On the Record — A House in Six Days
Architect Anupama Kundoo shows how a house can be simple enough to be built by a mason yet sophisticated to withstand seismic shocks
Architect Anupama Kundoo
Anupama Kundoo’s experiments in material research have been internationally recognised for over two decades. If her projects in Auroville have worn the mark of a sensitive designer, her installations across the world have told stories of how socio-economic context in architecture can nurture healthy societies. In her latest installation at the Roca London Gallery, she presents Full Fill Home and Easy WC. While these are prototypes, Kundoo will present full-scale version at the Venice Architecture Biennale next month, like she did in 2013, when she presented a facsimile of her “Wall House” project, done entirely in brick. For the Madrid-based architect, “architecture is the result of building knowledge and process, where communities — craftspeople, manufacturers, designers and users — are empowered”.
Excerpts from an interview:
What’s the idea behind Full Fill Homes?
Full Fill Homes are low-cost housing units made from prefabricated ferro cement hollow block units. The voids inside the blocks can be used as storage or as furniture, and can even be tinted with a range of pigments. Doors, windows and roofs, too, can be done with ferro cement, doing away with the need for complex machinery. The idea was to empower local communities; these can be made in the backyards of masons’ homes. The material is quite versatile, and is stackable because it’s lightweight.
How does the Easy WC work?
The Easy WC combines a shower cubicle and toilet on either side of a covered platform with a washbasin. The structure consists of six ferro cement elements that can be built on-site in a day or two. It can be plugged onto a freestanding septic tank, a dry pit, or over a drainage system, depending on soil conditions.
Who can use them, and how much will it cost?
It’s not meant only for the poor, it can provide instant shelter in disaster areas, and can also be effective as guest houses or students hostels in environmentally sensitive locations. The house can be built within Rs 4 lakh. In fact, these prototypes were tested in student workshops.
How do they tie up to the environment and economy?
Affordable housing is a growing concern. The tug of war between environment and development, and spatial exclusion and social segregation is a universal one. This design helps achieve more with less. It’s about the use of “inner” resources (intelligence, knowledge and time) to prevent depletion of “outer” resources. And the key to building an affordable future is education, not in the formal sense, but prioritising lifestyle issues and consumption patterns. We have to learn to discriminate between necessary and the superfluous so that cities not only thrive, but survive.
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