be possibilties to build further stories in the future.

(foundation etc) rather than starting from scratch

I am sure we need the basement and there should

• it will be simply and faster in terms of planning

good luck love

permission

We’d like to begin dismantling these buildings, as we continue designing, so will be starting next week.

We will make sure that Chitra is supported in relocating the students and setting up classroom in the unused rooms, and her office - so there’s as little disruption as possible.

Give me a call if you want to talk about anything!

Lots of love for now Clem, Alex and Ivar

pl dont mail me any thing as my internet is down.

Call me or meet me before 12 pm. a

Communication

Subject Re: Chander Nagar Update From Kiran Goyal To Clem Blakemore Cc Alexander Furunes, Alok Ulfat, Ivar Tutturen, Kapil Sanghi, Kshipra Uniyal, Sophie Ramsbotham Date 8.10.12

93

I trust you all but the board of trustees do feel little insecure.

Please tell Ashu to help you with the Bank.

Of course we also need to have the plans finished before I come back, so they will be ready to take to apply for the planning permission.

Please ask Alok to connect the Architech, Mr Inder Singh who has promised to help us with the mapping

My dear Clam, Alex,Ivar

and things we have to do to comply with Indian Law.

Namashkar

He will come and see the site and advise you how to

Thanks for your kind letter, and for your enthusiam

do the changes.

for the project.

Yes, I do agree with Alok about the location, and I’m pleased that you too think it is the best idea.

However, unfortunatley, before the buillding can be

When we start demolishing, we have to keep in mind the back wall of the classroom has remain as it is for the time being, because of a complicated problem concerning the boundary, Alok knows about this.

dismantled, we have to get the new planning permission! it is so much easier to get permission to replace

with all my regards and love Kiran

a building than to start on a virgin patch of land! We must take lots of pictures of the classrooms with chil-

I try to call you all many times but got no response may be I will call u in the morning

dren and without children and also maybe a litte video to show the goverment authorities that we really had the old building, and what we used it for.

I will be there in 10 days, and then I will immediately sign the papers and proceed with getting the planning permission, then we can take the old buildings down.

Ashu tells me that the contribution has not yet arrived in the bank, and the Board of Trustees is very concerned that the old classrooms should not be demolished before the funding arrives to make the new ones.

‌

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Subject Re: Chander Nagar Update

tractor - but as I think you have always understood,

From Clem Blakemore

this is not how we work. We realise that our desire to

To Alok Ulfat, Kapil Sanghi, Kiran Goyal, Vijay Goyal

involve the community fully in the process may have

Cc Alexander Furunes, Ashu Satvika Goyal,

been too ambitious given the circumstances, but we

Ivar Tutturen

still feel some valuable community participation would

Date 28.11.12

be possible if we had the time to manage things fully ourselves. It was on the basis of this type of community participation, that we were able to raise the

Dear Vijay, I hope you’re well - and have had a chance to read these emails. Things are now at a critical stage!

The architect, Inder Singh, came to the site yesterday - and reiterated what Kapil told us at the end of September: all new buildings need to be constructed in front of ‘set back’ zones around the edge of the property.

As we explained in our email to Kiran and Alok on 4th October (and in the drawing attached to that email) the set back along normal edges is 4.5m / 14.7ft; along edges that meet a road the set back is

money for the project. Given the time frame, and the fact that we are going to be absent for periods before we leave for good at the start of March, we don’t think the project is possible - unless the construction of the basic structure is underway by mid-December.

To clarify the situation, these are the options that have been discussed - our response to each proposal is written below:

1. We apply for a ‘re-roofing’ permit, demolish the building, and build on the existing site: • Somebody needs to find out if this exists and what

it will allow us to do. We would take on this respon-

7.5m / 24.6ft. This is due to the size of the plot, and the

sibility (indeed would prefer to) but it’s very difficult

fact that the land is designated as a school. It means

given we don’t speak Hindi.

the area on which you can legally build is right in the middle of the playground.

• This is therefore out of our hands, and we won’t do any more work on the designs before we have this

it would eat up the valuable playground space, and

information.

2. We renovate the existing buildings:

leave an unusable strip of land behind the back of

• This is what we originally planned to do once we

We all agree that this is very difficult to deal with:

the buildings. Please see the attached drawing to

decided to work in Chander Nagar, but we decided

understand the implications of building in front of the

that the quality of the existing structures was too

set-back zone.

low to make it worthwhile. Kiran today mentioned

We understood from Alok, after he visited the site

that the walls don’t have proper foundations.

on 5th October, that we could apply for what he called

• If we were to do a renovation project, we should

a ‘re-roofing’ or ‘renovation’ permit - which would allow us to demolish the existing classroom next to the toilets and build a new structure from the ground up.

It is now very urgent that we find out if this actually exists and, if so, what we can do under this category.

For example: • could we demolish the existing buildings?

• could we remove the front facade?

• could we build a second story?

• could we raise the level of the foundation?

We are now leaving Dehradun on the 15th Decem-

ber (in just over two weeks) - and we have decided that if the foundations are not underway before we leave, we unfortunately cannot continue with the project. Many architects would be happy to produce drawings, and hand over the construction to a con-

have been working on this from the start. It’s impossible to do an intelligent and sensible design in two weeks.

• We therefore do not think this is a valid possibility.

3. We build the structure in front of the set back zone: • We think this would be a very bad choice. The building would be like an tall island in the middle of the

playground. The open space would be used up, and the movement through the site would be hindered.

• We don’t’ think this is a valid possibility 4. We leave Chander Nagar and build on top of the Vikasnagar building: • This is what we proposed to do instead of Chander Nagar when we first arrived, but we feel now that

it would be a big mistake to move there, and start

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95

afresh. Again, we should have been concentrating

Subject Re: Chander Nagar Update

on the specific conditions of this site for at least a

From Clem Blakemore

month, and cannot just ‘adapt’ our existing design

To Alok Ulfat, Kapil Sanghi, Kiran Goyal, Vijay Goyal

in two weeks.

Cc Alexander Furunes, Ashu Satvika Goyal,

• We also need to focus on completing the pavilion before we leave in December

Ivar Tutturen Date 1.12.12

• We therefore don’t think this is a valid possibility.

5. We cancel phase two of the project, and concentrate on completing the Craft Shed: • If the ‘re-roofing’ permit isn’t an option, then this is

Dear Vijay, I’m sure you have spoken to Kiran, and perhaps

what we would like to do. There is still a significant

Alok, in the past few days about developments here in

amount of work to do on the pavilion (shelving,

Dehradun.

raised level at one end, workbenches / desks at the

Given how little time we have left, and the fact

other end, completing the roof, installing a sink,

that it is proving hard to find out the details about the

electrical and plumbing etc).

‘re-roofing’ planning permit - we sadly feel that it isn’t

• We want to finish this to a high level - and then

be involved in making it a really productive space:

possible to continue with the demolition and rebuilding of the classroom.

computer classes, film screenings, arts and crafts.

On top of the time constraints, lack of clear infor-

We also want to help you to make the wood block

mation and other practicalities - the working relation-

printing program profitable if this is something you

ship between all parties (us, Nanhi Dunya and Kapil)

want to take on?

has become very strained and unhappy. The general

• We would return to Dehradun in January to see this

atmosphere over the past month has been quite nega-

through, and give our time to make it run smoothly.

tive - to the point where we often feel as though we’re

We don’t want to abandon the second project, but

causing more problems than we’re solving. It’s very

unless we get the re-roofing permit, we just cannot

hard to work productively together, when many of the

see a way to make it work. We have other commit-

conversations between us break down into emotion-

ments from 2nd March onwards (in addition to three

ally charged arguments. There’s no point in blaming

weeks away in late January and early February), so

anyone, but acknowledge that this is the situation and

there’s no way we can stay longer. The original plan

not to continue struggling unhappily.

was to leave in December! We are very proud of the

We are very pleased with the Craft Pavilion, and

Craft Shed, and are determined to see it up and run-

would like focus our energy during the remaining time

ning in the way we imagined it.

completing this to a very high standard, and helping

We’re sorry if this sounds like some kind of ultima-

set up a program for it so that it becomes a really use-

tum, but we want to be really honest with you about

ful space for Nanhi Dunya. We want to do this care-

the situation. It seems as though a lot of the delays

fully, and with pleasure and happiness. The plan is to

with this project have been to do with bad commu-

complete this before we leave on the 15th December,

nication, and misunderstandings - which we’re trying

and then return in January, to help set up the classes

to improve. The architect is coming back tomorrow

for the Pavilion. We will also be preparing for an exhibi-

(29th) to survey the site, and run through the possibili-

tion and small book about the project during this time.

ties - and we’re looking forward to discussing these

We’re looking forward to seeing you on Wednesday

with you once you’re back on Wednesday morning

to resolve the remaining accounting, and talk through

(5th Dec).

all these developments.

I hope you understand, and know that we just want to make a beautiful building for - and with - the school

All our love from Chander Nagar, Clem, Alex, and Ivar

community. We can’t settle for a comprised version of this ambition.

Lots of love, Clem, Alex and Ivar

…

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November

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Occupation & Use

97

During the course of this project, we went through the process of registering as a charity in the UK. The application, and subsequent correspondence with our case officer, encouraged us to reflect about what our role as an organisation actually is. After running through a number of different possible ‘charitable purposes’ including the alleviation of poverty, the promotion of education, urban and rural regeneration, we eventually resolved that community capacity building best reflected our aims. With this in mind, it’s not only buildings that should be understood as the outcomes of our work, but the impact of the process on the people and the place.

Initially, when we decided to discontinue with the rest of the project, we felt frustrated by all the factors that had contributed to this decision, and with ourselves for having failed to surmount them. Looking back, however, over all our research (the desires of the parents, the needs of the teachers, the aspirations of the school, and the successful aspects of other schools), it became clear that what we had managed to address much of what we had set out to do. Observing the building in use, hosting wood-block printing classes and film-screenings for the children, was very satisfying, and has convinced us of the building’s potential to uplift the school.

Changing the structure’s name from the ‘craft shed’ to the Chander Nagar ‘Rangshala’ – a Hindi term deriving from the words ‘rang’ (colour) and ‘shala’ (school) which indicates a place of creative activity – helped to clarify the structure’s identity for the community, and to encourage them to take ownership of it. When we went back to Chander Nagar in early January, the school’s caretaker had placed matts and blankets on the raised timber platform; it is small transformations such as this that we’re looking forward to seeing more of as the structure is adapted over time.

There is some concern about maintainenance, given the exposed nature of the structure, and a number of people have commented on the ethical dilemma of using so much wood in a country which has no sustainable timber industry and rapidly depleting virgin forests. Whilst obviously we don’t want to contribute to the destruction of the natural environment, the advantages of timber as a beautiful, potentially renewable, material are compelling in a country being swallowed up by concrete, steel and glass.

Given how much the Visiting School participants and the engineers contributed to the project, it’s hard to say that the community made this happen for themselves. You have to look closer, at individuals and their relationships with those who came to work with them, to understand the impact that the project has had. Now that we have left Dehradun, it’s going to be hard for us to measure the long-term outcomes; what we do feel confident about, however, is that we have uplifted the community throught the introduction of new skills, different attitudes and a belief in the possibility of change.

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Morning assembly in front of the Rangshala.

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Occupation & Use

Children posing on the front plinth of the structure.

99

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The plinth extendiing between trees at the front of building.

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Occupation & Use

Looking through the wide openings at the front and rear of the building.

101

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Sunlight falling on the slats at the front.

102

Occupation & Use

Shadows cast from the slats on the concrete floor.

103

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Looking along the front steps.

104

Occupation & Use

The structure in late afternoon sunlight.

105

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Steel cable cross-bracing in one of the back bays.

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Occupation & Use

Built-in shelf / seat in a back bay.

107

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Child walking in front of the building.

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Occupation & Use

The structure seen from the back

109

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Top Nanhi Dunya girls practicing block printing on pieces of newspaper.

Below Learning how to mix the woodblock print colours.

110

Occupation & Use

Top Block printed fabric hanging over the slats of the structure.

Below One of the mother’s sewing machines placed next to a column.

111

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December

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Reflecting

113

Reflecting is an important part of our work and contributes to our learning experience, enabling us to improve with every project. The analysis contained in this book is the ‘first round’ of reflection: returning to projects over time to see how they are being used and adapted, will form a key part of our practice as it evolves. Given we will be working in so many disparate places, this will be particularly important if we are going to be accountable for what we build.

Gathering feedback from a range of people involved has helped us to see the project in an objective light, rather than simply from our own points of view. The following pages include contributions from a member of the community, the students and engineers who participated in the Visiting School, as well as an architect and an academic who were involved at the periphery of the project. We are always trying to balance the hands-on experience in the field with the broader context of how, where, and why we are working in the way that we do.

Although one of the main frustrations articulated by the students was the fact that the structure wasn’t completed by the time they left, in many ways this contributed to the success of the project. That the community and the organization took on the responsibility for finishing the building has ensured that they feel ownership and pride towards it; the aim is never to simply deliver aid in the form of a building, but to initiate change through architectural processes. One thing that we were frustrated by was our inability to explain to the community why we felt unable to start the second phase of the project.

Nanhi Dunya wanted to communicate this decision, on our behalf, and we can only hope that our position was explained clearly and honestly.

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Saurabh Diwakar

Saurabh is a seventeen year old boy, who lives opposite the school in Chander Nagar. He was curious about the project from the start, visiting us on a daily basis throughout the initial design

How did you hear about the project?

I first heard about the project from you people and thought I should do it. From my childhood I have loved

and research phases, and helping out in whatever

working with foreigners and that made up my mind.

way he could. When we started building, he took

What kind of expectations did you have in the

on the dual role of labourer and translator – and was absolutely indispensable from that point

beginning of the project?

on! He was incredibly dedicated to the project;

I thought this should be the turning point of my life.

his hard work and innate sense of what is fair,

I came to know about construction and building and

appropriate and wise were an inspiration.

such. If I want to build my house in the future, I can take care of construction work.

Are you thinking of working in construction in the future?

I think I am. It is not my main job but when I first took part in construction, I liked it. I wish to do construction if anyone offers me to.

How do you think the community reacted when we arrived?

The main feeling I have is that they are happy to see you people around. I like you people very much because you’ve been doing good work and not harming anyone, just building for the society. People came to know that everything is not only for money and we should help people in need. Also, it was an opportunity to get to know how to work if you have the feelings for working. So the people like you very much and they enjoy working with you.

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115

What does the school mean to the area? Did we make any changes by coming here?

When you arrived, the people in the area got attracted to the school and thought they can send their children to the school. People in India think foreigners are more familiar to work and they can read and write, so people can learn from them. The main idea is that if teachers and working staff are good, more and more students can come. The school has been here for a long time but it is not a strong base for students to come and learn how to read and write.

How about when we invited many foreign students for the Visiting School?

I liked them very much. They were trained and it was very easy to work with them. I felt like we were on the same level working together.

How about communicating with them?

Communication was easy. We only needed few words and reactions helped to communicate. Also, the students were friendly, talking to everyone, so it was Surabh working hard on the site.

easy to work together.

Since you had prior experience working with us before the students arrived, you had knowledge you could teach them. Did you learn anything new from the students in return?

I mainly learned things from Erling because he was so good in his work. We learned how to build our confidence. We thought about the main reasons why we are working and learned that we should work with our heart. I also learned about nailing and cutting.

The students were fast learners and if we were doing wrong they would tell us, for example, that we need to do things more precisely.

Were you part of discussions on how to make things?

No, I don’t think I was.

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We would like to involve people from the community

classes and have more students. It could be also used

at an earlier stage of the project, during the design

by the community, people can sit in the structure and

phase. Would you be interested in taking part?

do some work. For example, Mina can use it for sewing

Yes. We need to learn how to manage paper work and that way we can work faster. If someone comes and tell us that things shouldn’t be done this way but in another way, that makes it double work.

How did people in the area react when so many people arrived?

Some people were very good to you and thought you are doing a very good and fair job for our community.

They were very sure that you would not cheat on anyone. If you are working, we also work. People got employed and could feed their family.

How did you respond to us as leaders? Was it different from experiences you’ve had working with other people?

We were mainly working for you people. If you are here we will work. Otherwise, we will not work. It

and cutting. It could be used in many different ways.

We can also use it for sleeping in summer seasons.

Because the structure is surrounded by trees, the cold wind would come in and we can sleep.

We’re hoping that the Rangshala will be used as a resource by the wider community and not just the school, do you think this can happen?

It would be difficult because the school doesn’t allow anyone to come, so it is better to be used by the school. But it is a good place to be used for school work.

Do you know how the children and their parents feel about the Rangshala?

It is becoming the centre for learning and people are being attracted. It would be best to open up the place to all so everyone can come and learn.

shouldn’t be like someone saying to you why you are

Initially we had plans to build an additional classroom

sitting and not working. All should be frank and if we

as well as the Rangshala, but now we can’t make

are working, the person should be working too, not

anything more because of time limitations, and for

just standing and telling us to do this and that.

many other reasons. How do you think the change in

What do you think about the finished Rangshala?

our plans has affected people in the area?

How do you think it will be used in the future by the

People are wondering why you are not doing the

school?

further work. We want to know the reasons behind.

For open study; in the winter season, when it is cold in the classrooms they can sit in the sun and teachers can read to students easily without difficulties. It can also be used for programmes run by the school, for example, on Independence Day or Republic Day to hold ceremonies. In summer season, when it is very hot to sit in the classrooms, students can sit out here where air comes in from all sides. It is a very good structure mainly for the school. They can spread their

You were very good to everyone, spreading the idea of working for the community, and mainly for the school. If you were building more, it would have been very good for the community, creating more jobs and people could have learned more.

So, more people wanted to be involved?

More and more people are becoming attracted to what you are doing, and are wanting to work with you.

They also wanted to help you out because you are not

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117

from this area. Nobody does things for free in India so

What is your vision in the future; did the project affect

it is very nice that you are working for the school. That

you in any way?

is why people around me wanted to help you out.

Yes, the project affected me very much because I

Do you think people would come here to work from

wasn’t working before. I was mainly studying and

their hearts?

being in the house. Now I know everything about

Yes, I think so.

As a translator, what kind of difficulties did you see about us coming from a different culture?

I didn’t feel any difficulty translating except for name of tools which I didn’t know, and didn’t understand how to use. But it was good to work with the three of you because I got to understand you better. We learned from you about standards for water, heat or air pressures. We also learned many things from Sonu the mason, like making measurements.

construction and building. I learned about tools and also about how to use my energy, how to work, or the way you work.

After working with us, has the way you look at the area changed at all?

Everyone tells me that since I’ve been working with you I should know many things now. Even the people far from this area started to know about me. People often come to me to ask questions such as where I am from, why am I working with them. This way I came to know how people think about me, about you and

How about in relation to culture?

about the building. It was very good working with you

In India, culture and religion are most important. From

got to know me.

you, we learned that we should not blame or complain to god when we make mistakes or if something is going wrong. We like your culture because things depend on work, but we don’t like that you just live alone and don’t have more respect towards your parents.

Could we have done anything differently to make things more successful?

If you want to spread your ideas, you should do what Alex does like saying Namaste and doing things from your heart. Because people in India don’t understand English as much, you need to communicate through reactions. It is about showing respect. If you feel like someone is cheating you, you can just leave the person.

because people around the area and the community

How do you think this school might develop in the future?

I think if the teaching staff is good, the school will develop. The population is increasing and the coming generation wants to read and write. The school is good but we need teachers who are willing to teach.

Project Chander Nagar

WORKSHOP architecture

Simen Bie Malde NTNU Student

What did you learn about architecture?

During the workshop I learned a lot of how

How did it change your understanding of what architecture does?

architecture works in reality. It’s not just you and your

What architecture does is largely unique for each

drawing board and perhaps some discussions with

project in my opinion. What architecture should

your colleagues. In the field, problems arise, and with

do on the other hand is another story. It should

those come new opportunities. It might sound cliché,

result in a beautiful and liveable structure. It should

but few things work out exactly as you intended it, and

inspire people to improve their surroundings, work

often this is a good thing. Architecture for some might

together and overcome differences. Architecture

be completely different to someone else. We all want

should make people’s lives easier and it should

our surroundings to look good as well as be usable.

provide jobs. In our project in Dehradun, I hope

What is more important? And who decides what is

we have accomplished some of these things. My

more important? A good architecture project should

feeling is that we did, and although we didn’t get

be a discussion between all the parties involved.

to finish the structure, I left feeling proud of what we had made. Architecture is not just building

In what ways was Project Chander Nagar different

– it is a collection of ideas, habits and hopes. It

from previous experiences you’ve had?

represents how humans want to live, what kind of

In this workshop, we got a unique experience as both architects and workers. Though there were issues along the way, we got along well as a team and built something good for the community! The workshop was a new experience for me, seeing as it was my first.

It was also my first trip outside Europe. The cultural difference between my home country of Norway and India is huge. In Norway, we would typically have finished all the drawing and design before starting the construction. In Dehradun, it was a continuous process. It did take longer, but as a consequence we had to defend our designs and refine it before everyone could agree. In some cases, ideas were rushed because of our short timeframe, but this can result in interesting stuff! Also, we lacked many of the tools we take for granted at a construction site in Norway. Though this was very frustrating at times and also limiting in a few areas, we got closer to what we were making. We had to do all by hand, and this gave a level of satisfaction when we were done.

designs they prefer and where they want to live.

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Reflecting

119

Anders O. Bjørneseth NTNU Student

What did you learn about architecture?

...And what architecture is?

I think what I learnt was mostly within the terms of

Architecture is, from where I see it, the place where

construction-site-reality, work processes, and cultural

ideal meets reality, where aesthetics are applied to

differences. Not to mention the art of compromise,

surroundings, and social need is met with the will

internally in the group as well as externally, and

and means of ensuring contentment and equality. It

making the shift of roles between individual and

captures the spirit of the age, tells of what has been,

collective; constantly having to fight for ideas, while at

and foreshadows what’s to come. It is the condition of

the same time trying to merge them with others. As for

human environment, and the fulfillment of our most

the engineering bit, I learnt to have more confidence

basic spatial needs, and therefore of great importance

in my intuition, to trust my gut feeling, and not to rely

to us all.

on standard solutions under special circumstances.

In what ways was Project Chander Nagar different from previous experiences you’ve had?

Coming from NTNU, I’m quite familiar with the practical approach to architecture. However, the workshop at Chander Nagar was a project unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before. Both when it comes to cultural learning, working with engineers and craftsmen, having to deal with clients, users and material supply. I even managed to learn some Yoga who would have thought?

How did it change your understanding of what architecture does?

Well I guess if you see it from a large-scale perspective, architecture contains the potential of conducing humanism and understanding across cultures, as well as contributing in making more sustainable societies. Seeing it from a more local perspective architecture has the potential of creating great arenas for human interaction, both on public, family and personal level. Whilst for me personally, it represents the possibility of always having to deal with new issues, gaining novel experiences, as well as communicating a need for working with spaces, the potential contained in them, and inquire what it is that keeps us creating them.

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Hanna Malene NTNU Student

What did you learn about architecture?

Architecture is so much more than the “creative” part. This is something we all know, but we may not be as aware of it as we think. When I sometimes say “I want to be a teacher instead” I almost always get the response: “But wouldn’t you get bored? It’s the same thing every day, when you are an architect you get to create something!” Maybe this is the architect’s myth as well as the artist’s myth. You don’t just sit around and wait for inspiration that magically comes to you and make you able to create masterpiece after masterpiece. It is a lot of work that has nothing to be with creativity, and a lot to do with organisational skills, endurance, communication and the hope that you will finish in the end.

In what ways was Project Chander Nagar different

Earlier, I have worked with frames set by teachers, that are all very clear. The only changes that come are the ones you are in charge of when you might be able to bend the rules and borders a little. It was a new experience working with people that don’t speak the same language as you. I worked a lot with brick and the mason at the site. In the beginning all we understood of each other was “this perfect”, “no perfect” and “check’em”. But after a while you understand people without actually understanding the words, and the mason also picked up a lot of English (a lot faster than I managed to pick up any Hindi. The only thing I tried to say was ‘bahut budhia’ . I think we all had times where we were quite frustrated because of the different cultures and how they lead to different understandings of what we should do and in which way. When people come and tell you how you should

from previous experiences you’ve had?

do a specific thing for the fifth time it is difficult to be

This experience was different from earlier experiences

have to realise that they are not trying to bug you or

in the way we had to relate to the whole community,

dismiss you in any way, they are quite simply trying to

and not just on an imaginary level. People came

be helpful.

and looked at what we were doing, and we had to have in mind that the local community should take over the structure once we leave. There wasn’t just one frame you had to relate to or work from, as the frame was ever changing. But maybe this also was the charm of the project? I think something Alex said kind of summarises my thoughts: “You can never make a concept that is so strong that it can’t survive a compromise”. The frames were ever changing, and there were lots of things we had to compromise on, because of regulations that we didn’t get right the first time, local opinions, and also the factor of a limited amount of time and power that came and went throughout the day.

as polite as you should. But I think that in the end you

The workshop was also a new experience when it came to making decisions as a group: I have never before had to agree with so many others on one particular design, and this led to some long discussions without a specific solution. It is almost impossible for so many people to start out agreeing, and the structural details took especially long time to figure out so that everyone was satisfied. But being so many people also gives many different views and angles, and I think the draw/ design sessions we had in the beginning were particularly good as everything were still open and you therefore had a wide range of different ideas.

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Sometimes I think we could have had a clearer

It also gives you a good opportunity to work with

leadership, but I get that this is difficult in an

the community so you build something that doesn’t

environment where you have to double-check a lot of

get praised by architects and hated by the average

things and where supplies and craftsmen often show

joes of the world. We learnt to see things differently,

up at a different time than the one that was decided.

the different schools implement different views of

But I think the working was fun, it is always inspiring

architecture on us. It is easy to lose contact with the

when you at the end stand before something you have

“normal” world, or so I feel many architects do. It is so

participated in designing and building with your own

easy to write and talk beautifully about architecture

hands. The fact that the structure actually is in use and

that doesn’t function in the way it is supposed to, or

may be duplicated to be used at other Nanhy Dunya

worse, doesn’t function at all. “All good architecture

schools shows that we hopefully managed to create

leaks”, it’s a funny saying, but it doesn’t have to be

something that doesn’t only appeal to us and the ones

true. I don’t know how our structure will develop, but I

with experience from an architecture school, but also

hope it is something that inspires to participating and

to the local community.

not just viewing.

How did it change your understanding of what

...And what architecture is?

architecture does?

Everything and nothing. It is the reason I wake up

Architecture is so much more than just form. When

happy in the morning and the reason why I never want

I decided to study architecture I didn’t choose is

to get out of bed again.

because I wanted to sit in front of a computer and a sketchbook and draw many hours a day, but because I wanted to understand what architecture can do to a community. There have been and will be many different architectural utopias in which the architect wants to change society by changing the way we live and the way buildings are organized. It is a fact that buildings affect us on many levels, from colours to form and the feeling of what is and isn’t comfortable.

This is something I have missed in my education: I want to learn more about what architecture does, not just what architects thinks it is. The ideal for an architect is to understand architecture, engineering, social structures, art, the human body and every aspect of how and why we live the way we do. But very few come close to knowing much about these things, and therefore I think these types of workshops are useful: You get a quite immediate response to the structure and can observe in which ways it does and doesn’t function.

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Amritha Ballal ‘Building Change’

Amritha is an architect and urban planner based in Delhi. She is a founding member of Space Matters, and a guest lecturer at the School of Architecture and Planning (SPA) in Delhi. She worked with Alex and Ivar on a small design+make project in Uganda, during the period she was studying for her masters at NTNU, in Norway.

Discussing WORKSHOP architecture’s India experience reminded me at times of similar experiences I had in Kampala, Uganda as part of my Urban Planning Masters Programme at NTNU, Norway. We had a limited amount of funds from UN Habitat to propose and implement an intervention in the settlement we were studying. This was an informal urban settlement 1 Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for Africa, Dambiya Moyo, Niall Fergusan, Publishers -Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2010 2 The process evolved into a developing multiple project blueprints for the community over a two month period under a competition titled ‘Ideas for Acholi Quarters’. The winning proposal adjudged by the community was awarded the funds through Slum Dwellers Inter-

of Internally Displaced Persons, or IDPs from the civil war in Northern Uganda, facing acute poverty and hardships. Here we were, a bunch of Norwegians, an Indian, a Chinese, an Israeli and thankfully a few local Ugandan students with the power, suddenly, not to just study ‘change’ but cause it. Or did we? A book which was in great demand amongst us then was Dambisa Moyos’ excellent ‘Dead Aid’( 2010)1 which persuasively underlined the enormous negative impact of the aid regime in Africa. For us, this raised a fundamental question - what measures would determine that our interventions as well-meaning outsiders would do any good… are we in a position to even gauge what is really ‘good’ in a context only superficially understood by us? Yet, refusing to use resources at

national as the coordinating agency.

our disposal for fear of consequences, in a severely resource deprived

The process has been documented in

situation was not the answer either. All preconceived notions of project

Planning for Actions, Actions for Plan-

brief leading to a well-defined design product had to be abandoned as

ning, NTNU, 2009 3 Since 2006 SpaceMatters has been working on the urban revitalisation and memorial complex for the Bhopal Gas Tragedy at the Union Carbide Factory, site of the worlds’ largest industrial disaster in 1984.

we tried to grasp the real priorities and power dynamic of the settlement we studied2. Nearer home, I have acutely felt the limitations of traditional approaches for addressing issues related to the built environment of vulnerable communities; whether it is while working on urban homelessness in Delhi or the urban revitalisation of the industrial disaster affected areas in Bhopal3.

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A key learning has been that engaging with vulnerable communities calls for a process that includes designing the product as also a blueprint for realising it in a manner that is inclusive and at least self-sustaining if not self-generative. We are trained as architects to design a fixed spatial outcome for a given a set of conditions. Usually conceiving the brief, designing the intervention and then implementing the project is seen as a streamlined linear process, with key roles and goals defined for each stage. But what if these roles and goals themselves are ambiguous, and worse, contradictory? A few issues have consistently surfaced during our work in socio-economically vulnerable contexts. Firstly, unlike conventional projects the interest of the ‘client’ cannot be presumed to correspond to the overall social goals of the project. What if our client formally represents the community, but in reality fails to do so? If those most affected by our interventions have the least say in its outcomes?

Second is the challenge of distance and language, both tangible and metaphoric. When I studied the lives of the homeless in Delhi, it was like travelling into a different world; even if these were spaces I had presumed I was familiar with all my life. From the homeless perspective these very spaces seemed unfamiliar, unwelcome, dangerous, demeaning. The meaning of shelter in their context took me a long time to comprehend.

With this comprehension also came the realisation of why almost all homeless interventions in Delhi have failed so far – ‘shelter’ meant 4 The City is our Home – Spatiality of Urban Homelessness, Amritha Ballal, NTNU, 2010

completely different things to those proposing the shelters and those meant to use them4. This ‘lost in translation’ effect gets magnified when we travel to intervene in places culturally, politically, socially unfamiliar.

Yet, even in such projects the discourse and representation focuses largely on the one sided enumeration of the virtues of the finished product, rather than inclusive, multi-perspective critiques of the process and product impact. The final aspect is one of sustained strategic interventions vs one stop arrangements. Whether we like it or not our interventions set into motion changes, good and bad. Who then are our partners after we have left the scene to see that the change is largely positive and protected? In Kampala, as elsewhere I have observed that as our role as architects becomes that of enablers rather than solution providers, partnerships -before, during and after the realisation of the built intervention- hold the key.

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5 A place in the Shade – The new land-

It is just this messy ‘process-product-outcome’ challenge of people

scape and other essays, Charles Correa, Penguin Books India, 2010 Chorea writes : “Architecture is an agent of change...which is why a leader like Mahatma Gandhi is called the architect of the nation. Neither the

124

centric/inclusive /socially sustainable design that, if not understood, can either cause paralysis by analysis or a bull in china shop outcome.

Yet, even a cursory glance at habitat statistics reveals that ignoring the social contexts and outcomes of design, risks pushing our profession into an isolating ivory tower of irrelevance. Worse we risk enabling forces

engineer, nor the dentist, nor historian.

that are causing the increasing inequity prevalent in our habitats. India

But the architect, i.e. the generalist who

is the world’s largest democracy, also one of the most diverse and on

speculates on how pieces would fit

the flip side one of the most socio-economically disparate. Despite a

together in more advantageous ways.

One who is concerned with what might be .Yet, only 20% of the population have the resources to commission the

booming economy, rising inequity has been identified as one of the biggest challenges currently facing the country. Given this context, India can emerge as a critical case for social sustainability, in habitat design

of engaging him. There you have the

as much as in other fields. Yet, one of India’s leading architects Charles Correa estimates in his book A place in the Shade (2010)5 that architects

architects interface with society - less

interface with Indian society amounts to less than 2%. It will be more

architect, only 10 % of those will think

than 2%”

than just a missed opportunity if we as architects and the larger design fraternity refuse to engage with the most pressing habitat issues of our time. It will be an abdication of responsibility.

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The discourse on social sustainability and architecture is not new, but there is a move now from grandiose ‘universal’ solutions to local, rooted, incremental change. In a seminal exhibition on the new architectures of social engagement, the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art, (MOMA, New York, 2011) titled ‘Small Scale, Big Change’ highlighted this as a trend of ‘radical pragmatism in architecture’ further adding - ‘These works reveal an exciting shift in the longstanding dialogue between architecture and society, in which the architect’s methods and approaches are being dramatically revaluated. They also propose an expanded definition of sustainability that moves beyond experimentation with new materials and technologies to include such concepts as social and economic stewardship’. As an architect and academician in India, I hope to see more and more interventions rooted in the realities of our place and time, based on true collaboration between stakeholders rather than top down transplants. Education has a big role to play, with the changing paradigm demanding a rethink for both students and educators. I had the pleasure to guide a group of final year students from School of 6 And Figure 1 ‘Designing for a difference’

Planning and Architecture, Delhi on their seminar title ‘Designing for a difference’6. Towards the end of a process wherein they explored what

SPA , Delhi Final Year Seminar 2012.,

social sustainability meant to them, the groups’ insight was that social

Group- Abeer Murtaza, Tripti Mahaseth, Wate Zhiemi, Zoya Ajaz, Guide- Amritha Ballal, Co-ordinaters: Dr. Jaya Kumar,Dr. Ranjana Mital

engagement and responsibility is not just to be triggered by externalities of particular projects, but intrinsic to the pursuit of holistic architecture in all contexts. I close here with their words: “As architects we influence and inflict changes. Architecture too must propel human and community development. The idea however is not to randomly take up new theories and start applying them without forethought but rather to look within ourselves, our communities, our ideologies, to see what we lack in the picture of the whole, what works, what doesn’t and to have vision in the opportunities that our context provides us. This makes our interventions relevant and meaningful. The first step to development is awareness.”

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Hans Skotte ‘Learning from Students’

Hans Skotte is an associate professor at the department of Architecture & Fine Art at NTNU, Norway.

The two ‘taclobans’, Alex Furunes & Ivar Tutturen, are in a sense the best of students. They are curious, inquisitive, willing to take risks, and do so in line with a social conviction – or less sumptuous, acting in line with what gives meaning to ‘the act of architecture’. I’ve had the good fortune of following them over the last years, sometimes hanging on to their shirt tails, sometimes in a position to give guidance, guidance they sometimes listen to: A most gratifying sensation for a teacher.

“T’ain’t What You Do (It’s the Way That You Do It)” I have sort of coined as my proverb based on a lifetime of professional experiences both as an architect-planner and as a teacher. It originally stems from a 1939 jazz piece written by Sy Oliver & Trummy Young. The taclobans have caught on to this claim. It was in fact glued to their wall as a poster when they worked in Tacloban, Philippines (then together with fellow student Trond Hegvold). And it shows. Their story on how they first engaged the children, then the mothers and then finally the fathers and husbands into contributing to the building of a study center for the ‘sea slum’ children, is a case in point. It was all about ‘the way that they did it’ – and the trust that was gradually bestowed upon them.

There are in two interesting professional lessons to be drawn from the Tacloban experience. Because it was much more than merely approaching and interacting with the local community in a ‘culturally appropriate’ manner.

It was firstly about opening up for and learning from the building skills and insights that the community members, particularly the fathers, already commanded. It enabled the architect (students) ‘to strategize’ their design, i.e. to make a proposal where these skills were integrated.

Secondly this highlighted, even celebrated, the local contribution to the study center thus securing ‘local ownership’ based on self-confidence and pride. From this came local guardianship and responsibilities for maintenance and for future development. And Right-o! Now, two years later, the study center have collected more money – and have called on the ‘taclobans’ to come back to help them with the design for an extension to the center.

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And more: the Tacloban story holds another dimension. It teaches us about architecture ‘with people in it’. Because as the students left the Philippines, the task of completing the building works were left to the locals.

And they did brilliantly, albeit not always what ‘proper architects’ would perhaps have done. No matter. The point is that the rigidity, hence brilliance, of the design the ‘taclobans’ left behind, allowed for improvisations, for ‘localizations’, - for an architecture expressing life - within a structure that reflected the quality of the site, the building’s function and the constraints of the budget. The approach comes par with Elemental’s approach in their housing projects in Chile.

The Architecture & Fine Art Faculty at NTNU do not claim fame for what their students do, but it is worth noting that within the formal academic structure, students are allowed to explore and jump into the very unknown. They are, because we have reasons to believe that they come back as better and socially more relevant architects by doing so.

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Jago Boase, Keelan Hegarthy, and Yanchee Lau Ramboll Engineers

We are Jago, Keelan and Yanchee, structural

really had to focus on constructability and process.

engineers from Ramboll’s London office. We flew to

We were forced to think through every part of the

Dehradun, excited but not knowing what to expect.

installation and had to make sure our designs were

We knew that we’d be providing structural advice

as simple as possible so that they could be produced

as part of the workshop but we weren’t fully aware

and installed within the tight schedule. The extent to

of what we signed up for. It was an intense two

which carefully made plans can change on site was

weeks but was incredibly rewarding and more than

an important lesson to us, just as the ingenuity and

met our expectations. Going through a complete

adaptability one is capable of was a revelation.

design process; from initial concept through to construction usually takes years but to achieve this in two weeks is a remarkable achievement and something we are proud to be a part of.

The initial design process was very exciting and fast

Working in India also opened our eyes to local construction practices. It was really interesting to see different techniques for both procuring and installation. We found it particularly exciting to go down to the steel fabricators. We would arrive with a

moving. Working so closely with architects from

drawing of a detail, explain what was needed, hand

the outset to respond creatively to the brief was a

pick the appropriate steel from the stock then watch

pleasure and allowed us to contribute holistically to

them cut and weld it on the side of the road while we

the design. They say it takes three architects to keep

waited, sipping chai.

one engineer busy. If this is true, we were seriously outnumbered and the odds were always against us! On any project there will be design changes but on this project the design can only be described as fluid. We had to adapt our design on a daily basis to suit whatever change was thrust upon us; be it architectural or an unexpected site constraint. This provided a great challenge but working in that fast paced, pressurised environment was something we

Along with learning a great deal about the construction process there are many other things we took away from our time in India. One thing in particular is the experience of culture. We were fortunate to be there during a number of festivals including the Festival of Ram. Learning about the story of Ram then seeing a 50 foot effigy being burned down was something that was alien to us but was

enjoyed and learned a lot from.

great to witness. Also, in talking with Indian people

Along with structural advice it transpired that we

learn about the different cultures.

would be taking on other roles including project manager, quantity surveyor, site manager, procurer and labourer. Being involved in all aspects of the job has given us an appreciation for the whole construction process. Usually, when we are working in the UK, it is easy to design something from the office and let someone else deal with how your design is installed. That the designs would be realised on site the following day (or hour, or minute) meant we

and the Visiting School participants it was great to

All in all it was a fantastic experience and we were delighted to be a part of the project. We hope the the building will be of value to both Nanhi Dunya and the local community.

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Keelan Hegarthy

Yanchee Lau

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Jago Boase

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Telling the Story

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As opposed to the chapters in this book, which analys e various aspects of the project retrospectively, the following pages are a ‘live’ account of our time in Dehradun, that tell the story of the project on a weekly, sometimes daily, basis. Keeping a blog throughout the process is a way to stay in touch with our sponsors and supporters, and for us to record everything that’s happening. Sometimes things that don’t seem very important at the time turn out to have been defining moments, and it’s interesting to have that record. The blog also prompts us to document sketches, notes and ideas that could easily slip through the net as the project progresses.

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Arrival in Dehradun 22.08.12

We arrived in Dehradun at the end of last week and have been busy settling in to the city, getting to know the people we will be working with, and re-visiting Nanhi Dunya’s schools. We’ve given ourselves until the end of this week to determine the exact nature and scope of the project, so at the moment we’re trying to understand the schools’ strengths and weaknesses, and how our time here can be best used. The existing buildings are very beautiful, but all suffer from serious problems with poor lighting and dampness; it’s still monsoon season here, and obvious that the roofs can’t cope with the very heavy rain loads.

The other key issues are inadequate sanitation facilities and general decay; there is very little play equipment, and what there is tends to be broken. On the positive side, the gardens are really lovely and there’s more than enough room to use these exterior spaces for mock-ups or a small freestanding structure. It’s been incredibly inspiring meeting the teachers, particularly the Head of Chandar Nagar, Chitra, who has dedicated her whole life to the school and seems to have boundless energy and enthusiasm for the place. We’re very excited about working with her! And of course, it’s also been great to start to get to know the kids we’re doing this project for. Most of the pupils at Chandar Nagar and Karanpur come from the nearby slum areas, which we will be visiting with Chitra later in the week so that we can meet some of the children’s families. Parents don’t pay fees, but make ‘contributions’ based on their incomes – partly so that they can maintain a sense of dignity and pride.

We’d like to find ways of engaging parents in the process of designing and making the project and are looking forward to getting to know them, to find out how they could contribute with skills and knowledge.

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Top Left Alex meeting students at Nanhi Dunya, Karanpur.

Top Right Clem standing in the middle of Paltan Bazar.

Above Meeting Alok and Kiran in Chander Nagar.

Above Clem talking to students on the roof of Karanpur.

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Top Small children in the nursery class at Chandar Nagar school.

Above Clem talking to Saniya at Chandar Nagar school.

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Above & Right Chandar Nagar families showing us their homes.

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Getting to Know the Schools 24.08.12

Yesterday we explored the area around Chandar Nagar, with the school’s principle Chitra, to meet some of the families, and understand the challenges they face. Attendance at the school is very low; partly because there’s no history of education within the families and also because many of the children work in order to help support themselves. Chitra is as much a social worker as a teacher; each day she has to walk around the four residential areas that her pupils come from trying to persuade and motivate the parents to ensure that their children come to school. The parents we met work as labourers, pickers (collecting fragments of plastic and paper to be recycled) and beggars. Having seen the levels of poverty they face, its easier to understand the parents’ apathy towards education.

The picture at Vikasnagar, a school about an hour’s drive from central Dehradun, is very different. Located in a small rural town, most of the parents here work as farmers or tea pickers in local plantations and are very involved in the life of the school. Attendance is high, and there are enough children and staff to ensure full classes with distinct age brackets. The main issue this school faces is a lack of space, and Nanhi Dunya’s ambition is to create a new structure on top of the flat concrete roof. The idea is that this secondary roof will help protect the classrooms below, and create a sheltered area for additional classes, gatherings and performances. This clarity of the program would allow us to engage the school community (particularly the parents) in our project and the craftsmanship that we would like to develop through it. It presents a chance to do something really exciting for Nanhi Dunya – to go beyond simply providing a basic education, and actually create the kind of selfsufficient and holistic center that the organisation is striving for.

For our meeting with the board of Nanhi Dunya we will present what we imagine we could do with either Vikasnagar or Chandar Nagar and see how we can create something that represents the values of the school organisation, engages the local community and that can inspire the rest of the centers.

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Defining the Project 28.08.12

Having had a short trip out of town, to reflect and

Whether we continue with the master-plan after

ruminate on what we’d seen so far, we had our first

December, or if this is passed on to the working team

meeting with Kiran and Alok… and after a long and

we set up to complete independently from us remains

intense discussion we now have a clear direction

to be seen. They understood the need for greater

for the project. We expressed our concern that the

support within all areas of the school, and promised to

challenges at Chandar Nagar – both physically and

relocate some of the teachers from other Nanhi Dunya

socially – seemed almost too much to take on and

centers. Additionally, Alok is also going to be working

that we weren’t convinced that we could achieve

with John from Project Dehradun to start developing

enough in 3 months to really transform the school.

‘sponsor a child’ campaign at the school, to help raise

We felt that if we were to invest in it, it was important

money specifically for children at Chandar Nagar. If

that Nanhi Dunya also offered it extra support through

the architectural development of the school could

additional teaching staff (in the short term) and a

advance at the same rate as the children’s progress

proper funding strategy (in the long-term). We had

through it, the experience of those in the youngest

become very attached to the idea of working with the

class now could be completely transformed.

existing infrastructure, and adapting the buildings rather than starting from scratch, but were no longer sure (having experienced the buildings at the height of the monsoon) whether we could achieve a satisfactory renovation within the time-frame. We also explained that there didn’t seem to be a clear focus for the project, or priority in terms of the areas that need

In terms of our thoughts on Vikasnagar, they explained that the roof-top structure there would be going ahead at some point in the future, with or without our help.

Although the need for additional space is urgent, it isn’t stopping the school from functioning properly and successfully. We felt that doing an analysis of both

addressing.

schools was incredibly valuable for both ourselves and

Kiran and Alok both agreed that the existing buildings

working, why, and how we could learn from that. So,

would be a challenge to adapt before December, and

with the project now defined, it’s time for us to set up

for the first time expressed clearly that the priority was

our studio space at Chandar Nagar and get to work!

for a kindergarten / nursery space. The conclusion was that a new building should be sited at the top left corner of the plot (currently occupied by a small exterior stage) at the highest point of the playgroundautomatically addressing some of the existing issues with flooding and damp. This new building will be the first phase of a larger master-plan for the entire site, and will set a precedent for the subsequent buildings in terms of design, materials and process.

We’re still keen to explore whether the buildings could be renovated as part of this master-plan, and this is something we will be looking into in parallel with our design for the new structure.

the organisation, in terms of understanding what was

Telling the Story

Sketches from our early conversations with Alok

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Road Trip 30.08.12

Our visit to Delhi on Monday happened to coincide

We left early the next morning to head back to

with Kiran’s visa appointment at the British Embassy,

Dehradun, but not before stopping for some breakfast

and so we embarked together on a south-bound

pakoras courtesy of Kiran’s relatives in North Delhi. On

road trip towards the capital. Driven by the expert

the way back she decided we should make a slight

Manoj, we decided not to take the main roads but

detour to visit two rural schools that were started

travelled instead on the narrow agricultural lanes

by Nanhi Dunya, but are now thriving and being run

that run along the Ganges’ irrigation canals. It was

independently. They were really wonderful places,

a really beautiful journey, passing by farmland and

full of spirit – and the kids and teachers seemed

through rural villages – and a chance for us to learn

incredibly excited about us visiting. The hospitality

a little more about locally grown trees and crops.

we received was amazing… and we ate some of the

The main reason for our trip was to meet Aanchal Sodhani, the Senior Arts Project Manager at the British Council, to discuss a potential collaboration in relation to Chandar Nager. It was an exciting meeting, and we talked about a number of options which could open up the process of working with the local community to a larger audience. We also had a successful shopping trip to buy a printer and replace Alex’s laptop, which died on arrival in India… but almost risked losing the new purchases when our rickshaw got marooned in monsoon rain and we found ourselves wading thigh-high in flood water!

In the evening we had a chance to catch up with friends based in Delhi: Julia King, who’s researching incremental housing strategies in Savda Ghevra; Ryan LeCluyse, who’s working on the sanitation improvement projects with Quicksand; Amritha Ballal who’s working with traditional craftsmanship in the Himalayas with her firm Space Matters. It was great to hear about their work, and talk about our project, over large plates of delicious momos!

Left Women in rice fields north of Delhi.

most delicious food we’ve tasted in India so far – all locally grown in the school’s organic farm. It was great to see the extent of Nanhi Dunya’s influence, and the amount of respect Kiran has from all of the people who work with her. The day ended with a quick stop at the banks of the Ganges near Haridwar, where we offered prayers by lighting candles in the middle of bundles of flowers gathered together in banana leaf baskets. Experiencing India with someone like Kiran is a unique and inspiring opportunity to understand the cultures and communities here… we’re very grateful for her time and energy!

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Starting on Site 04.09.12

As soon as we got back from Delhi, we decided to start working on site in the school. We felt it was important to be here on a daily basis, to understand the rhythm of the place, to get to know the children, teachers and parents… and to become a part of the school community as early as possible. We were offered use of a classroom, to use as our studio space, and decided to do some basic renovation work to make it a dry, secure and happy place to work. The first step was to cover the tin roof in plastic sheeting to make it water-tight, and then to replace the plastic corrugated skylights which were leaking badly, and so dirty they hardly let any light into the spaces below. We applied these simple solutions to the entire block of classrooms, and it was amazing to see how quickly the rooms were transformed. In fact the whole atmosphere of the school has altered in the last week: Kiran has relocated one of the best teachers, Reena, from the main school at Inder Road to Chandar Nagar; we have a number of Indian volunteers working to help us with translating and errands etc; and kids from the local area have started flocking to the school in the early evening to check our progress and find out how they can help. We’re also getting to know Mina and her husband, who live on the site as teachers and caretakers, and their three kids – who are pupils at the school.

The school is only open until 2pm, which means our day is nicely divided into a morning with the kids, when we can run workshops with them and their parents, and a quiet afternoon when we can get on with some work. So far, we’ve measured the school to draw a site plan, and made our first material order for bamboo and fabric so that we can start mocking-up spaces at 1:1 in the playground. It’s a great way to engage people in what we’re doing, and encourage an interaction with the design process. We’re very lucky to be renting our apartment from Kapil, a local architect and construction manager, who has a small office and workshop right next door to our place. We’re frequently passing by his carpenters hard at work making beautiful window and door frames, and every time we see Kapil he imparts some of his abundant wisdom about materials and construction methods. But his knowledge doesn’t stop with architecture…his garden is full of wonderful medicinal plants that he’s keen to share with us, and in two days time we’ll be starting our daily 6.30am yoga classes with him!

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Top Surveying the site.

Above Mocking-up spaces with red fabric.

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Right Ivar and Rinkal, one of the Nanhi Dunya pupils.

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Above Left One of the Chander Nager children, proudly showing his drawing.

Top Right Children looking at their portraits and drawings.

Above Kiran and Chitra introducing us to the parents.

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Meeting the Parents 06.09.12

We held our first workshop with the children on Wednesday – a simple exercise to help us to get to know their names, and to create an identity for the school community. Each child was given a sheet with a photograph of themselves printed on it, and a space to draw a picture as well as write their name, age and class. For the older children, the drawing was supposed to be a picture of what they would like to be when the grow up … it turns out that policing and dancing are the two most popular professions! For many of the children this was the first time that they had seen a printed image of themselves, and they were incredibly excited when all the completed drawings were pinned up on a board outside. Those children who had been absent on the first day were very keen to add their picture to the board when they arrived; we’re hoping to encourage better attendance by making the pupils feel like they belong to here, and that it’s a fulfilling place to be.

We also started meeting the parents this week, and the images were very helpful in breaking the ice and easily identifying whose parents they were. Rather than holding a big event, we decided to meet them one by one over a number of days in order to ask them a series of questions about income and profession etc so that we could get to know them better, explain the project, and find out how they might help. A number of them, including Vishal’s parents Rita and Kitaram, already work as day labourers and would benefit from having a more stable job working on the project. Many of the other fathers work as fruit and vegetable sellers, but said they would like to learn a skill or craft and could help on Sundays. Most of the mothers didn’t work, but offered their skills as cooks. In general the responses so far have been really positive – a touching phrase we heard often is this is my dharma, a philosophical term which can be interpreted as the cementer and sustainer of social life. We will carry on meeting the parents over the next week or so, before holding a workshop where we can show our initial ideas for the project, and gather their feedback and input.

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First Mock-up 10.09.12

We began our material research last week, through the construction of a large-scale structure on site, and a visit to Dehradun’s Forest Research Institute. Built by the British in the early 1900s, the Institute is housed in a vast neoclassical building in a large parkland on the edge of the city.

The exhibits inside were a slightly bizarre mix of fungi samples housed in glass cabinets literally filled to the brim with anti-moth balls and large Chapmanesque models of deforested landscapes. After meandering around these for a while we came across the Timber Engineering Department, which sounded like it might be helpful for us. Here we found a series of 1:1 timber trusses on display outside and a series of large scale models of roof structures and bridges etc inside. They had a beautiful workshop, with a huge ventilated window which we liked the look of, and we thought this might be used for researching innovative ways of using wood… but unfortunately it turned out that it was used only for maintaining and repairing existing structures on the FRI site. We’re hoping that this week’s trip – to the Uttarakhand Bamboo Fiber Development Board might be more useful! There are serious risks from termites and damp in this area, so we’re going to have to look carefully into how we could use timber and bamboo in a sustainable and affordable way.

Building a structure on the site, on the other hand, was a great exercise to negotiate the purchase and delivery of materials, understand the implications of working in the school while the children are studying here, get together a set of tools, and practice ways of joining, raising and bracing a structure. It was also, of course, a chance to test out a design idea quickly and physically, which is part of the reason we chose to use bamboo, which is cheap, light and rigid. Although we had to be careful to explain that this wasn’t anywhere near a final design! It was interesting how literally people took it to be, worrying that the ceilings were too low, or the ground-plan not deep enough. While this was a little frustrating at first, it proved how useful mock-ups will be later in the process when we have a more complete design that we would like to test with the users.

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Top Left Children playing with bamboo sticks to set up a space with Ivar.

Top Right Alex tying rope cross-bracing to our first bamboo structure.

Above Left Lengths of bamboo tied with rubber bicycle inner tubes.

Above Right The structure bound to trees at the edge of the site.

Right Rishu measuring the mock-up.

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Clarifying the Brief 11.09.12

We had a very useful meeting with Alok last Friday in which he explained the requirements for the new kindergarden and shared some of his ideas and thoughts. We showed him some of the references that we’ve started to gather – projects like Anna Heringer’s Handmade House and Laurie Baker’s work – which he responded to really well.

Here are our notes from the conversation:

• Ceiling height – at least 11 feet height • Privacy is important; a kindergarden is like womb – absolutely closed

• As much distance from road as possible • Two separate classrooms that can be opened up together

• Flexible large spaces that can be easily reconfigured

• Shutters that can be opened onto playgroundwhole building could be used as stage / theater

• Timber floor (real wood is very expensive) • Good lighting • Glass is status symbol: think about tricks that make school better than home

• • • •

Sinks in each space for painting and art activities Open shelves, pin-up boards Shared toilets – with shower For first floor: parents meeting space; kitchenette for chai; staff room; administration – possibility to look out over the playground during break time.

We also had a really fascinating post-dinner talk with Kapil during which he described the haveli he grew up in, in Narnual, Rajastan. He also talked us through the process of grinding lime for mortar in a large brick pit, using an ox to pull a stone ‘crusher’ round and round – basically like a giant pestle and motar. And explained the structure of the local brick factories, which we’re planning on visiting sometime very soon!

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Right Pages from Alex’s sketchbook.

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Initial Designs 19.09.12

Having been given some clearer guidelines from Alok,

In a sense the new building would become an

we spent the last week concentrating on design.

entrance or gateway to the courtyard – and we’ve

Unanimously, our favorite thing about the school is

been looking at different ways to shape this

the density of trees in the playground, and we’d like

experience. One traditional Southern typology that

to add to the sensation that you’re entering into some

Clem became very familiar with at the Rural Studio

kind of sanctuary when you arrive. At the moment the

in Alabama was that of the ‘dogtrot’ – essentially

school buildings (two blocks of classrooms and the

a log cabin with a breeze-way in the centre, which

caretaker’s house) are positioned along three of the

cools the building and acts as a divider between the

site’s edges. By placing the building at the top of the

domestic (bedroom) and functional (kitchen) spaces.

site along the fourth edge, which is currently empty

We thought we could use it in a similar way here, to

save for a rarely-used outdoor stage, we are proposing

separate the classrooms from the kitchen and toilets.

to more fully enclose the open space in the middle –

It would also provide a covered space for parents to

creating a protected courtyard.

wait for their children, and could act as an occasional

One of the most intriguing (and depressing!) urban phenomenon that you can see in almost every Indian city today is road widening. Rapidly increasing car use is placing pressure on traffic routes, and the solution is simply to knock down the buildings lining either side of the existing road. However, only as much space as needed is taken, so that the remaining halves of the buildings remain – revealing fireplaces,

outdoor classroom. Although we’re focusing on one new building, we’re also thinking through the longerterm plans for the site, and hope to have developed a master-plan by the time we leave. Experiencing the intensity of the rainfall here has convinced us of how important it is to have a covered walk-way, or verandah to link all the classrooms – as well as reinforce the sense of enclosure.

staircases, and other signs of habitation. Occasionally

In terms of structure, as much as we love wood, it’s

these architectural carcasses offer the possibility for

becoming more and more apparent that it’s not a

reoccupation, and you can see families getting on

viable option for the main structural system. The only

with their daily routine in a real-life cross-section. As

types of timber that can resist the threat from termites

fascinating as these structures are – we’d prefer that

and damp are very expensive hard-woods such as Sal

this doesn’t happen to our building anytime soon! We

– and even these are traditionally used in conjunction

therefore positioned the kindergarten about 9m from

with stone or brick, rather than on their own. Although

the current site boundary – ensuring that even if the

bricks are very prevalent, they are cheaply made and

road is widened in the future, there will still be an open

not rammed properly – meaning they are porous

space between our structure and the street.

and need to be rendered with plaster to ensure that buildings are water-tight. We would prefer to use a higher-quality material, and avoid having to add an extra layer, so that the materials and structure are visible in all their natural beauty! For this reason, we’re really interested in using the large river-bed stones that you see all over the surrounding countryside – and are looking at ways of cutting these to create a smooth, flat surface.

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Below One of the teachers, Reena, taking a class outside.

Middle Kiran and Alex discussing a drawing on the wall.

Bottom Thinking through the masterplan.

We also recently discovered that we’re in an earthquake zone (good to know!), which is prompting us to look into strong and seismic resistant structures such as arches – a form that is very common in the older buildings which you can still glimpse behind all the hoardings and electricity pylons in Dehradun’s old markets and bazars. We had a chance to go into one of these recently, and were shown around by the owner, whose grandfather had built the house in the 19th Century. Climatically, the house was very well designed – with a courtyard at the back (which has now been covered with metal grilles but which still functions as a big ventilator) and a deep verandah at the front, shielding the windows from direct sunlight, and protecting the walls from the rain. The quality of the craftsmanship – in everything from the carving of the balustrades, to the plaster-cast decorative floor-tiles, to the wooden cupboards set into the thick stone walls – was so beautiful. Admittedly, like every old building, it needed a lot of repair and the owner was struggling to keep up with the work — but the bare bones of the structure were still strong – and so worth looking after! Although many of these craft skills are being lost in India, they haven’t disappeared yet – and you can easily find rows of wood-carvers, for example, working away around the corner from the timber yards. Although we want to design a spacious, useful, and affordable building, we’d also like our structure to speak of quality – and not be afraid of taking the time needed to make something really beautiful and unique. We see our role as designing an over-all structure, or physical framework, for the local community (parents, artisans, craftspeople) to complete. Our immediate priority, however, is to submit the basic plans for planning permission, so we can get approval to start building next month!

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Client Meeting 24.09.12

On Thursday last week we had our first official client

In terms of the design, we presented a plan of the

meeting – during which we presented our ideas so

new building in relation to the site as it is now, and a

far to Kiran and her husband Vijay, Mr. Jain (the Nanhi

suggestion for how they might develop the site in the

Dunya Treasurer), Kapil (our land-lord and source of

future, along with a number of sketch sections and

all construction wisdom), Chitra (the Chander Nagar

elevations. The feedback about the overall design was

Principle) and Rishu (our trusted translator). It was a

really positive – and most of the suggestions were very

good incentive to gather together all of our research

constructive: that the toilets and the kitchen should be

and observations so far – and draw up a design for the

further apart, that the breezeway wasn’t wide enough

building.

for car access, that the stairs to the first floor should

We began by presenting the aspects which we

be more centrally-located, that we needed to check

admired about the existing Nanhi Dunya schools: the quality of the playgrounds and gardens, the tendency to teach outdoors when the weather is nice, a round table we had seen at one of the schools which allowed the teacher to engage with all her pupils at once, and a mural in another school which addressed the lack

the local Government by-laws to understand how close we could build to the party walls, and so on. The conversation about materials and structural systems was also very helpful – and it proved very useful having precedents in the Powerpoint that we could flick back to in order to communicate our intentions

of available text-books by painting the contents of a

more clearly.

book on the walls. We wanted to show that the schools

We finished up feeling like a lot of things had been

were full of valuable things already – and that there

clarified, and that it was time to get back to the

was a lot that we could learn from them. We then

drawing board to put all the new ideas and information

talked them through some ideas that we had about

into practice!

designing for schools, and in particular kindergardens: shifts in scales such as small doors within large doors, soft-edged playful spaces such as the cavity walls in Anna Heringer’s ‘Hand-made school’, different levels that could double up as steps, stages and seating, and different surfaces as a way to demarcate areas. Finally we showed a number of images from the streets of Dehradun, which showed design features or structural details that we really like and would like to use – or are intrigued by and wanted to know a little more about.

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Top One of the images we showed as inspiration: Kashish’s selfinitiated homework mat.

Above Ivar presenting our design ideas to Nanhi Dunya.

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Above Right Notes from the presentation on the site plan.

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Inviting Parents 27.09.12

At the end of last week we followed up on our

roof terrace with grandparents and extended family

initial meetings with the parents, during which we

living in adjacent rooms. The structures are very

had introduced the project and asked some basic

basic – no more than two stories high – usually quickly

questions in order to try to improve our understanding

constructed out of brick with cheap mortar, and

of their economic and social situations. This time we

no render. The roofs tend to be round-wood timber

decided to make an invitation in the form of a post

structures with corrugated tin sheets on top, often

card, with an image from a workshop that we had

covered in black plastic held down with bricks or

held during Project Tacloban in the Philippines on

stones to cover holes. The floors are usually cement or

the front, and text in Hindi explaining how parents

brick, with small matts – usually just hessian sacks laid

could become involved with the new Kindergarden

out flat. In one house, belonging to Abishek’s family,

on the back. Parents’ names were written by hand

there was a really nice IPS floor – cement mixed with

in the address box and we walked around the

a black pigment which makes a lovely smooth semi-

neighbourhood delivering them by hand. It was a great

glossy surface.

chance to get to know the area better, and show our faces to the community.

It was also a great chance to see some of the parents’ professions first-hand. The fruit-sellers live in a row of

The streets around the school are classified as a slum

shacks, with their wooden carts all lined up outside,

because they are made up of narrow pedestrian

and we saw some really beautiful embroidery made

alleyways, and the densely packed buildings have

by Arifa (Afjal, Fardeen and Arsalan’s mother). Many of

been informally constructed without planning permits.

the parents started introducing us to other people in

The area is however, gradually being developed by

the community, such as welders, who could help us

wealthy inhabitants and in amongst the low-rise

with construction – and we came across a number of

dwellings are brightly coloured mansions, with all

interesting techniques, including a low mud-brick wall

sorts of decorative features, in the style Gautum

being made by a local woman. It was a reminder to

Bhatia has described as Punjabi Baroque. Most of

get out of the studio and into the community as often

the Nanhi Dunya families live in a single room, with

as possible – there’s so much to learn from on every

a large shared bed (often covered by just a large

street corner.

bedcover without a mattress) and a small kitchen in the corner. They tend to live in large extended families, so rooms are often arranged around a courtyard or

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Walking around the community with the head teacher, Chitra.

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Discussing Design Ideas 03.10.12

We wanted to open up the design to the teachers and

animated once we were all moving around, and it was

the parents, and sowe have been holding workshops

great to hear the teachers talking about their concerns

with them over the past week in order to better

and their hopes for the new building. They had good

understand their needs. It’s been clear since the start

ideas about how it could be used to generate extra

of the project that the school’s real challenge lies in

money for the school, including computer classes and

it’s inability to pay teachers anything like an adequate

music lessons.

wage. They are paid an honorarium of around Rs 800-1000 per month (roughly £8 – £10) – which is not enough to live on. As well as thinking about ways in which the new building could generate extra money to support the teachers, we want to try to make a space that serves them well and makes coming to work a real pleasure! This means not only creating a stimulating learning environment that will help them to teach, but also nice spaces for them to meet and relax after classes.

When we met the parents a few days later, many of them confirmed our concern about the lack of a strong team of permanent teachers – frequently saying that well educated, English speaking, teachers were their top priority. Again, we wanted to loosen up the conversation so encouraged the parents to sketch, rearrange chairs, and walk with us through the existing classrooms so that they could point out and explain their concerns. The issues which cropped up over and over were the bare tin ceilings, too few

We began by explaining our thoughts about the new

fans, not enough color, too few charts and educational

building so far – roughly where it would be sited,

images on the walls, not enough light, and too much

and the idea that it should have two classrooms that

dirt. One of the fathers, whose family live in a very

could open up into one large space. The reasoning

modest shack in the middle of the nearby slums, said

behind this was a) that it would allow one teacher to

his children come back from school much dirtier than

deal with two classes should she find herself alone;

when they leave home. Whilst some said the ideal

the staff are stretched as it is and there’s no system

class size was 10-15 children, which is what we had in

of ‘reserve’ teachers if one of them is ill, and b) that it

mind, many said they’d be happy with up to 30-50 in

could be used as a hall for assemblies or after hours

one room! In general there was a desire for more play

activities such as community meetings. They agreed

space and equipment, and better sports. Although

with this idea, but were adamant the the two spaces

they all liked the existing garden and large trees, one

could be adequately separated – as one of the hardest

parent mentioned that it felt too much like a park when

things they have to deal with at the moment is the

you enter and not enough like a school. Many of them

lack of focus in the existing classrooms, which aren’t

said that they’d prefer a larger sign at the front of the

acoustically or spatially defined. We had observed

gate, and a more formal entrance. Given we’re siting

that in most of the classrooms the tables and chairs

our new building near the existing gate, we’re thinking

are arranged in a horseshoe shape, rather than rows,

about ways in which it can shape your experience of

but wanted to check that this was their preference

entering the school. The parents were very positive

rather than just a habit – we also wanted to get them

about the idea that the space could be used as a

moving to loosen the conversation up, so asked them

community hall after hours – many of them suggested

to organize the small tools we had brought out into

ideas for classes and activities like yoga and dancing,

their ideal classroom. The conversation became really

that could take place here in the afternoons.

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Over the three hour session about 20 parents came (afterwards we walked around the neighbourhood with our very charming and persuasive new volunteer Kshipra!), and the input we got was great. Chitra came in to help, even though it was a Sunday – and Mina made sure the parents were well-fed with delicious pakora. Retrospectively we realised that it would have been useful to hold a session like this a little earlier in the process, before we talked to them about possible employment on the project. It was, however, good to be able to see how our existing thoughts about the building hold up in light of this new information. In general, it was really nice to feel the parents’ satisfaction that their concerns were being heard.

Discussing and sketching with the teachers.

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Preparing for the Mock-up 13.10.12

Monday was an exciting day – the first proper delivery of materials at the site! Under the watchful eyes of Kashish, Ayush and Anshu (the caretaker’s kids who live at the school) three truck loads of bricks, sand and cement were deposited in a corner of the playground. This material is specifically for a mock-up brick wall that we will start building tomorrow. We had hoped to employ a father who is a very skilled labourer, with experience using brick – but unfortunately he had to leave town at short notice and will be back in ten days time… The main work this week was preparing the foundation, for which we enlisted the help of a mother, Suman, and two young men from the neighbourhood. We’re hoping that once we start building properly, and parents start seeing some action on the site, that it will be easier to gather together a strong and committed working team.

Students from NTNU in Norway, and the AA’s Visiting School program will be arriving in just over a week to start on the two-week project ‘Building Community’ – and it’s important that they are working in collaboration with the parents. So far, it’s been quite hard to co-ordinate the parents’ desire and enthusiasm to be involved with actual jobs that need doing on the site – but we’re now finally up and running, and ready to employ!

We also just received the great news that three engineers from Ramboll UK will also be joining us for ‘Building Community’ – they’re going to be a great help for the students’ project… but their visit is also perfect timing to get some feedback about the structural system we’re using for our main project. Looking forward to their arrival!

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Above Saurabh, Clem and one of the mothers working on the mock-up wall.

Far Left Laying out bricks, with a hollow cavity in the center, with Kapil.

Left Saurabh using a hosepipe instead of a spirit level.

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The first day’s woodblock training at Chhaya, in Rajpur.

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Block Print Training 18.10.12

On Monday we started training one mother, Arifa, and

The women we chose were already quite skilled,

two members of the local community, Shabnam and

belonging to a group of extended families who work

Kamarjaha), to wood block print. The training is taking

in the tailoring business. We wanted to make sure

place at Chhaya, in Rajpur – a beautiful village on the

they had an understanding of fabrics, an attention

outskirts of Dehradun in the foothills of the Himalayas.

to detail, and the capacity to use the training to

Chhaya is a part of a fantastic initiative, set up and

improve their own livelihoods beyond the scope of

run by Annamma Ebenezer, in order to train women

our project. They were very excited to have been

to cook, sew, embroider and block print. They run

chosen, and all was going well for the first couple of

a lovely cafe, with amazing views of the mountains,

days until Kamarajaha’s husband and Arfia’s mother-

and have craft studios and a small shop on the same

in-law prevented them from coming. Determined not

site. Wood block printing is one of the local crafts

to let the training fall apart, we jumped in a Sonu’s

that we would like to use in the interiors of the new

rickshaw with Sorad on board to act as translator,

building, and we’re keen to start the training soon so

and drove round to their houses to try and work out

that new designs can be developed by the mothers in

how to resolve the problem. All three come from a

conjunction with the building process. The idea is that

Muslim community, where it’s rare for women to work

Chhaya trains three community members, and that

outside of their homes – so there was a basic concern

these women then move into a studio at the school to

that it was inappropriate for them to be spending the

share their knowledge with other parents, and some of

morning elsewhere. On top of that. Arifa’s mother-in-

the older school children.

law was worried that there was too much sewing to keep up with anyway, and that Arifa was having to stay up ’til 11 at night to finish it. Although we were worried that our initiative had interfered with the families livelihood, we also felt very strongly that in the long run it would be a great skill to have. We reassured the mother in-law that Clem would be accompanying the women door to door, and offered to contribute Rs.100 per day to cover the earnings Arifa was loosing by coming with us…after lots of pleading and hugging she agreed! With that sorted, we rushed up to Rajpur and got on with the training, led by the lovely Bimla.

Hopefully next week will go more smoothly, and by the week after they’ll be fully trained. We still need to convince the women’s families that they should be able to work on-site, rather than take the work home, so that they can teach the other mothers…but that’s a challenge for another day!

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Building the Mock-up 19.10.12

This week we finally got started on the mock-up…

– pretty clever!) The brick powder turned out to be

and began to understand some of the challenges of

hard to find – we spent a long time crushing some

working here! The main problem we’ve encountered

ourselves, and ended up with about three handfuls,

is the difficulty in finding committed workers. Our

then bought some from some very drunk builders

ambition had been to employ the parents, but so

round the corner, and finally had a night-time delivery

far we’ve had to depend mostly on two local guys

of a huge truck-load of the stuff.

Sorad and Vipin (who are in fact great workers and very reliable!) and people that Kapil has introduced us to; in one week we’ve had three different masons!

The explanations we’ve heard are varied; ranging from people ‘getting lost on the way’, to not actually wanting to do the work, to being contracted to another employer and not having time to work for us, to the fact that during this period before the Dussera festival next week, many people return to their villages to see their families. We’re trying to work out what is the real reason, and how we can find ways to resolve it. Kitraram, the father who was due to start with us last week, is back on Sunday so we’re hoping to develop a better working relationship with him during the construction of the students’ project. At least he can’t get lost during the 3 minute walk between his house and the school!

The process of buying the timber was great fun for us (not so much for Kapil who was doing most of the hard work haggling)…. and so very different from a trip to Travis Perkins or Home Depot! All the timber yards are in one area of the city – for some reason full of monkeys – and each specialize in a specific type of wood. The Eucalyptus trader’s site was on a steep incline, and the logs were arranged so that they could be easily rolled down to the saw. Every now and then you’d hear a shout and a rumble and you knew it was time to dodge out of the way! The site was surrounded by huge piles of scrap off-cuts, which we’d like to encourage the students to find uses for in their pavilion. All the wood on the site was still in logs, so we could custom cut the pieces we needed; once they were ready, the whole lot was weighed and the price set. The Sal wood, was already cut into

Nevertheless, the mock-up is finally emerging and

long lengths, and not so much fun to buy – but is very

looking pretty nice. So far we’ve slotted in the timber

beautiful stuff and we’re excited to start working with

steps, and a frame for a small window. We decided

it. The carpenter is due on site today to help us work

to use Eucalyptus wood for these non-structural

out joints for the truss, and we’re crossing our fingers

elements, and Sal for the roof truss that will go on top

that he’ll stay with us throughout the next two weeks

and span across to the boundary wall 5 meters away.

to work with the students.

For the bricks around the steps we used a cement mortar, which sets much faster – but for the rest of the wall, we’re using a lime mortar that we’re mixing ourselves on the site using a nice little roller devised

by Ivar. The ingredients are: lime, brick powder, crushed fiber… and half a cup of boiled rice! (This acts as a binder, and then when the grains decompose the remaining pockets of air increase the wall’s insulation

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Learning how to mix lime mortar for the mock-up wall.

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Top Clem at the timber yard buying Eucalyptus wood.

Above The planks of eucalyptus being installed as steps in the wall.

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Day One: Building Community 22.10.12

We’re really excited about the arrival of our NTNU/ AA Visiting School participants, who will be with us for the next two weeks. Each day, one of the participants will be contributing a blog entry. Here’s the first, by Simen Bie Malde – a 2nd year student at NTNU. Today was a very interesting day for us. We started off the day doing yoga as the sun rose above Dehradun.

After an hour, we had breakfast on the roof and then we went off to Chander Nagar, the Nanhi Dunya school we will be working with. The trip in itself was quite an interesting experience for us, with horns being honked everywhere. We met with the school teacher and some of the children – though right now a lot of them were away because it’s festival season here.

It was really nice meeting them and we received a warm welcome. Afterwards we had a tour of the site.

Though there is enough room for all the children, the learning conditions are very bad. The buildings are old and worn, and the roof leaks. We also visited the slum area around the school. The living conditions are of a different world altogether from what we’re used to.

In spite of the conditions, everyone is so happy and welcoming – it’s quite bizarre. Hopefully we will give them something they will enjoy, and we hope what we are doing here will generate a sense of community for the families attending the school.

Our task is to design and build a pavilion that will be used for Alex, Ivar and Clem’s main project as a laboratory. Furthermore, it should also serve as extra resource for the school in terms of a crafting area, film screening and Chai making spot. We were divided into four groups, and by the evening every group presented an idea for a design which we discussed together. I have to say it looks promising so far, and it seems we are all on the same page regarding the general ideas of the building. Tomorrow we will refine our sketches and agree upon a design which we can start building on Wednesday.

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Top Ramboll engineer Yanchee Lau being welcomed by Kiran.

Left Sketching outdoors.

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Top Right The students during their first meeting with the Chander Nagar pupils.

Right Lunch in the playground.

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Day Two: Building Community 23.10.12

Day two of our ‘Building Community’ NTNU / AA Visiting school – as described by Veronica, a 5th year NTNU student: Today is the second day of the workshop. Yet another day of yoga on a nice rooftop to sharpen our minds. The ability to stretch is varied, let´s just say some have got a long way to go (including the current writer).

After the yoga we had a wonderful breakfast and headed off to the site.

Our little companion Kashish, a little girl with an enormous amount of energy and smiles, greeted us with all her heart. We summed up from yesterday and the group was divided into smaller partitions. The first part of the day was spent further defining the elements in the design.

Working with the division of the zones within the structure, playing with the possibility to apply levels to the design and merging our structural ideas with the organisation of the interior. Our lovely team of engineers made a site review giving us a scaled drawing, giving us a realistic idea of the sizes.

We welcomed Elena to the team, one of the assistant teachers form NTNU with experience from similar projects. She arrived jet-laged but smiling just in time for lunch. Today’s food has been marvelous, having it prepared on site with freshly baked Parantha was an experience in itself.

After lunch we had a short summary about our progress and continued the work. The afternoon went on with testing the ideas with various 1:1 mockups in different materials and further refining the details. By the end of the day we had a nice selection of strategies for the different elements of the building. The structure holding the roof seems to be heading towards a wood construction and our carpenter is working on some interesting joints. Tomorrow we will decide the design and start construction. Looking forward to breaking ground!

After the dinner Kiran invited us to a BYO sticks event. At this occasion you basically dance with sticks. The evening is a part of Navrati a festival currently going on that relates to the half-moon of October. During the nine-nights of Navratri, huge tents are set up throughout the country and people get together to dance “dandiya”(dance with sticks). It was so much fun, the participants were eager to show us the proper way of engaging the sticks in the dance. If you have watched any Bollywood films and wondered if they dance like that in India, the answer is yes in weddings and in this festival.

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Top Simple mock-ups using bamboo.

Above Participants presenting design ideas to each other.

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Day Three: Building Community 24.10.12

The third day of our ‘Building Community’ project, written by AA Visiting School participant Inez Tan: After we learned some new yoga exercises this morning and we came to the site, we got divided into three groups. The first group thought about the shape, dimensions and material of the foundation. They also thought about where the columns would come and how many there would be. The second group thought about the trusses and made mock ups for two options. The third group tested out ideas for floors and walls in brick.

By the end of the morning group 1 started digging into where the foundation will come. They had to move some bushes that were in the way so we planted them on another spot at the site. At that time group 2 figured out two ways of making the truss and started painting it on the ground. Later they made mock ups to see how the dimensions came out. We changed some here and there and then we made a decision about how it would eventually look like. Then the wood came in! It looks really nice, so we can’t wait to start building this truss tomorrow.

Today was only half a day, because it was a festival day. We were celebrating the story of Prince Rama, heir to the throne of the kingdom.

Rama and his wife Sita have been banished from the kingdom by the king as a result of trickery by Rama’s stepmother. The story is about tolerance and sacrifice. Anyway, we watched the burning a huge devil somewhere in the city where all of Dehradun gathered to see it.

After the event we went to a temple for a prayer and then we went back to Nanhi Dunyia to burn our own little devil, sing around the fire and have a lovely homemade dinner. The singing got kind of crazy when we ended up doing national anthems and although Jone sang a great Chinese song, the Norwegians definitely by far won the singing contest.

A great day! The design is coming together and we took in a lot of Indian culture!

Telling the Story

Top Right Discussing a drawing in the sun.

Right Trying out jali configurations with bricks.

Bottom Preparing the ground for the foundation.

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Top Left Yanchee improvising in the outdoor office.

Above Vishal measuring the depth of the foundation trench.

Left Sifting through the dug soil to separate fine sand from larger stones.

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Day Four: Building Community 25.10.12

Day Five: Building Community 26.10.12

An account of day three of the NTNU/ AA Visiting

The fifth day of ‘Building Community’… a little bit of

School – courtesy of Anders Bjørneseth:

a challenging day, with some delays and confusion –

Today has been another busy day at the Chander Nagar. Beginning at the site with a thorough introduction to all our available working tools, what to use, how, when and why, we continued to discuss the design of the frame – and groundworks, before

but we got through it in the end! In the morning Clem popped up to Chhaya to check everything was going well with the training… and the mothers’ work has really improved! But back to the site, here’s the day, as described by Mari, a 2nd Year NTNU student:

starting on the manual labour. We split into two teams,

Today was the second day of school after the holiday

the one handling both the wood work and the joinery

for the children, and they were all so happy. It seems

for the trusses, and the other doing the digging of the

like they love talking to us, and they are really eager

ditch for the casting of the concrete foundation. In

to try out the phrases they have learned in English.

spite of some frustration due to the tight schedule, the

But even though the children is at school, we can

mosquitoes, and the compulsory miscommunication,

still do our digging, sawing and designing at the site.

we are in high spirits. Everybody’s really excited, and

The timber construction group worked out all the

whatever your problem is, it can always be solved over

joints, so that we will be ready to start on the first

a cup of Chai. However, being as the Workshop takes

frame tomorrow. They also started on the form work

place in India it’s important to get along with the gods

for the concrete casting tomorrow. On the other side

as well. So before putting our shovels to the ground

of the site, the foundation-group finished up digging

our local construction and yoga guru Kapil arranged

the ditch for the casting of the concrete foundation.

for a ceremony to the honour of Ganesh, the Hindi

After that they filled it with gravel. The first load of

God of luck, in order to ensure our blessing of the

gravel that was ordered was a pile of huge stones –

building. It’s so great finally seeing the project

another mistake due to miscommunication. After a lot

entering this phase of the process, getting your hands

of waiting we got the gravel that we needed, so that

dirty, and start seeing the big pieces come together.

the water during the monsoon can be drained. We also ordered water, plywood and reinforcement bars, which took hours to arrive. That’s India! So we had some more chai…

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Day Six: Building Community 27.10.12

Our sixth, action-packed, day…described by Erling Søyland, an NTNU 2nd year student: This day has probably been the one to show the largest progress so far. In the evening we finally got to cast the ring beam, and the first samples of the construction frames were finished. We started the day with some discussion as usual. This time it was about the formwork of the ring beam, but we agreed soon enough. In the beginning, we poured a layer of concrete in the bottom of the ditch we had dug during the days before. This way we had a little bit of level foundation for both, the reinforcement bars and the concrete we were going to pour in later.

In the mean time the wood team was working on the samples for the frames for the construction. Each of these frames contains five joints, and each joint has to be sawn lengthwise in the wood and carved out.

This is of course a lot of work, and it kept the team occupied for a large part of the day. After the layer of concrete had been poured into the ditch, we started making the last parts of the reinforcement bars. This was then put into the ditch, and a little bit of formwork was applied in the corners of the ditch that would have the ring beam above ground level.

At six o’clock in the evening we could start casting. Three people were mixing the concrete, and the rest formed a chain of people to transport the concrete from the mixer and into the ditch. We were done with the casting at eight o’clock, which was a great time considering we made about three cubic meters of concrete! After this, the dinner was waiting for us, and I really believe this was the most welcomed meal so far.

Telling the Story

Top Team work to compact the bottom of the trench.

Above Working into the evening to pour the ring-beam.

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Above Left Laying the brick retaining walls between the columns.

Above Right Setting the metal footings in the top of the columns.

Left Cement delivery arriving by bicycle.

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Day Seven: Building Community 28.10.12

Day Eight: Building Community 29.10.12

A collaborative blog by two NTNU second year

Another collaborative entry from Thomas and Maria:

students, Thomas Skinnemoen and Maria Ringstad, about the seventh day of the workshop!

This morning the girls left home early to start working

Today was Sunday, and supposed to be our day off

We (the boys) went to a Kashmiri with Kiran to buy

on the site, while the boys had the day off till lunch.

from working on the site. Due to shortage of time, the

some gifts for family back home. Afterwards we

guys and the engineers decided to go anyway

stopped by a clothing store where a few of the guys

.

The form work for the columns had to be finished, as

got some contemporary Indian style shirts. Some

well as the casting.

of us then visited the market to experience some

When we arrived at Chander Nagar there had been a power cut, so none of the electric tools were functioning. Just another one in the line of delays, resulting in the need for some improvisation. Before lunch the column form work was finish and alignment had begun. We all took a vikram to a restaurant near the market where we had some amazing food, the best food we’ve had so far during the stay. When we got back to the site we continued aligning the form work with the help of our mason. We soon after started mixing the concrete and begun casting it. Around 7 we finished up, almost done with the base for the columns. An hour later we arrived back home where all the girls were piled in the sofa watching a chickflick. They’d spent the day shopping with Kiran Didi, who’d taken them to a Saree-shop, a Kashmir-shop, to lunch, and then to get shoes. They’d also been to (and got lost in) the big and extremely crowded market, where it was possible to buy pretty much anything.

The boys popped into some cement-free clothes and took the vikram to another part of town. Here we meet up with the engineers. We first dropped by a Nike store and then went to this awesome restaurant where they served both beer and meat, they also showed the United-Chelsea game. The food was terrific! When we got back home the girls could report about a mobfight outside our house.

Hopefully we’re all one step closer to the goal, after another great day in Dehradun!

Indian culture. We arrived at the school just in time for lunch. In the meantime the girls and the engineers had started working on the brick walls in between the columns, as well as continuing on the timber frames.

Aligning the connection between the concrete and the wood took all morning. After lunch we all celebrated Kaushik’s birthday with song and chocolate cake. The work with raising the small brick walls continued, and eventually almost everyone was working on that.

The mason in charge knows how he wants it done, and makes sure everything is done to his standards ‘ pukka’ (good)! Throughout the evening we finished the brickwork, and we are now ready to start filling in the foundation tomorrow morning.

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Day Nine: Building Community 30.10.12

Our ninth day on site with the ‘Building Community’ team, described by Louise Underhill (an AA Visiting School participant) and Katarina Harbakvold (an NTNU 2nd year student): Today we started bright and early and arrived at the site for 8 o clock. One group started work again on the foundations, finishing the brick walls, removing formwork and filling in the centre with loads and loads of rubble, it was dusty and heavy work. The timber team have found their rhythm and with the help of the carpenter managed to nearly finish all of the frames today. Two people were working on the design of the plan for the interior and zoning the areas, which is starting to make sense. After a discussion with everyone, and some very diplomatic decisions, there is still some work to do to finalise the details of panels and levels within the building.

We are all starting to accept that we won’t be finished

by Saturday as we had hoped. It means that we need to prioritise what is most important. We want to have the main structure complete with a roof and then to start to suggest some of the details that might be used. It would be great to get some of the infill panels made as well as a few pieces of furniture. And if we have a chance, to use some of the beautiful woodblock printed fabric to make some cushions for everyone to sit on at the party on Saturday. Today was a tough day, but with the frames complete tomorrow and hopefully the final cast on the slab it will all start to come together. Fingers crossed.

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Top Group inspection of the plywood form work.

Middle Decision time in the studio.

Bottom Sketching out in the interior spaces.

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Day Ten: Building Community 31.10.12

Clem made another trip up to Rajpur today, to pay for the third and final week of training for the Chander Nagar women at Chhaya. She’ll be back on Friday to collect the material needed to set up our own studio in the new ‘craft shed’. Back on the site, the team was busy completing the sub-structure and planning out the timber eave beams. Here’s an account of day ten: described by AA Visiting School Participant, Vishal Jayan – a 4th year student at the School of Architecture and Planning in New Delhi.

A busy day was awaiting us at the school today. As per the schedule we were supposed to finish casting the floor slab and making the timber frames. The timber group started finishing the frames while the construction group was trying to finish the infill. Two of the completed timber frames were erected on the footings after which there was a discussion on how to make the structure more earthquake proof. After a bit of delays, the construction team finally managed to finish filling and compacting the infill. The slab was cast after 3-4 hours of hard work. In the meantime, the timber group finished making the drawings for the cross beams and made a few mock-ups of the in-fill panel.

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Feet submerged in wet cement.

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Day Eleven: Building Community 01.11.12

The eleventh day of the ‘Building Community’ project, written up by our in-house master mason, Hanna Malene Lindberg (an NTNU 2nd Year student): Today was yet another long day at the site-but we are also starting to see the results of our efforts!

The foundation group readied the front plinth for casting tomorrow morning, and made the brick wall for the extension in the back, though with slight adjustments. The original plan was to extend the back plinth right up til the neighbour’s wall, but this (we found out) goes against building permits, and also endangered some of the smaller trees on the back side of the construction. Now the back plinth is cut short to an extension of 70 centimeters, but still we hope this will allow the use of the construction from both sides. It will also add, however, some extra workspace for the carpenter to work.

So now we are ready for our last batch of concrete tomorrow morning, when we will finish both the front and back plinth. The floor itself looked really good this morning, and the mason has started to plaster the sides; finally the finer lines of the footprint emerges from its former scruffiness.

The timber group also had a busy day, and the frames are now all up and running. The reinforcements for the front joints arrived, got washed and painted, and are now securely fastened and ready to save the construction from any earthquake that comes along. Both the front and back eave-beams were made, and at the end of the day, all the frames were up! We have to say we like the sight.

In addition to this we had some visitors; an engineer came to see if the construction would withstand the powerful earthquakes that come in this region. The judgement was that our construction will hold, but that some of the school buildings probably won’t survive the next earthquake- this challenge, or the question about what to do with the space, we will leave for Alex, Clem and Ivar. All in all it has been quite a busy day, even though there was some discussion. We’re all wondering where the time went, but content that at least the construction body will be up by Saturday.

Then we can all sit back and enjoy the view of two weeks work. But first we have to wrap it all up – hopefully Friday and Saturday morning will be enough!

Telling the Story

Top Painting the steel reinforcement angles.

Above Left Frames taking shape on the ground.

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Above Visitors from IIT Rookee showing the group a presentation about daajji construction.

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Day Twelve: Building Community 02.11.12

Things became so busy on the penultimate day of ‘Building Community’ last Friday, that it was hard for anyone to get round to writing a blog entry. So here’s a very brief retrospective account! By this stage the overall group had split into two teams – one finishing off the timber frames (attaching cross-bracing in two of the bays, treating with neem oil etc) and another dealing with the roof. In amongst all this, we were still finishing off the concrete pour for the first slab, and resolving some important decisions for the spatial organisation of the interior. By the time we sat down to dinner in the evening, only a few of the plywood boards were up on the roof, so some of the boys stayed back to try and get some more up before the big day. We all knew the structure wasn’t going to be completely finished, but wanted for it to be as far along as possible…thank you boys!

Telling the Story

Top Installing the additional beam

Right Yanchee checking the timber frame is sitting correctly

between the wide opening.

in the steel footing.

Above Anders giving Sonu a helping hand to smooth the concrete surface.

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Day Thirteen: Building Community 03.11.12

The last day of ‘Building Community’ began with a frantic morning trying to complete the roof and tidy up the site, and ended with a beautiful afternoon of celebrations, performances and thank yous all round! The soundtrack of the morning was provided by the metal benders, who arrived early to start hammering the tin sheets into shape. They not only had to shape the tin to fit over the timber battens we were screwing on top of the plywood sheets, but also make the strips that will form a drip edge along the top ridge of the roof. Clem left site mid-morning to pick up our three guests who had arrived from Delhi: Siddharth Pandey and Pranav Singh from the urban development NGO CURE India and Aanchal Sodhani, from the British Council, with whom WORKSHOP architecture is collaborating for their next project. It was great to have them here to see what we’ve been up to, and to discuss some of the challenges we’ve faced. By the time they arrived, the plywood was nearly up, and the site was being prepared for a Nanhi Dunya ceremony under the watchful eyes of Kiran didi. The guests – the childrens’ families, members of the local community and other Nanhi Dunya friends, started to arrive around 3pm and for the next couple of hours the structure was used as a stage.

Children from a number of Nanhi Dunya schools performed dances and songs, and at the end of the ceremony all the participants were presented with wreaths of flowers and beautiful scarfs. Many of the participants wore really lovely Indian clothes that they had bought with Kiran (a big transformation from their morning attire!) and they all looked great!

It was also a chance to present the block-print trained mothers to the community, who are going to be the first users of the new space.

We ate our final evening meal inside the candle-lit structure, and although it wasn’t quite finished, we all thought it looked pretty darn beautiful! We had managed to install timber slats between two of the bays, and woodblock printed fabric within another bay, so it was easy to imagine what it would look like once it’s finished. It had been a hard two weeks, but very fulfilling to see the fruits of our labour! Apart from Louise and Inez, who have decided to stay on for an extra week to help us complete the interior (hurrah!) all the others left on Sunday afternoon – and the site feels very empty and strange without them. It was a great group, and we’re hoping that there will be more opportunities to work together in the future. For now, a huge danyavaad to the team!

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Top Children waiting to perform during the opening ceremony.

Above The community gathered to celebrate the new structure.

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Top Installing the rest of the slats.

Above The structure lit up at night.

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Right One of the mothers holding up her wood block design.

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Completing (and using) the Craft Shed 21.11.12

The week after the Visiting School we were really lucky

The challenge of using flat tin sheets is that they

to have Louise and Inez in town to carry on with the

can break very easily if they’re not carried carefully

completion of the structure. They got together with

and evenly – the slightly speedy rearrangement

the mothers we had trained in wood block printing to

of materials on the site in advance of the opening

discuss the plans for the interior space, which was a

ceremony means that there are unfortunately three

great opportunity to engage with the community we’re

holes in the roof tin, which we will have to seal.

working for. The imperative to build what turned out to

The other problem we have encountered is that of

be quite an ambitious structure for a two-week project,

accuracy, and fitting the sheets (which were pre-

meant that unfortunately there wasn’t as much time

bent on the ground) between and around the timber

as we had hoped for the participants to meet and

battens – so there’s been quite a lot of hammering on

collaborate with the eventual users of the building – so

top of the roof! All in all it’s looking really great, but has

it was nice that at least Louise and Inez were able to

taken longer than hoped.

share our ideas with the three mothers. Luckily they agreed with most of our decisions, so there was no

After Louise and Inez left (amidst lot of hugs and

need to radically re-think anything!

tears!) we decided to take some time away from site

Meanwhile, as well as dealing with the mountain

it up properly to submit to the MDDA. Clem spent a

of receipts that had piled up over the past two

couple of days in Delhi meeting the folks at CURE and

weeks (who knew architecture involved so much

dropping off the designs the mothers had drawn up

paperwork?!) – we were getting on with the roof and

with a famed wood-block carver – these will be ready

laying the tin sheets on top of the plywood. The roof

this weekend, and we can’t wait to start using them

is designed to solve some of the issues in the existing

in the pavilion. She then met up with Ivar and Alex in

buildings in the following ways: 1) the layer of plywood

Shimla, where they installed themselves for a four-day

beneath the tin provides a ceiling for the interior space

drawing retreat (with great views and chilled winds!).

and acoustic insulation for the monsoon season. 2)

We’ve been back in Dehradun since Monday, and are

the timber battens on top of the plywood allow the

working with Kiran to program the pavilion so that it

tin to be screwed into place from the side, rather

can really serve the school and the community. Five

than straight down, which would eventually create a

girls from class 8, along with their teacher Reena, had

leak. 3) an additional layer of 4mm corrugated plastic

their first wood-block session today – taught by the

between the plywood sheets and the tin will prevent

trained mothers – which hopefully will continue as part

condensation, and acts as a secondary waterproofing

of their curriculum long after we leave. We’re planning

and insulation layer. From a design point of view

to start the first after-school computer classes next

the flat tin is much more elegant than the standard

week, using a laptop very generously donated by

corrugated tin, and the plywood ceiling creates a

Yanchee (one of the Ramboll engineers). Our lovely

beautiful space underneath.

volunteer Kshipra is going to focus on helping us

to finalise the design for the main project, and draw

develop the program for the pavilion in the coming months – which for us is as important as the built structure; the way in which it is occupied and used will be the true measure of its success.

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Activity in the Rangshala 12.12.12

The past few weeks have seen a lot of activity in the

Building work on the interior of the space is still

craft shed – now officially named the ‘Chander Nagar

going on – mainly constructing the raised platform

Rangshala’. Rangshala is a hindi word combining

at one end, and the sink/ work-bench at the other.

two terms: ‘rang’ (colour) and ‘shala’ (school) and is

The original plan for the raised platform was to have

generally used to describe a place of artistic activity.

beams spanning between the columns, and timber

The Nanhi Dunya educational philosophy places as

planks on top – but Kiran preferred the idea of having

much emphasis on creativity and manual activities

four movable boxes that could be rearranged, stacked

as on academic achievement, and is developing a

or removed altogether. This will allow the space to

new curriculum at the moment to ensure that art,

have even more flexibility, which we’re all for! Two

craft, design and drama are properly integrated into

of the boxes will have drawers underneath, and the

the children’s timetables. We’re hoping that this new

remaining two will have storage chambers accessed

building will provide the perfect space for them to put

through hinged panels above. We’re working with

this curriculum into practice!

a new carpenter, Nathi, on these – and have been

The mothers we trained in wood-block printing have

learning a trick or two about how to work in fast and

been busy transferring their skills to Reena and the class 8 girls, who can now practice independently, and will eventually start producing printed items that can be sold to raise funds for the school. The designs we dropped off with the block carver in Delhi eventually arrived here in Dehradun, courtesy of a very nice man who took him on the train with him and delivered them to Clem at the station! The girls and the mothers were really excited to open up the package and start using the new blocks, which came out very nicely. Two great new teachers recently joined the school, one of whom has started the first computer classes – thanks to Yanchee’s wonderful donated laptop! At the moment these classes are during school hours for Nanhi Dunya pupils, but the intention is to open them up to the rest of the community on a contribution basis. We’ve also (finally) started regular film screenings every Thursday evening – which is something we’ve been meaning to do since we arrived but somehow never got round to…

These are getting busier and busier each week, and it’s great to see the Rangshala fill up with light and sound, and lots of eager little faces, as night falls.

efficient ways. Sonu, the brilliant mistri, came back last week to do the remaining masonry work. We finally got the go-ahead from Kiran on constructing the back extension, which is great as it means the floorspace is significantly larger. We decided in the end to go with 1-2 inch round riverbed stone as the flooring for this area – despite earlier reservations that this might look a bit like a glamorous spa! Unlike bricks, which would retain water and become covered in slippery moss, these small stones drain water away very efficiently, and minimize splashing onto the interior concrete slab. Their grey/ white colour also looks super nice against the dark concrete, and they offered an easy solution to surrounding the trunk of the tree (which rises through the middle of the platform). We will also use these stones to fill the drainage trench that we’ve dug all the way around the building directly under the drip-edge of the roof eave, to avoid the structure being surrounded by saturated earth during the monsoon.

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While all of this has been going really well, the

In many ways the Rangshala structure fulfills our

development of the rest of the project (the re-

original ambition for the project: to develop prototype

building of a classroom) has been held up by further

solutions to some of the infrastructural challenges

miscommunication and inaccurate information in

we had identified at the school – namely inadequate

regards to building permits. The full set of drawings

roof structures, poor lighting and bad ventilation.

that we prepared during our time away from site last

One of the interesting and unanticipated things we

month, were based on the existence of a ‘renovation’

have observed over the last month as the weather

permit – which we had been advised would allow us

has cooled down, is the tendency for the teachers

to demolish the existing classroom, and rebuild on

to move the classes outdoors. In the winter months,

the same site (hence avoiding ‘set-back’ regulations).

the outside air temperature is much warmer than

It in fact turned out that this was not possible after

the interior spaces, and the hot sun provides the

all, and that we would have to build in front of a 4-7m

perfect conditions for learning outside. Given this, a

zone, which we had know about since September, and

structure such as the Rangshala (providing a shaded,

was precisely why the proposed site for our building

ventilated and waterproof space in the hot months,

moved from the top of the playground to the existing

and a warm, sunny, open space during the cool

classrooms. Although we were very frustrated, we

season) is particularly appropriate as a classroom –

wanted to make the project work, so spent a week

and something the organisation now want to replicate

considering and drawing up various possibilities

in other Nanhi Dunya schools. The activities taking

and solutions. Time, however, was not on our side –

place in the new structure also align perfectly with the

and it soon became apparent that the only way for

desires of the parents that we met during our early

the project to proceed at all was for us to provide

workshops here. The only thing we haven’t been able

drawings for a contractor to build after we had left in

to address is the lack of adequate sanitation facilities,

the New Year. The whole premise of the project had

which is a whole project in itself and would require a

been to use the process of construction as a tool to

lot of research before embarking on. To cover all of

engage, empower and train the local community – not

this in four months was a tall order, and perhaps the

simply to provide built infrastructure for the school.

lesson we’ve learned is to focus on less, to do it really

We knew that this would be impossible if we weren’t

well, and with lots of fun and happiness!

here in Dehradun working closely on the project, and other commitments such as our exhibition in Delhi (opening in February) and preparations for our next project (due to start in March) prevented us from staying here any longer. So with great sadness we won’t be continuing the project as planned – but will be coming back briefly after the Christmas break in January to run some classes in the Rangshala, collect material for the exhibition, and say our farewells. Until then, its all hands on deck to complete electrical, plumbing and tidying up…

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Top Left Girls practicing with the new blocks.

Left Children sitting along the edge of the new building.

Right Kashish standing proudly in front of the Rangshala

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Acknowledgements Although initiated and led by WORKSHOP, Project Chander

We worked with a committed team of local community members

Nagar was an entirely collaborative process and we share credit

and skilled labourers: Saurabh, Vipin, Sonu, Nathi, Adesh, Ravi,

for the outcome with all the people who took part. The project

Sunny, Pradeep, Sonu, Ramdeen - and were guided throughout

couldn’t have happened without generous financial support from

the process by construction manager Kapil Sanghi. We were

our sponsor Lund+Slaatto. We would also like to extend a big

incredibly well looked after by the Chander Nagar staff Meena,

thank you to Ramboll UK for sending three of their employees,

Reena, Chitra and Deepta. Throughout the project we were

Yanchee Lau, Keelan Hegarty and Jago Boase, to provide pro-bono

supported by volunteers and friends who helped with everything

engineering expertise and advice on the ground. We are incredibly

from running errands to communication (culturally as well as

grateful for the hard work and dedication of students participating

linguistically!): Nishant Gautam, Ashu Goyal, Andi, Miriam and

in the project through NTNU and the AA’s Visiting School program:

Paulina, Manoj, Ravindra Padiyar, Raj Iyappan, Ashish – Khsipra

Louise Underhill, Inez Tan, Kaushik Naarayan, Vishal Jayan, Simen

Unial. We are grateful to Nanhi Dunya – Kiran Ulfat Goyal and Alok

Malde, Erling Soyland, Anders Bjorneseth, Katarina Harbaekvold,

Ulfat – for inviting us to work with them. Finally we would like to

Maria Ringstad, Mari Overli, Jone Norland, Hanna Malene Lindberg,

thank the community of Chander Nagar – the children, parents

Veronica Hellebergshaugen, Thomas Skinnemoen. These students

and teachers – for welcoming us into their lives and making the

were able to attend thanks to funding from NTNU, and were

process such a beautiful and fulfilling experience.

supported by Elena Archipoviate. Thanks also are due to Hans Skotte and Sami Rintala for their words of wisdom from afar! A number of organizations and individuals have generously offered their time and advice, including Andy Edwards and Anshu Sharma from SEEDS, Renu Khosla, Siddarth Pandey and Pranav from CURE, Gaurav Raheja and Sanjay Chikermane from IIT Roorkee, and Julia King. Thanks to the Art and Architecture Faculty of NTNU for their support and encouragement. We are also grateful to ABC Imaging in London, Indergaard & Svenil in Trondheim, and CopyCat in Oslo for sponsoring our original funding documents.

Telling the Story

This book has been produced by WORKSHOP in conjunction with the exhibition ‘Building Community’, which is being held at the British Council in New Delhi, and will transfer to the Architectural Association in London. The exhibition showcases both Project Chander Nagar, and Project Hariharpur, our next endeavour which is being funded by the British Council in association with the Architectural Association. The exhibition has been funded by the British Council, with additional support from the AA, Michael Frayn, Tanya McCallin, Eric Wragge, Alexander Groves, Manijeh Verghese, Tatiana Behrens. Thank you to Leika Aruga for her assistance with this book.

WORKSHOP January 2013 | edition 1 wrkshp.org Book Design Ryan LeCluyse Photos & Drawings WORKSHOP and the Visiting School participants

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Project Chander Nagar

WORKSHOP architecture

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January 2013