top architecture design thesis 2021
DR. D.Y. PATIL COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE
AKURDI, PUNE-INDIA
Design thesis authored by
Priya Gupta
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THESIS SPECIFICATIONS
Thesis Title: RESILIENT DESIGN FOR FLOOD-PRONE AREAS, Kokilamukh Village, Jorhat, Assam
Project type: Disaster relief Architecture & Design
Year of completion: 2021
ARCHITECTURAL CONCERN
The environment is an amalgamation of resources and hazards that has been under breach due to various reasons and the most influential one being natural disasters. India has been facing such catastrophe events to a greater extent affecting the ecological balance altogether. As per the Centre for research on epidemiology of disasters, flood has been the worst affecting of all the disasters and is feared most by the society due to its capability of its extent of destroying sparing mercy to none. India alone has faced more than 10,000 loss of life and total damages of around 16,500 crores between 2010-2016, according to the Central Water Commission (CWC, 2018). The most affected states include Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar with 175, 149 and 89 flood events per year. The cause of flood in Assam is due to the elevation difference from the origin (+4.5km lvl) of flow of water body to the target location (+0.8km lvl) thereby increasing the intensity of flow.
For instance, the surge in flood events in Assam from 1969 till date lasting for more than 4 months has affected the region to an extent that has led to permanent relocation of tribes resulting in the loss of cultural heritage. The effect is spiked due to the lack of support from the government primarily because of the paucity of coverage of the rural regions affected. The local intervention mitigates the damage at private property level but on a broader level leaves them with no option but relocate for the time being until the flood risk is minimized. This has become a never ending process due to the deficiency of a permanent solution.
The site selected for this project is Kokilamukh Village of Jorhat district, Assam which is famous for Jadav Payeng, also known as the ‘Forest Man of India’, is an environmental activist and forestry worker from Majuli who built a man made forest on a sandbar of river Brahmaputra turning it into a forest reserve called Molai forest. The Mising tribe of the village have the tradition of living along the banks of the river and hence are constantly exposed to flood and erosion which has led to their unceasing relocation from one place to other. The changing coarse of Brahmaputra river along this village.
Thus, site centric interventions are needed with the help of pre-existing architectural theories and models with the addition of Urban involvement as well that can be made easily adaptable.
STRATEGIES AND CONCEPTS
Due to this elevated rate of flood affecting the prevailing structures, it becomes inevitable to come across the concept of resilient design strategies which involves design of buildings, landscapes, communities, and regions in response to those vulnerabilities to ensure that the locals are well prepared for the fore-coming flood. Resiliency is different from Resistance as it focuses on reducing the impact of flood by “living with flood” instead of “fighting and trying to avoid the occurrence of flood”. The Flood resilience cycle would include the stages of Prevention-Preparation-Response-Recovery.
The strategies would be linked in three stages as mentioned below-
1. Management based resiliency
2. Urban level based resiliency
3. Architecture level based resiliency
The theory adopted to achieve the above stages is the Law of Floatation (buoyancy) and hence, the usage of positive buoyancy can be applied to the built structure to ensure floatation.
After attaining the resiliency for built structure, the next step includes a resiliency plan at urban level. This plan includes a well laid drainage system according to the topography of the site directing the slope towards 4 major detention ponds.
This pipeline would contain cisterns of 2m diameter and 2.5m depth placed 3m c/c. The floodwater would first get accumulated in these cisterns and the overflow from the first cistern will fill the subsequent cistern hence reaching the detention pond.
Hence, considering water percolation rate @0.6m per day w.r.t soil type, it would take 8-9 days to completely drain off the flood water which originally took 2-3 months to drain off. The supply lines from the detention pond can be utilized to provide daily use water during flood times as hand-tube wells wouldn’t be accessible.
The volume of earth excavated (3180 cubic.m) to fill in the cisterns below ground level shall be used for embankment design using jute nets to prevent soil erosion along the bank of the river.
Thus achieving urban resiliency.
FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION
In order to achieve resiliency in a group of structures of a village one needs to consider both architecture as well as urban component with the application of theory of floatation in accordance to the site context. This would help one to not just live with the flood but also expand with it.
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