In collaboration with Julien Feng
Sector 52 in the south of Chandigarh, is on the limit of what was planned at the conception of the city and what lies in the new towns that have sprung up around Chandigarh as it gains in population and popularity. Within the sector 52 we can observe 5 main typologies ranging from preexistent village to MIG (middle income group housing), and emergency housing.
This position, as a limit in between Chandigarh and Mohali, but also close to the highway, and to the new main station, makes it a place of many fluxus. The lack of organization in between the elements that constitute it, makes it an ideal reflexion ground for the reinterpretation of the existing urban plan, to fit it into a new more complicated context and a population density, higher every day.
In regards to this we created a new urban type capable of taking these factors into consideration, whilst all the while using lessons learned from drew, fry, and jeanneret (the original city builders). Notably the idea of the green city, and the village unit organization. We also use elements from the local vernacular architecture, as well as ecological innovations.
What is proposed is a high density single home, based on a reinterpreted village unit, that brings nature into the habitations, and makes it as much part of the home as the inside. We use elements of traditional architecture such as the chandni, and “moucharbié” to adapt it to the lifestyle of the local population and climate. The urban plan is thought out in phases as to be able to adapt itself the the influx of population without overbuilding infrastructure. The aesthetic and strategem behind the new urban plan make it able to become the missing piece of the puzzle in between the «islands» that surround it . it becomes and area of exchange an overlapping characteristics.
-SA-L 