affordable "co-housing"

with Jithin Kairamkonda and Devansh Mahajan

client: Housing Studio

location: NCR, India

year: 2014

What if you designed a town starting from its very building blocks: houses and their neighborhoods? What if the future of housing isn't single-family homes but vibrant communities of interwoven houses and spaces for co-creation? What if urban sprawl could be minimized into a communal landscape that celebrates kinship and co-created opportunity for all?

This project started with the dream of a home and then a neighborhood. We clustered housing aross income levels and user types to create a rich tapestry of co-housing. This 136-hectare township was designed for 7200 families and prioritizes diverse lifestyles, climate resilience through thermal efficiency, and financial sustainability. It investigates the manifestation of territoriality or "hearthkeeping" in the undesignated and unbound relationship between the public and the commons.

Four incremental housing types are arranged strategically, with Type 4 units on the periphery for associated car numbers and Type 3 units adjacent for shared facilities. Type 1 & Type 2 units serve as low-income housing with space for revenue-generating activities.

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The township is divided into seven sectors, each with specific program elements. The commercial street, featuring offices, malls, and hospitals, is situated near other city centers. A heritage resort and handicraft center next to Village Neola Khandpur promote tourism revenue.

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Drawing from the idea of the 15 minute walkable city, the township is designed to de-emphasize automobile use and encourage pedestrian exploration. In many senses this township served as a simulacra of the larger and much older city. The overall city is defined by its nodes, districts, and edges spaced by pedestrian two  "highways"
: the meandering pathway for leisure and the direct walkway for hurried pedestrians getting about their day.