Integral Studio on Inclusive Design of Temporary Shelters at Kumbh Site at Ujjain

OBJECTIVES:

The integral studios are conducted at SPA-Bhopal to encourage students to interact vertically and horizontally within a programme and with other programmes offered at the school. The students make interclass multi-disciplinary teams to work on a project. Taking the opportunity and challenge of upcoming Simhasta in 2016, the two week intense integral studio would be conducted (27^th August to 4^th September) with universal design (UD) focus. The proposed studio will explore equal opportunity problems at Simhasta for diverse users, irrespective of age, ability, gender, class, caste, religion, poverty, literacy, urban/rural background. The objectives of the studio include:

·         To identify the environmental challenges for diverse users visiting historic pilgrimage.

·         To identify other major environmental challenges associated with Simhasta.

·         To provide contextual and inclusive solution for most visited areas like sacred bath, associated rituals, information and basic amenities provided during Simhasta.

·         To develop a detailed proposal for temporary prototype shelters for Simhasta yatris.

STUDIO BRIEF:

During Simhasta-2016 the city is expected to receive 50 million floating population, which is almost 10 times of the total population of the city. To accommodate this floating population temporary infrastructure will be developed by the government and private bodies; this is a regular practice and is done at every Simhasta. There is a large expanse of crop land along the holy river Kshipra, which is acquired by the government every twelve years for the development of this temporary infrastructure.  The total estimated land needed to accommodate projected population in Simhasta is about 2,000 hectares. The integral studio teams would design temporary settlement in a site of 32 hectares next to the Kshipra river (please refer the enclosed site plan). The settlement will accommodate about 20,000 people and would have roads, pathways, open spaces, common facilities and all basic services. It would be planned in reference to the rituals of the holy bath, the Ujjain city and it’s planning during Simhasta. The temporary settlement for 20,000 people would have prototype shelters that could be repeated for every 1000 people. These shelters may further consist of modular units that may be repeated for different purposes in the site. Following are the requirements for one prototype shelter of every 1000 persons in the site, the students would make detailed area program with the help of standards:

·         Road network: roads, parking (if required), pedestrian pathways etc.

·         Accommodation: 80 single family units and 70 dormitories for10 people each

·         Common facilities:  Annakshetra (Dining facility 1/1000) , Dugdhakendra ( Milk booth 1/ 1000), information booths (2 for1000), security booths (2 for1000), medical unit (1/1000), shops (1/1000), NGO offices (1/1000), Sermon hall (for pravachan/religious discourses 1/10,000), exhibition space (1/10,000)

·         Basic services: urinals, toilets, drinking water facilities, electricity for accommodation units, street lights, sanitation, solid waste disposal etc. 

·         Others:  open spaces for ventilation, kirtan and other community activities; provisions for traffic control, crowd monitoring, law, order and security

THE INTEGRAL STUDIO CORE TEAM:

Dr. Ajay Khare, Prof. Savita Raje, Dr. Rachna Khare, Prof. Sandeep Sankat, Prof. Gaurav Singh, Dr. Devarishi Chaurasia, Dr. Nataraj Kranthi, Prof. Sandeep Arora, Prof. Sushil Solanki, Mr. Amit Khare.