ARTIST VILLAGE: BELAPUR

LOCATION MAP

•The Belapur Incremental Housing is

located in Sector 8, Belapur, Navi
Mumbai, Maharashtra.
•This was envisioned to cater all types
of income groups.

Here is a google map showing the

location of The Artists Village
 Introduction
Belapur Incremental Housing Project – a proposal for mass affordable housing in Navi
Mumbai (New Bombay) designed by Ar. Charles Correa in 1983.
The houses are low cost and flexible as well as incremental, expandable and adaptable
with essence of local vernacular architecture.
Cardinal Principles:
Incrementality: Overriding principle to give each unit its own site to allow for expansion.
Participation: Consequently families do not share walls with neighbours allowing each to expand
his own house.
“Making house is like a
Income Generation: Simple houses constructed by traditional masons generating employment for bird building its nest.
local workers. You start with a basic
Pluralism: Several plans exist covering the social spectrum, from squatters to upper income house, but you have to
families. let people change it to
Equity: Yet the footprint of each plan varies little in size (45sqm-70sqm) maintaining fairness in the their own needs.”
community.
- Charles Correa
Planning Characteristics: Hierarchy, Cluster arrangement, Private ‘open to sky’ space, Shared
Courtyard (communal space), Informal character to pathways.
User Group: Originally built for artisans but only a few reside currently and now there is mixed
occupancy.

Proximity:
N
2 KM from Railway
Station
40 KM from Airport
 CLIMATE CLIMATE RESPONSIVE

Sloping roof to deal with heavy rainfalls in the

monsoon.

USER GROUP
ACCESSIBILITY
• Originally built for artists.
• 2 km from belapur railway station.
• But very few still reside.
• 32 km from eastern freeway.
• Now, there’s mixed occupancy.
• 40 km from the airport.

ACTIVITIES ON SITE
SERVICES
• Residential.
• Water is supplied by the NMMC from
•A nulllah helped to drain the excess rain
•Cleaning staff maintaining the open
Morbe dam. water as well as stream the water from the
spaces.
• Electricity supplied by the MSEB. waterfall.
• Few people into gardening.
•Streams for 4 months.
• Children playing in playgrounds. •Helps to maintain a cool environment.
 A BRIEF INTRODUCTION
•Belapur incremental housing project - a proposal for
mass affordable housing in New Bombay (Navi
Mumbai), which demonstrated how high densities
could be achieved with low-rise courtyard homes,
built with simple materials at a human scale.

•Based on clusters of between seven and 12 pairs of

houses arranged around communal courtyards, the
buildings did not share party walls – allowing each
family to extend and adapt their own house
independently.

•550 families were planned for in a 5.4-hectare area

limitation.

SITE PLAN OF ARTIST’S

VILLAGE
PLANNING SPACES
• The project is generated by a hierarchy of spaces. The
first is the private courtyard of single dwelling used as
a space for outdoor activities during most of the year.
• Subsequently, seven units are grouped to form a
small courtyard town of about 8m x 8m.
Three of these groups form a module of twenty-one
homes that describes the collective space of the next
scale (approximately 12m x 12m).

3x1x7

1X7
house-community space-settlement
private world-communal court-greater public space.the public promenade
of community

PRINCIPLES:
• Incrementality •pluralism • equity
Living area
• identity •income • open-to-sky space Services
generation
Private courtyard

CHARACTERISTICS: Access roads

• Planning: hierarchy
cluster arrangement
private 'open to sky space' • Materials and Construction: brick walls, roof- wooden shingles
toilet blocks outdoor stone pavings, simple floor
shared courtyard(communal space) plans and building methods
informal character to roads • Other: interactive space
• Architecture: pitched roof green
 THE MODULES
• Project demonstrates how high density housing (500 people per hectare) can be
achieved in a low-rise typology, while including (open to sky spaces) and services, like
schools, that the community requires
• Overriding principle is to give each unit its own site to allow for expansion
(Incrementality)
• The footprint of each plan varies little in size (from 45 sq. m to 70 sq. m), maintaining
equity (fairness) in the community

• Scheme caters wide range from the lowest budgets of Rs 20000, Middle income
groups
Rs 30000-50000 and Upper income Rs 180000.

• The village was produced with the idea that the residents were going to alter it in many
ways, making it truly their own, therefore homes are freestanding, so residents can
add on to them as their families grow; and differently priced plans appeal to a wide
variety of income levels.
TYPE B TYPE C

TYPE E

7 HOUSE CLUSTER
 •A comparative study was services
made between
condominium 4 and 5 to
study the differences in
matters of maintenance,
security and ambience.

• A common garden divided Observations from

the entries of both the condominium 4:-
condominiums and a well • Wider
serving both. accessibility
• Gated entries
• Drainage on
LEGEND periphery of
walking pathways.
OLD TYPOLOGY
•Separate entry for
COMMON GREEN SPACES
pedestrian and vehicles.
GATE FOR CONDOMINIUM •No hindrance of vehicles
well
and pedestrians.
WATCHMAN’S CABIN
• Organized
SEATING SPACES •Defined open and
PARKING common spaces with trees
KATTA still maintained.
• Open to main road
G+1 STUCTURES
MAP SHOWING LAYOUT OF CONDOMINIUM 4
G+2 STUCTURES AND 5

pathway between the GROUND STUCTURES personal open to sky

common space and space of the house
the houses •There was a common entrance space •B
o
to both condominiums. However
t
condominium 4 being a gated and h
secured one, all the vehicles belonging
to the residents were parked in the t
common open space not harming any h
converted parking space
tree or green spaces e
 every house having its
a common gate as an own gate
entrance to the smaller
group with a
watchman's cabin

old typology
gate to condominium 5

drainage

•common space
between the houses
• katta used as a
seating
• two wheeler and
four
•pathway opening up to the main
wheeler parking
road
• used to reach the parking
7/31/2016 old typologies • common space used for
plantation
 SERVICES
WATER SUPPLY-
• There is no UGT for the project.
• Each building has its own over head tank either syntex or R.C.C
• Separate UGT for some bungalows.
• WTP at sector-1.
• Timings of water-2 to 3hrs morning and evening.

NALLAH
DRAINAGE-
• Storm water is drained into the main rivulet (nallah).
• No separate STP.
• Chaotic drainage system.
• Filled with water During monsoon or else dry rest of the year.
• Waste water is directly drained into municipal sewer.
MANHOLE

ELECTRICITY-
• Chaotic electric connection .
• Substation and meter room located in condominium 1.
• No gas pipe lines
• No rain water harvesting project.

SERVICE LINE INDICATION

 DRAWBACKS
• Most of the houses have been remodeled or destroyed and rebuilt as some inhabitants said they were very impractical (eg.
toilets outside the house).
• The concrete houses arose as a result of the changing aspirations of the residents. They no longer wanted a ‘village’ or a rural
backdrop. Modern materials and technologies have thus been employed to a great extent.
• Proper spaces were not provided which is one of the major reasons why the artisans sold their houses.
• Also, 20 years ago the transport facilities were not fully developed which was another reason.
• Due to lack of commercial spaces, the houses facing the streets transformed into shops, which were illegal.
• No proper provisions were made for parking, which resulted in encroachment of open spaces due to parking.
• Cultural centre made for the artists to exhibit their works remained unused.

DESIGN ACHIEVEMENTS
• The feel of the space still intact.
• Ample amount of open and green spaces provided.
• The complex allowed people to modify their houses freely, whether with
a paintbrush or mortar - something that is never allowed in the type of
mass housing.
• Clusters help build a local community feeling.
• Allowed enhanced interactions which was the essence of a village.
• The green spaces and playgrounds are maintained by the NMMC.

CONCLUSION
• Character of that village is lost due to urbanization.
• Sense of security.
• Lots of green spaces creating a quite and cool environment.
• Intangible aspect of a village was taken care of very precisely.
• Whereas the tangible aspect of a village was lost.