May 3 0 1990

"READING INTO" TEXTURE: Preparatory Understanding of Design in Urban Settings by Prasad T. V. Bachelor of Architecture Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal, Dakshina Kannada Karnataka, India Submitted to the Department of Architecture in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Degree Master of Science in Architecture Studies at the MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY June 1990 © Prasad 1990 All rights reserved The author hereby grants to M.I.T. permission to reproduce and to distribute publicly copies of this thesis document in whole or in part. Signature of author Prasad T. V. Department of Architecture May 11, 1990 Certified by Ronald B. Lewcock Professor of Architecture and Aga Khan Professor of Design for Islamic Societies Thesis Supervisor Accepted by_____________ Julian Beinart Chairman, Department Committee for MASAC HUSETTS INSTITUTE Graduate Studies OF TECHNOLOGY MAY 3 0 1990 UBRARIBS "READING INTO" TEXTURE: PREPARATORY UNDERSTANDING OF DESIGN IN URBAN SETTINGS by Prasad T. V. Bachelor of Architecture, MIT Manipal, India, May 1988 Submitted to the Department of Architecture on May 11, 1990 in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Degree of Master of Science in Architecture Studies Abstract. This thesis stems from a dissatisfaction with the quality of much of the designed urban environment produced by architects and urban designers in the Indian context. There is often a mismatch between the intentions of architects and the manner in which their designs are utilized by their inhabitantsin reality. This thesis argues that the reason for this mismatch is alack of depth in the preparatory understanding of the multi-layered urban matrix within which the design will be placed. Critical forces, such as the activity patterns, values &changing aspirations of the user, are often ignored or even neglected. These forces are of course inevitable components of urban settings, and become particularly significant where growth is exponential. Urban systems are undergoing stress and uncertainty has become a way of life. The influence of these forces on any environment is unavoidable. This thesis argues that a deeper preparatory understanding of these forces will improve the quality of design in the urban environment. Developing techniques of 'reading into' the texture of the urban setting is proposed as a strategy to improve such a preparatory understanding. There are several possible levels of 'reading into' the texture. Visual and morphological analyses constitute only one among these numerous levels. This thesis attempts to underscore one of the many levels of 'reading into' the texture which have been neglected or even ignored. This level essentially deals with the question - what forces shape and transform the urban setting? This level of 'reading into' the texture is especially important in the case of residential and commercial areas, the fundamental components of the urban environment. This discussion, for practical reasons, focuses on residential development. The discussion is set in a case study of the specific urban context of Delhi. First, an analysis of an unplanned, 'incrementally-evolved' urban village Shahpur Jat exposes some of these forces, their complex, interwoven and , most important, varying nature. The forces are innumerable - it is almost impossible to understand all of them. This thesis calls for an understanding of some of those forces which undergo the most variation over time. In the case of residential environments, the thesis identifies the user's perceptions of their environment' as a significant force influencing their development. This is followed by an examination of the manner in which the varying nature of this force is dealt with in architect -designed housing estates. In designing within an 'average environment' the architect is seldom aware of the actual users,their changing values and aspirations and so on. This makes the task of understanding these forces difficult. This heightens the already prevalent reluctance of the architect to extend his preparatory understanding beyond the level of morphological analyses into the level of user aspirations and values. However, at least in the case of residential environments, the neglect of a concern for these forces is detrimental. The technique of 'reading into' the texture of the urban setting attempts to encompass these multiple levels of preparatory understanding. Thesis Supervisor: Ronald Lewcock Title: Professor of Architecture and Aga Khan Professor of Design for Islamic Societies. 'Reading into'Texture:Preparatory Understanding pf Design in Urban Settings page 3 Acknowledgement My last two years at M.I.T. have been full of tumultuous and exhilarat- ing experiences. I would like to avail this opportunity to thank the people who made this thesis possible: - Prof. Ronald Lewcock, for his kindness, guidance and most of all, his patience; - Nabeel Hamdi, for his guidance especially during thesis preparation; - Prof. Peter Serenyi, for consenting to be my reader in such short notice despite his busy schedule; - Akhtar Badshah, for his continuous support and encouragement. And last but not least, Ani, who treated my thesis as if it were his own. page 4 'Reading into'Texture: PreparatoryUnderstanding of Design in Urban Settings List of Contents. Abstract. Acknowledgment. 1. Introduction. 7 2. The Texture of Delhi. 17 3. The Case of Shahpur Jat. 39 4. The Case of Siri Fort Housing. 59 5. Reflections. 77 Bibiliography. 'Reading into'Texture: PreparatoryUnderstanding of Design in Urban Settings page 5 page 6 'Reading into'Texture: PreparatoryUnderstanding of Design in Urban Settings 1. Introduction. The Scope of the thesis The discussion in this thesis will primarily focus on techniques for preparing to design within 'average environments' in non-western urban contexts. In this thesis, I have defined the term 'average environment' to mean any characteristic urban environment composed of mix of 'average'building types such as housing, commercial complexes and so on. These developments constitute a major portion of the built environment emerging in the urban setting.' Furthermore, these developments are vital components which figure in the daily activities that take place in an urban setting. In most situations involving the design of 'average environments', the prospective users are unknown until the 'Reading into'Texture: PreparatoryUnderstanding of Design in Urban Settings page 7 buildings are built and begin to function. The architect, in concurrence with his client (often a governmental agency or a developer), makes assumptions about the nature and characteristics of the development, establishes a set of intentions and produces his contribution to the 'average environment'. What efforts can an architect make to improve the quality of the 'average environment'that they assist in producing? What preliminary design studies can an architect undertake in order to produce designs such that his 'assumed intentions' corelate with the manner in which final development works? - these questions are the central focus of this thesis. In India, as in many others countries, the emergence of architecture as a major determinant of the quality of the the 'average environment' is a recent phenomenon2. Architects are becoming increasingly involved in large-scale projects including housing colonies and urban design projects which involve commercial and residential areas. In spite of the positive aspects of this development, the consciously designed 'average environment' that they have been produced lately seldom 'come alive's in terms of the relationship between man and the environment. Ironi- cally, this quality is still found in abundance in many organically- evolved or incrementally-grown traditional environments. In spite of the fact that there is no professional architect involved in shaping these settings, they generate a variety of activities. Perhaps the reason for the success of these settings is the fact that they are naturally shaped by unseen urban forces such as the lifestyle, activity patterns, values and page 8 'Reading into'Texture:Preparatory Undersfinding of Design in Urban Settings aspiration of the people and so on. Irrespective of the involvement of a professional architect, these urban forces will eventually influence and shape the new built form that emerges. These urban forces are inevi- F:7 table components of the urban setting. By'forces'I mean external and internal stimuli which have an impact on 1:5) * ~. the urban setting. They have the ability both to transform and retain in TFM4 I ~A~t6~ 4' ps~wcTf.. ~p stability existing characteristics of the urban environment. The use of this term is very similar to Habraken's employment of the term 'powers' - i.e. any person or group of persons with the ability to transform the site. However, his usage of the term, to my mind, appears to focus largely in the human actions that directly shape the environ- AA ment. The present definition of the term 'forces', besides including these 'powers', also includes some of the more indirect products of human action such as land value, economic structure and so on. In this sense, the term 'powers' maybe seen as a subset of the term 'force'. Some of the common forces that shape the built environment are location, accessibil- ity, land value, economic structure, social cohesion and so on. While some of these forces are directly recognizable in the physical environment, others involve the human psyche and hence are not readily recognizable

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