Anangpur Building Centre

This is a demonstration of a flat funicular shell done by Architect Meera Prajapati in Auroville - [ meera@auroville.org.in ] First two layers of bricks were done with wet mortar while all the other concentric rings have been done using baby chips thus dry-locking the bonds. After doing the shell profile and testing it as per expectations, the structure needed to be dismantled and the site cleaned with the mud blocks and the wedges used retained in good shape. This was managed well for testing and the video shows how strong the flat funicular shell roof is. The shell action is subservient to the arch action as the stresses are principally compression.

The film handles issues concerning water shortage and introduces ingenious methods of conserving water resources at various levels, such as limiting water capacity in flushing cisterns to half of what is provided, using concrete and steel meshes with grass growing through, as parking surfaces for vehicles, which results in absorption and retention of rain water by the soil and implementing appropriate planning strategies by taking into account the topography of the site before construction is begun.

The first film in the series is a brief statement ofthe existing condition ofthe built environmentfor the improvement of which this endeavor has been undertaken. lt stresses the importance of the Indian Architectural Heritage which has consistently been the major source of inspiration in the development of Appropriate Technologies for human settlement and provides a preview of these appropriate systems for building construction and planning that will be featured in the following series.

The Ram Lochan Tile was further developed into the Swaran Singh Block which is essentially integration of the Ram Lochan Tile and a stabilized mud block, or for greater compressive strength, a concrete block. The block has an integrated, permanent finish on one or both sides, which may be stone chips or larger pieces in a setting of cement mortar. The inside consists of two layers of stabilized mud separated by a jute rag dipped in fine cement slurry, giving the block adequate tensile strength to cope with the pressures of handling before curing.

The movie of the exhibition, on appropriate land and climate specific building technologies for housing the rural population of India. Housing options from sources all over the country have been featured here like the Sisal Fiber Roofing Sheet, which is a perfect alterative for asbestos roofing, precast ferro-cement roofing members, manufactured in the village itself} using local resources, thus benefiting the local economy.