SUNDERPUR housing
The living conditions in the leprosy villag Sunderpur are disastrous. Very close quarters and severe scarcities in sanitary as well as structural damages caused by cheap building materials and inappropiate construction methods that are not suitable for the very humid climate have lead to the present critical situation. Finally the earthquake from Nepal has harmed once more the poor houses, so that some roofs and walls broke down.
In a 2-weeks research at the of October 2015 the main basics have been surveyed. In addition to geographic surveys and actualisation of existing plans, personal talks to the inhabitants were very important. They have been questioned about their actual living conditions, the construction defects and dificulties. A big challange was to understand the everyday habits and the indian way of life, as this will be a very important basis for the following design process.
We agreed on the following principles:
- Use of local building material. We could make good experience with adobe and bamboo.
- Earthquake resistent builiding
- Improvement of the sanitary situation has to be part of the design
- The houses have to offer a flexible compendium so that they can adapt to the changing needs of their inhabitants.
In February 2016 we started to realise the first buildings. 6 students from Linz, 2 guests from Czech Republic, 12 local workers and 1 building manager are working on the site.
Images and Plans
Technical Description
The design proposes a two-row development with three two-story units each that will be occupied by a large family or by two medium-sized households. Inner courtyards and verandas afford private outdoor spaces. Two widely projecting roofs offer protection from driving rain and overheating.