Issuu

Akhra

A Tribal Culture Centre

SITE: RANCHI, INDIA [Ongoing] PROFESSIONAL PROJECT, The Glocal Project, 2020

PROJECT TYPE: CLIMATE RESPONSIVE AND COST PROHIBITIVE COMMUNAL SPACE TEAM: RIMJHIM SINGH, SUSHILA MURMU AND SIDDHANT JENA

ROLE: OVERALL BUILDING AND STRUCTURAL DESIGN, CONCEPTUAL AND CONSTRUCTION DRAWING, 3D MODELS AND VISUALISATIONS, BILL OF QUANTITIES, BUILDING TECHNIQUES RELATED WORKSHOPS AND SITE CO-ORDINATION AND EXECUTION

TOOLS: AutoCAD for construction drawings, SketchUp for 3D models, MS Excel for Bill of quantities, STADD for structural design, Twinmotion for renders, and Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign for Prestentation.

Base render: Siddhant Jena 3D model and Post-processing: Rimjhim Singh

The Site

The site is situated in the open green fields in the village Banta which lies 60 km east of Ranchi, India. It has tropical dry and wet climate and experiences hot summers and cold winters with ample of rainfall. The building orientation and configuration has been defined in accordance to the site conditions to be derive maximum benefits1

The Indian Chotanagpur region is a home to numerous Indian tribes. As the region drifts towards development, the tribal culture is being abandoned and is slowly effacing. These traditions form the crux of the region’s identity. Re-establishing the relation between the tribes and their roots is a pressing matter. Community spirit is an important aspect of the tribes. There are few bonding systems of the tribes in this region: such as Dhumkudiya - practised by the Oraon tribe, Giti Uda- practised by the Munda tribe and Akhra - the most practised bonding system in the region.

Akhra has been chosen as a solution for reviving this relation. Akhra //noun/m. is a centre for community management and assistance for tribal communities. Traditionally, an open field was demarcated as Akhra, where people gathered for different occasions such as fairs, bazaars, weddings and festivals. To address the current issues of learning, researching, skill development and rehabilition of women in need and children who are victims of human trafficking; an establishment (Akhra) has been proposed.

Working in harmony with nature is a core principle of the tribes. Even their construction activities are informed by it. Respecting these traditions and the environment, to solution is designed to minimise environmental impact, use materials found in situ and to contruct an energy efficient building. The building is design is rooted to the regional architecture while imbibing the local modernism: a central courtyard surrounded by rooms and constructed using Laurie Baker’s rattrap bond and filler slab to reduce quantities of required material. This reduction in quantities lowers the costs as well as wastage and the orienation, layout and techniques make the building energy efficient.

While the goal is to establish a system that will promote and preserve the culture and aid those in need; the entire process and the establishment of the system is predicted to generate income as well by employing the poeple of the region in that process.

1. A vernacular house in Jharkhand has “multifunctional” spaces arranged around a courtyard; where each space can act as any space as per the need and time during different seasons [for instance, bedrooms can be any room in the south for warmth during winters] . The building is inspired from the concept and its configuration is derived by eliminating wings from the windward side for an unobstructed air flow and to achieve an open courtyard to accomodate a large number of spectators during events.

From top lo bottom: Rice fields and hills of Jharkhand; Tribals perform rituals on Sarhul, a festival for worshipping nature; Chhau dance being performed at a fair; Vernacular houses of Jharkhand

Deconstructing Akhra

Energy efficient building solution emanates from locally available building materials, both new and old/reusable; assembled using cost effective and passive energy saving building techniques such as rattrap brick bond and filler slab (using earthern pots as fillers).