T H E U N S P OKEN BEIN G

COMMUNITY CIRCLE : THROUGH ARCHITECTURE

R.SUBRAMANIAN | 311415251068 | 1
TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.0 ABSTRACT 3

2.0 INTRODUCTION 3

3.0 THE FUTURE 4

3.1 CHILDREN 4
3.2 ORPHANS 4
3.3 LIFE OF AN ORPHAN 4
3.4 NGO 5

4.0 GOAL 5
4.1 RESEARCH QUESTION 5
4.2 AIM 5

5.0 METHODOLOGY 6
5.1 COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT 6
5.2 PROGRAMS 6
5.3 REQUIREMENTS 7

6.0 THRUST AREA 7

6.1 SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH 7
6.2 PHILOSOPHICAL APPROACH 7

7.0 SITE LOCATION AND JUSTIFICATION 7

8.0. THESIS APPROACH 8

8.0 REFERENCES 9

R.SUBRAMANIAN | 311415251068 | 2
1.0 ABSTRACT

“Every child deserves a fair chance. A childhood. A future.”

- UNICEF

There are a variety of global issues that prevail today in the modern world, yet
there is one which is the most daunting of all. This issue is often blinded by
most and is always unspoken about. Children are the future of our generation
yet we fail most of the times to talk about the children, orphans who struggle
the most. With no one to look after them in this busy world, they are often left
behind.
India is one such country where orphans are seen everywhere, but still, they
get little care from the people around them. With no facilities aimed towards
them, they struggle to even get the meagre comfort of the childhood they
deserve. Whilst there are non- governmental organisations working towards
the betterment of these kid’s, there is still a huge margin of children affected
through various issues. This thesis aims to create an impact on the daily lives of
these orphaned kids through research and design.

2.0 INTRODUCTION

India, a land of various religion, culture and heritage is not often seen with
such characters. The various positive nature of the city is mostly shadowed by
its darkness. The urban areas are considerably filled with poor people and chil-
dren on the streets. The most affected future generations of the country, strug-
gle as orphans in the streets of India. India leading in the youngest population
in the world yet struggles with poverty and orphans .

The future of the country depends upon the development of the child during
his/ her early day’s where they learn to survive the modern world. This child-
hood is often denied to these orphan kid’s who mostly end up on the wrong
side of the road. Various organisations have worked towards the safeguarding
of these children, but with no proper intervention from the government, most
of these efforts go in vain.

R.SUBRAMANIAN | 311415251068 | 3
3.0 THE FUTURE
3.1 CHILDREN
India tops the list in the wold’s youngest population with nearly 472 million
children under the age of 18. This represents 39% of the total population of the
country. The percentage of children living in the rural area contributes to 73%
of the population where the kids face negative repression on facing the fun-
damental rights. Every child needs a different response to be provided at this
stage of life, but it is still a struggle to access these facilities for the many poor
children.

3.2 ORPHANS

An orphan is a child who has lost one or both their parents due to various fac-
tors, but even among children, there are orphans with a single parent. With
nearly 43% of the child population being orphans India faces difficulty in up-
lifting the livelihood of these children. Childhood is always an integral part of
anyone’s life, but these orphans do not get to enjoy the luxuries of it as they are
mostly into hardworking jobs are forced into many illegal activities. There are
many crimes related to them, where children are kidnapped and forced into
sexual abuse, child trafficking and as beggars for money-making.A daily life is
always tough for them to attain.

3.3 LIFE OF AN ORPHAN

INTEGRAL PART OF LIFE

HEALTH CARE EDUCATION CHILD PROTECTION

ORPHANS LIFE

NO HEALTH CARE NO EDUCATION CHILD LABOUR NO PROPER

SHELTER

R.SUBRAMANIAN | 311415251068 | 4
 3.4 NGO
An NGO is a non governmental organisation that strives towards uplifting
many communities which faces hardships. It Offers residential care for street
and working children and family-based care for vulnerable children in the
slums and pavements in and around Chennai and for those runaway children
who reach Chennai from other parts of the Country.

Several NGO’s run orphanages around the country, but still there are no stan-
dards set for them. Hence the quality of life in many of the orphanages are
cruel. There are many scandals involved in the orphanages where children are
sexually abused, beaten and they have a structure time where these kids don’t
get a time for themselves. The current situation in many orphanages have very
poor infrastructure

4.0 GOAL

Orphans contribute to the major population of India, yet they mostly struggle
with poverty and other issues. Every profession contributes to the community
in some form or the other. As an architect, the goal of this thesis is to enhance
the livelihood of the orphan kids through a bigger community and architec-
ture.

The primary goal is to design a space for the orphan kids through which an ex-
ample is set for all the orphanages in the cities. Since the existing orphanages
lack the facilities and amenities, the design can be set as a model which can be
developed by the government for the upliftment of these kids.

4.1 RESEARCH QUESTION

Orphans are children who have lost both their parents and have no one to sup-
port them, hence my thesis research question revolves around,

“Can an issue solved through architecture link a community within a

community to form a livelihood ?”

4.2 AIM

The aim of this thesis is,

• To design spaces which act as a bridging gap between two communities of

different issues.

• To create spaces for orphan kids after extensive research about them.

• To create a safe haven for the orphan kids which protects and also trains them
for this modern world.

• To create spaces that functions variously at different times.

R.SUBRAMANIAN | 311415251068 | 5
 4.3 OBJECTIVES

• How architecture can affect the life of an orphan by creating better living
conditions for them, by changing the mindset of orphans through design
interventions.

• An environment that encourages physical activity, playful sensory explora-

tions, seamless relation with environment and community.

• How architecture can nurture psychological and emotional development

through built spaces.

4.4 SCOPE

This thesis contends that by re-conceptualizing the spatial, programmatic, and

socio political forces that act as the basis of the orphanage typology, an archi-
tectural framework can be constructed that can instigate and facilitate new
conditions by fundamentally altering the outdated assumptions of the orphan-
age type in favor of a contemporary response embeds the orphanage in the
city and the city in the orphanage.

5.0. METHODOLOGY

ORPHAN
KID’S

The main aim is to create a community circle

where the kids are being involved in the com-
COMMUNITY CIRCLE munity and the community, in turn, helping
them back by providing moral support, val-
ues and teaching the necessary skills.
COMMUNITY ORPHANS
HELPING THE HELPING THE
ORPHANS COMMUNITY

5.1 COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

• The first step is to identify the different communities through which these
orphan kid’s can be connected to a much larger social circle.
A community is a group of people living together or having a common char-
acter that binds the people together. It differs from person to person based on
their individual preferences and interests.

FOOD SHELTER SPORTS EDUCATION COMMON FAITH

These are some of the necessities an orphan kid will need throughout their
life. By allowing different communities to participate in these activities, a
much broader social exchange will take place and giving them the necessary
skills for their future.

R.SUBRAMANIAN | 311415251068 | 6
 5.2 PROGRAMS

• COMMUNITY KITCHEN- Where the community can involve and cook with the
kids.

• COMMUNITY PLAYGROUND- A space for the kid’s to interact with people of sports
interest.

• COMMUNITY SCHOOL- Where the kids can learn the required knowledge for their
future with other kids with involvement of teacher community.

• CENTER OF HOPE- Where the kids can join together with the community on a
common belief.
5.3 REQUIREMENTS

The requirements will be on the basis of spaces which the design requires in-
order to make it a functional building typology. The requirements are framed
after the necessary case studies are done.

6.0 THRUST AREA

6.1 SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH

Architectural psychology is an important field where findings reveal how we

can design buildings better for occupants. By understanding more about how
occupants experience built form, you will take on a more occupant-centered
approach. It is this type of approach that will lead to more truly innovative ar-
chitectural designs.

We spend 80–90% of our lives indoors, surrounded by forms, artificial light, col-
ors, furniture and soundscapes. Isn’t it time to ask how much these built envi-
ronments affect our lives and our personality?

6.2 PHILOSOPHICAL APPROACH

The relation between philosophy and architecture is interrogative and proposi-

tional. It is about asking questions concerning the meaning of human habita-
tion—what it means to live in built environs—and about evaluating plans and
design projects where human flourishing and social progress can best occur—
in what kinds of buildings, interior spaces and urban precincts. The following
sets of questions address issues—aesthetic, ethical, and political issues, as well
as metaphysical and epistemological concerns—that relate philosophy to ar-
chitecture.
7.0 SITE LOCATION AND JUSTIFICATION

Chennai- Tamil Nadu

The site is located in an urban neighbourhood of chennai, Tamil Nadu. Having

a rich tradition and culture the city also thrive with many poor children located
in the streets. Chennai is one of the cosmopolitan city of the south, hence after
research the urban space is located in the city. The design also has scope of de-
centralizing the design to various site by formulating certain design principles
which can be followed through.
R.SUBRAMANIAN | 311415251068 | 7
8.0. THESIS APPROACH

COMMUNITY CIRCLE

AIM & OBJECTIVES

HISTORICAL KNOWLEDGE PRESENT KNOWLEDGE

LITERATURE STUDY CASE STUDIES

LIVE CASE STUDY LITERATURE CASE STUDY

DON BOSCO- ANBU ILLAM

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS BETWEEN BOTH THE STUDIES

SITE SELECTION

SITE ANALYSIS

DESIGN GUIDELINES

FORMULATION OF AREA FORMULATION OF FUNCTIONAL

REQUIREMENT ACTIVITIES

PROGRAM FORMULATION

DESIGN CONCEPT AND DEVELOPMENT

MASTER PLANNING ALL ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN

AND DETAILING

R.SUBRAMANIAN | 311415251068 | 8
8.0 REFERENCES

https://www.savethechildren.in/resource-centre/articles/how-in-
dia%E2%80%99s-children-are-mistreated-at-orphanages

https://childlineindia.org.in/child-health-and-nutrition-india.htm

https://archive.india.gov.in/citizen/health/viewscheme.php?schemeid=1148

https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/orphans-in-india/

https://childrensclub.wordpress.com/2008/05/19/an-orphan%e2%80%99s-defi-
nition-of-a-challenge-2/

https://www.cry.org/statistics-on-children

http://www.mospi.gov.in/sites/default/files/publication_reports/Children%20
in%20India%202018%20%E2%80%93%20A%20Statistical%20Apprais-
al_26oct18.pdf

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0038109

R.SUBRAMANIAN | 311415251068 | 9