Crystal Paradise - Pune

Proposed residential project in Pune.

P O R O C I T Y - Restructuring Dharavi, Mumbai, India

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Structural grid - 3 x 3 M - Residential Rehab

-  apartments, home based industries, community spaces, broom making, jari work, etc.

Structural grid - 6 x 6 M - Residential Rehab + Small scale amenities rehab

-  apartments, home based industries, community spaces, crèche's, medical stores, grocery stores,

   beads and chains, jari work, papad making, etc.  

P O R O C I T Y                                                                                                                                                                                  

Rehabilitation proposal, Dharavi, Mumbai, India

Poro City is an endeavor to organize extremely high density environments into an integrated 3 dimensional city, addressing concerns of climate, environment and sustainability of community at large.

The site selected for the same is Dharavi, Mumbai, one of the largest slums in the world and one of the most contentious sites of the new millennium. It is poised for being the one of the largest regeneration schemes of recent times and has attracted investments from some the world’s biggest real estate companies and leading global architecture and planning firms. Spread over 216 hectares, the site is triangular in plan has a residential population of 376,000 people[1].  In addition to the residential population, the district has an estimated 5000 businesses and 1500 single room industries[2]. A large number of these businesses and industries are Hybrid homes i.e. the residents have ‘Live and Work’ pattern. There is also a serious lack of Public amenities like schools, colleges, hospitals and parks. Unfortunately existing redevelopment proposals from government appointed officials don’t address the socio- economic and communal concerns of the district, due to the economic viability of the project.

Poro City is an alternative approach to a case like Dharavi, which addresses all the physical and economic concerns of its development, giving them a new way of life, but preserving the idea of a Hybrid home and community. It is derived out of progressive subdivision of a Right-Angled Sierpenski’s Pyramid, giving a range of volumes and voids to incorporate a variety of programs.

 The smallest self divisible unit of the Sierpenski’s Pyramid is further pixilated into 3m x 9m cuboids and divided into collective housing units with north facing terraces.  This is done to avoid the harsh tropical sunlight enabling the terraces to be used during the daytime as well. Residents can use this terrace for work during daytime and leisure in the evening. Larger interstitial volumes may be used as community spaces. As the scale of the fractal increases, so do the cuboids and as a result, the hierarchy in program, The next scale of cuboids (6m x 18m) house ‘Kumbharwada’, i.e. larger houses for potters and small scale amenities like clinics and grocery stores. Consequently, the next 3 scales of pixel groups are capable of handling programs ranging from educational institutions, small scale industries, cinemas to large scale industries and offices.

Circulation is integrated in the structural trusses. Poro City is a car free environment where means of vertical, horizontal and diagonal access is through elevators, Moving walks, escalators and funiculars. The open ended nature of the system allows for different volumes to be ‘Plugged-in’ and can accommodate for growth and change in density, if need be.

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[1] Kamala Raheja Institute of Architecture and Environmental studies, 2007. Dharavi Presentation to Housing Ministry, 12 March 2007, Mumbai, India.

[2] Wikipedia, 2010. Dharavi [Online] (Updated 8 December, 2010) Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharavi [Accessed 7 January, 2011]

Project Team: Rajiv Khushalani, Thomas Kariath, Mihir A Sanganee