USER FRIENDLY ARCHITECTURE
Anil Chotmarada
INTRODUCTION
Architecture is one art form which is closest to the people. Meant to represent the aspirations of a society, it not only moulds and shapes behaviour patterns of its users but is also directly affected by the value system of the group of people for whom it is designed. Perpetually under the influence of designed spaces, people’s immediate relationship with this art form is an undeniable fact.
Affected by time and place, economy and politic of a situation, architecture tends to take unique and different directions. These directions are, however, bound very rigidly to the envisaged behaviour pattern of the users and must conform to the envisioned expectations of its consumers to be successful and meaningful as a social art. It is the gap between the expectation and what the people get that raises the question-- are we really creating people’s architecture or just architect’s architecture.
THE PROBLEM
In the third world countries limited and meagre resources on the one hand and the teeming population on the other leave very little element of choice for the consumer of designed goods. Whatever is offered to an average citizen is taken as a boon and accepted without complaints. Built-up space as a commodity is no exception.
Be it the place to live, to laugh or to work in, the user has very little a choice to exercise. Take it or leave it seems to be the motto of the agencies which are involved in the task of designing habitable spaces. In a situation of little or no choice the consumer is bound to be discontented and therein lies the failure of architecture -- for the basic purpose of a good architectural design is that it generates spaces conducive for the activities for which it has been organised.
In developing countries, the public sector is the predominant building patron. Supported by its own archaic architectural teams and its bureaucratic methods and systems, it produces an architecture quite alien to the needs and demands of its users. The private developers, as the other group of backers in the building trade, in their gold rush, tend to direct all their effort towards raking in higher returns without bothering about the efficacy of space and material. In search for profits the developers end up in either making pigeon holes for houses or shoddy office spaces which in the seller’s market of the construction trade are instantly grabbed by the buyers or users. Forever used to the situation of deprivation the occupant adjusts to the space provided instead of the ideal situation of the space being modulated to suit his purpose. The outcome of living and working in unorganised and unsuitable spaces leads not only to a disgruntled and frustrated individual but through him a sick society.
THE REMEDY
Know People
People’s architecture can be produced only when the designer knows the people, their needs, their aspirations, the situation to which they belong and the situation to which they want to belong. This information and knowledge can be acquired only when the architect is willing to leave the drawing board and the conditioned office to enter the living ambience of the user of his designed space. Close contact with the user group is the best method of acquainting the architect with the needs and aspirations of his client. A simple observation, on the face of it, it is often forgotten and consequently an architect gets into the design procedure, taking care of only the parameters of space and economy, ending up with a design solution having no bearing with the clients socio-physical needs. Architects, many a time, try to explain away this disorganised method by laying the blame on the brief supplied to them. A self respecting architect, wanting to produce architecture suitable for the people needs and not based on his own whimsical concepts would never attempt a design problem unless he is well aware of all the aspects of his clients needs.
Feedback
Most design problems have an existing prototype solution already under use, from which space and behavioural relationships and other related phenomena can be studied, modified and subsequently used. It is most unfortunate that many architects tend to use only their personal limited libraries and depend only on their creative abilities for solving architectural problems. While personal observations may play a minor role in the assessment of the user’s needs and behaviour pattern, unless organised or systematic studies are conducted on the existing situation to appreciate the drawbacks or advantages from a building situation already in use effective inputs cannot be devised. Such analytical feedback about user responses are an effective method of realising user needs and behaviour patterns which should form the basic inputs for resolving their spatial needs more efficiently.
While feedback on spatial efficiency and appropriateness is important, equally important is the realisation about effect of time on the physical and metaphysical aspects of architecture. For producing effective people’s architecture it is imperative that besides the social and psychological aspects, great care be taken on the study of physical manifestation of design -- the use and effect of materials. Good spatial concepts have proved unsuitable for user convenience because of either poor material used for construction or material not taking well to weathering. Necessary information on this aspect should be collected from the prototype situation prior to specifying any material for construction and finishes.
People’s Participation
Isolated from the people, from their ivory towers, architects manage to issue diktats on spatial needs of the users. The present day system does not involve the user’s participation at the design stage, which is one of the major reasons for unsatisfactory architectural outputs. Target users need to be involved in the design process and their active participation would lead to spaces more conducive for the conduct of their activity patterns. Architects from the public sector, especially organisations like the housing agencies need to make effective use of this remedial method. Community acceptance of any development project is recognised pre-requisite in architectural practice in developed countries where financiers may lose their investments through built works which are rejected by the expected users. In the developing countries it is about time architects stopped exploiting the situation of scarcity by at least giving people what they need by letting them comment on what is being conceived by the designers, prior to implementing the schemes.
Using Research
In third world countries the effort to just provide basic shelter to the masses leaves little resources for conducting serious research into spatial needs of different groups of people and improved methods of realising these needs in terms of better, cheaper and energy efficient materials. The few research centres that are established tend to be isolated and operate at either an idealistic level or get caught in a bureaucratic quagmire. A greater interaction between the research institution and the field practitioners can lead to a more meaningful architecture for the people. Setting up of well staffed and properly equipped research organisations which work towards solving practical problems and maintain effective liaison with the field would go a long way in helping develop a people’s architecture and would be well worth the investment.
Using Schools of Architecture
At present, unfortunately, architectural education has been kept away from architectural practice. Schools which can be germinating grounds for innovative concepts and a great storehouse for research work are isolated and run archaic, idealistic programmes unrelated to practical realities. All this unused and wasted resource could be very effectively used for conducting research and collecting feedback data for creating architecture suitable for the people for whom it is being designed.
CONCLUSION
Developing countries have a seller’s market in the building trade and the consumer of architectural spaces is perpetually exploited by builders and designers. Not only must it be appreciated that resources for built-up spaces are a scarce commodity and should be used judiciously, but also that architectural spaces affect the users and it is the obligation of architects to conduct proper research on the clients before attempting to solve any design problems.
This research could be done by learning about the users living patterns, needs and aspirations, making detailed analysis of studies in prototype situations, and feedback from parallel building types and using research and educational institutions for collecting data which would help make a people’s architecture and not an architect’s architecture.
Anil Chotmarada is a Faculty & Director in Gateway College of Architecture & Design, Sonipat-131001, India.