DESIGN.
How can technology, spatial design and policy restructuring be implemented to provide sustenance to the financial and cultural ethos of Delhi's informal settlements, whilst benefiting the city as a whole ? Can India’s Smart Cities be re-imagined as a connected urban realm where the theater of life, commerce and equitable society thrives in Resilience and Spontaneity?
CONTEXT
BIG IDEA
CORRIDOR
PROGRAM
GALLERY
Clustering and Proximity of multiple urban villages in South Delhi
Limits of urban village and unauthorized colonies, and services available
Typical building typologies found in the settlement
Clustering and Proximity of multiple urban villages in South Delhi
context.
Khirki Extension, South Delhi
One interesting phenomena in Delhi is that of its Urban Villages. They are land parcels bought from farmers, which have eased building regulations imposed within their boundaries.
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My site of focus is on one such urban village, Khirki Extension in the south of Delhi. It sits in between two formal housing communities, a shopping mall, a monument park and a metro station. Khirki has a diverse demographic, filled with migrants, students, daily wage workers and so on.
big idea.
Integrating Khirki with its surroundings
The settlement is physically and socio-economically isolated from its surroundings. Fragmented micro-businesses and social networks, an unfamiliar spatial structure, inequitable land distribution and an unregulated built environment are characteristic of settlements such as Khirki Extension
ISOLATED
CONNECTED
ISOLATED
INTERACT
RE-PURPOSE
corridor.
Immersive realm of commerce and interaction
The corridor becomes a space within which technology and improved service provisions would be made available to residents and business owners adjacent and within to utilize.
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Through subtractive design, retrofit, facade treatment and other infill + modification strategies, buildings along identified thoroughfares would be re-purposed as public or semi-public function.
These spaces would then be digitally connected to one another to form one cohesive socio-spatial network of business and livelihood without disrupting the rest of Khirki Extension. These corridors would also facilitate easier movement through the village
Existing Site
First phase would be primarily retail corridors, containing textile outlets, convenience stores, farmers markets and other such micro-businesses
The completed network will function as a cohesive socio-economic setting for the village and for outsiders to move through and interact with local businesses and activites
Existing Site
program.
How would it happen?
The project is envisioned to be a phased one, planned over the course of 5 years and 3 phases.
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The initial stages would involve collaborative workshops with a multitude of stakeholders, to develop building specific design strategies
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This would be followed by a stage wise construction of the corridor network and integration of services and digital infrastructure
