SOCIALIZING ARCHITECTURE

SOCIALIZING ARCHITECTURE
An Interview with Ar. Sandeep Virmani (Hunnarshala Foundations)

JULY 17, 2020

NIZYA MOL
S2, M. Arch, MES SOA

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SANDEEP VIRMANI
Sandeep Virmani- Architect and environmentalist based in Kutch, a district in
Gujrat, India, believes that the purpose of housing should be to create
communities and responsible societies where each individual is not treated as
just a number that needs a shelter. Established in the past sixteen years in Kutch
region, Sandeep Virmani took profit from this remote and arid district conditions
to gain global/holistic understanding on the fields of water harvesting, organic
agriculture, renewable energy, nomads’ living conditions, sociology and rights
defence. Executive secretary of Sahjeevan, he developed projects such as
decentralized administrated water pumping systems in villages and towns or
communities environmental rights defence regarding industrializations. He is
the managing director of Hunnarshala foundation (HSF) since its creation in
2003. This organization facilitates self-sustaining housing for the poor, favour
artisans’ involvements in mainstreaming buildings and promotes local eco-
friendly and cost-effective material sand technologies like earth and sewerage
recycling. The eco-friendly building technologies promoted by Hunnarshala
Foundation have been developed along with the participation of building
artisans who have specialized skills to use specific material. The building artisan
community has a rich traditional knowledge. This knowledge is validated by
Hunnarshala and then offered to the mainstream market through the artisan
entrepreneur groups.
HSF has worked in disaster rehabilitation in India, Iran, Indonesia and
Afghanistan. They provided technical guidelines and training to engineers and
artisans as well as policy making for governments. Sandeep Virmani designs
and guides the disaster rehabilitation and natural resource development
programs in KNNA. Kutch Navnirman Abhiyan (KNNA), created in 1998, is a
network of 27 NGOs, of Kutch working on policy, capacity building and natural
resource management programs.

SANDEEP VIRMANI- PROJECTS at a glance

HUNARSSALA OFFICE
The office building of Hunnarshala is a harmony of natural material and hands of
building craftsmen working on this platform to build spaces that are safe, consuming
less energy and have an essence of local culture and craft.

The design of the workspaces was visualized as separate building blocks situated on
both sides of a street. People for different activity are utilizing each of these blocks. It
is a platform for students, artisans, artists, architects, engineers etc. who are interested
in contributing / learning the sustainable way of designing and building spaces. Each
unit has been designed using different combinations of eco-friendly technologies and
material.

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The materials used are stabilized and un-stabilized earth, stone, thatch, stabilized
rammed earth, recycled country tile for roofing, CSEB and recycled and waste wood.
The building artisan community has constructed each building unit of the office, which
displays their work to the potential clients. In the process, many functional elements
were innovated and tested, for e.g. floorboards as intermediate floors made out of
waste wood were tested, installed and now being offered to clients. Similarly, other
elements have been tested and installed in the building for demonstration. A person
visiting Hunnarshala’s office building can see and experience how these eco-friendly
materials have been incorporated in a building and how comfortably the spaces are
being used for professional work. It becomes easy for a potential client to select the
technology for his / her building due to the live experience.

SHAAM E SARHD TOURISM CENTRE

Sponsored by the Ministry of Tourism and implemented by the District Collector of
Kutch, in collaboration with an NGO, Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan, this project was
an attempt to have the people of Hodka show case their traditions, culture, region
and history directly to the tourists. The Banni region is a vast grassland and a
confluence of rich crafts from Islamic, Hindu and nomadic traditions. The challenge
and opportunity for HSF was to not only use these crafts in the making of sham-e-
sarhad, but involve their master artisans in the designing process as well.
The Utak, is the largest and most elaborate Bhunga (circular room) in the hamlet. This
is pride of place where the pastoralists treat their guests. Sham-e-sarhad is designed
as the 13thhamlet of Hodka village, an Utak for the guests! A typical hamlet is a series
of connected courts on an elevated plinth that houses the lineage of a single family.
Typically, life is lived on the plinth with independent rooms to store belongings and

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sleep in the winter nights. The Meghwals (the Hindus) are the builders for the Muslim
pastoralists and in return they get milk and leather that they craft into beautiful
products.
Their elders tell us, the Bhunga was invented after the 1819 earthquake. The circular
form works as an arch in the lateral movements of an earthquake strongly holding the
walls together! As the sun-baked earth bricks complete the plinths and rooms, the
women embellish the space with mud murals, coloured earth paintings and mirrors.

Sham-e-sarhad is an expression of the various artisans of Banni region. The project

brought together the master artisans in wood carving, rounded lacquer, lime, thatch,
weaves, and earth.

Services provided included: Design of the resort; workshops with master artisans to
design new building components; social facilitation with the Hodko Panchayat,
Pariyatan samiti, and master artisans; construction and project management of the
resort.

BAANI PACCHAM REHABILTATION PROJECT

This project helped 1456 nomadic and Meghwal families build their homes. The
traditional Bhungas (circular rooms) on extended plinths was adapted to incorporate
stabilized earth blocks and rammed earth walls and tiled roofs with the involvement
of master artisans of their community. The design evolved after discussions with the
master masons of the region who explained why very few Bhungas were destroyed

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by the earthquake. The circular form develops an arch action when the earth shakes
sideways. Some claim that this form was introduced by the pastoralists after the 1819
earthquake. The Meghwal master artisans worked with Hunnarshala to adapt the
conical thatch roof to the octagonal tiled roof. Hunnarshala worked with Dr Arya
(dynamic engineering expert) to develop the earth walling guidelines and structural
stability of the Bhunga. Hunnarshala also developed the cyclone hooks for tiles with
BGS Germany. The Meghwal women worked with Hunnarshala to develop stabilized
earth paints for decorating the Bhungas. The architects helped each family place the
Bhungas on their plinths in relation with the rest of the structures. Hunnarshala helped
develop the management plan and train the young boys and women of the women’s
collectives to implement the project. They also provided the quality control audit for
the program. The project has been nominated and short listed for site visit for the
prestigious Aga Khan Award. The project helped revive the earthquake resistant
‘Bhunga’ and a sense of pride in the community in their unique architecture.
Hunnarshala provided the following services: Design of Bhungas; development of
construction technology for Bhunga and stabilized earth construction; training and
monitoring of construction; project implementation design.

SARDAR NAGAR HOUSING

Sardar Nagar is a relocation site developed for the earthquake affected poor families
of Bhuj city. Hunnarshala developed the master plan for the 21-acre site and has built
280 homes and a waste water treatment system. The master plan to house 1200 homes
is developed as an adaptation to the falia(cluster) and seri (street) concept of the old
city of Bhuj. The township is a series of courtyards starting with a court for the 65sqmt
to 200mt plots followed with cluster courts and seris for groups of 5-8 houses. Clusters
of 25-45 homes again have a common court and the township has the social court
and commercial pedestrian’s street (seri). The social court of 6 acres is traffic free with
three schools, Redi markets, gardens and productive farms. This is where the
sewerage of the township is treated and recycled to develop the farms and green
spaces.
The houses are designed for incremental growth to develop a density of 350 persons
per hectare. The homes are made of stabilized earth blocks, rammed earth, and
recycled china clay waste. Each house including the land costs between Rs 1-1.25
lakhs.

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Hunnarshala was involved with: Preparation of master plan; design of homes and their
construction; design and construction of the sewerage and treatment plant; social
facilitation; coordination with local authority and Banks.

JUNAWADA HOUSING SETTLEMENT

Junawada was the village around which the town of Bhachau developed. The design
challenge was to develop an urban plan for the 22 ha of land that incorporates the
traditional living pattern into the Bhachau town plan. Bhada allocated land to 96
families as per the developed plan and has completed making the main roads along
with water supply and sewerage lines. The aanganwadi too has been made.
Care India, the government and the 96 families contributed 75,000 to 1,00,000 rupees
each to build their new homes. Hunnarshala developed an incremental design for the
community where 4-6 homes can complete around a court. Hunnarshala also
developed the project implementation design to ensure that the owners can make
their own homes and individual design needs get incorporated into the house plan.
Hunnarshala trained a team of artisans to produce earth blocks and cyclone safety
hooks for Mangalore tiles. This approach resulted in customized designs, larger areas
and high owner satisfaction. Each house ranges from 375-600 sqft. the community also
ensured that the homes of two persons who were sick and old were also completed.
They also got all the 750 families to contribute towards a maintenance fund worth
over two lakh rupees.

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Hunnarshala provided the following services for the project: Preparation of settlement
design; development of house design, adaptations to customize house design to site,
budget and individual family needs; design of project implementation along with
monitoring systems; training and quality management; social facilitation at the
individual family and community; preparing drawings for submission to Authority;
finance management.

INTERVIEW

By 4.00 pm I shared a google meet link to Ar. Sandeep Virmani and he came
on time for the interview well prepared as per the questionnaire given to him
prior to the interview. I record the interview with him using my phone.
He asked about me and my institution and why we need to interview an
architect who practise sustainability and I explained the same and after that
we discussed about the pandemic situations of our place. After that we
started the interview.

Nizya: As an Architect you are known through the renowned Hunnarshala

foundations. What was your journey (esp. before Hunnarshala)?

a. What inspired you to start Hunnarshala?

Ar. Sandeep: When I was studying for 4th year B.Arch., every professional was invited
by Pandit Nehru to come back and work with Le Corbusier in Chandigarh. Adithya
Prakash was my mentor and he too joined there and as student architects we also
get an opportunity to work with them to built the new Capital for the state of Haryana.

For the time he used to send us out to understand about “What doesn’t work in the
city of Chandigarh?” Since it is a planned city so it must work for everyone. We started
interviewing migrants, dudh walas, vegetable valas industrial workers and came to
know that the city doesn’t work for them. So, if we have to design a new city, should
be on the basis of actually a Village. He was the first one I inspired a lot.

After completing B.Arch. From Chandigarh I joined in a commercial company- in

design wing of swaraj masdha and I was not at all satisfied in working in that
atmosphere.

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So, I stopped working there and started searching opportunities for working in villages.
I was keen in doing farming, agriculture, animal husbandry and forestry in my own
village.

In between I got a chance to meet Laurie baker and to work with him for few months.
It was a great learning experience and I gained so many knowledges about
sustainable technologies, materials etc;

After that I came to Gujrat, where I had the opportunity to work in village to help
dalids to built 120 houses. There existed a land dispute between the dalids and the
upper tier political peoples, along with the villagers we stand for them to fulfil their
dream shelter to become true. It was a great transformation for me, from where I
studied the importance, strength and value of community and relationships as the
end principle that you should maintain.

Then I came to Kutch, I gave up architecture for 10 years. I was working on

environmental issues, organic agriculture, biodiversity, and animal husbandry.
Because of earthquake in 2001 we set up Hunnarshala foundation based on the same
principles of importance of community and relationships we started our journey of
Hunnarshala.

Nizya: What is, according to you and your ideology, the guiding principle of a
practicing architect?

a. How is that reflected in your work?

Ar. Sandeep: I always think about architecture from the person who doesn’t have
something or the person who is under dominant. Second thing I always thought about
architecture is, it is a method to develop relationships. Architecture is not complete
in itself and that is not my end goal. This I learned from our rural communities. Rural
communities always give a lot of importance to relationships. Anything that you do
and try make sure that you saw god in it. Anything that is living you see god and so
therefore you are always in the service of god. So, the thought breaks ego.

You know that you are trying to create an important masterpiece of architecture,
only you start using people for your end, then you might do something harmful to the
people. If you say that, No, you want to serve people and to develop relationships
with people then the building is only a by-product of developing relationships.

When a team of artisan’s engineers architect’s client everybody gets together then
that’s a team work. It’s like friends getting together and doing something, then you
feel very different kind of energy inside. So that the whole group is responsible to
achieve the goal. So, your bonding with your friends become even more stronger,
because you all have done something creative and solve the problems together. So
that is the other thing that I always motivated myself that It is the relationships that I
should keep my focus on.

Third thing of course is that I don’t want to harm nature. Everything that we do must
first evaluated from the point of view of nature. Is this going to….

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I very often say No to building or I will not design this building because you already
have two houses, then why you need a third one? Because by building more and
more to our greed we are going to harm nature.

So that is all the basic three principles and ideology that I keep in mind.

Nizya: Majority of architects, after completing their degree, try to do large scale
projects or projects which benefits them financially, ensure fame or otherwise.

What is your view point about this, being a sustainable architect?

a. How can we be more responsible in our profession?

Ar. Sandeep: We hadn’t done huge massive sky scrapers and glass buildings. But

I don’t think that we people hadn’t done lots of large-scale projects, but when we
went to Indonesia to build 3300 houses. Here in Kutch after the earthquake we built
almost 7000 houses, when we went to Bihar after floods and built 40,000 houses.

In Kashmir when we went after the earthquake we built 7000 houses. So here also
wen we are working in the slums we built 300 houses, so these are all large-scale
housing projects. But the whole process is not the centralised process. The whole
process is like every human being is an energy, when 300 families come together then
will we create 300 houses?

Its not one architect, its not one engineer, or its not one contractor the rest of the
people are not labours. This is the philosophy that is called” Many to Many”, when
you become an energy - “Small is beautiful” but when you have “Many is to Many”
you can do huge amount of work and yet respect human beings.

Nizya: Hunnarshala foundation has worked in disaster rehabilitation in various

countries like India, Afghanistan, Indonesia etc; which project was the most
challenging?

a. Were you able to include your ideologies or were you forced to work on a set of
predetermined instructions?

b. How did you overcome the challenges (what were your victory points?)?

Ar. Sandeep: I think most difficult projects have been where the people are already
spoiled by the government or spoiled by cities. That is what, the more the remote you
go were not spoiled by cities or government, they are very simple people. You can
sit on with them and they will be honest with you and is very easy to work with them.
But wherever there are others influence it is difficult to work, because of that to work
in slums is very difficult. Because over there they have certain preconceived idea of
what, the government can give them. So, it takes more time to convince them that
No, you have to relay on yourself and do things as yourself. They all lost their own
confidence and their own identity. So, they always think and feels that what rich
people have is that much better than they have. So the rich person is living in a
concrete house. Then I am living in a mud house is bad. But when we go to remote
village when we ask them weather concrete house is better than mud house, then

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they will say that “No, mud house is better, because it doesn’t become hot, it is not
so expensive, we can maintain it as our own. So, they have not been spoiled by the
aspirations of the rich.

So, the most difficult projects are where we have to work with the rich, because they
don’t have their own identity. They are always looking at others and will say that the
other person has that in his house so can you make it in my house?

Nizya: How did you enable public participation in regions with low literacy?

a. How did you overcome communication difficulties?

b. How did you get the locals excited and actively involved in the design and
construction process?

Ar. Sandeep: What we normally do is we do partnership with the social organisations

of that region. So that helps us because the NGO of that region has the relationship
with the community and also, they know their language and then we come in as
social technical people. So that partnership helps us.

As far as literacy is concerned, they have their own literacy they have their own
knowledge systems and we learn from them.

From my personal experience if the people are more literate are more difficult to work
with. The persons who are illiterate have so much of knowledge of their own region.
So that is why it is very easy for us to develop a sustainable village with illiterate
people, they have the literacy of their ecosystem.

Nizya: For you-architecture profession is a social work, uplifting skilled labours, artisans,
uneducated children through karigarshala etc to the new world of sustainable
architectural practise – as has been quoted from “Humanising Architecture”. Can you
elaborate?

Ar. Sandeep: When there were sustainable architects if you go to them and ask them,
we are doing a building can you suggest some artisans who are skilled, they would
not share their artisans. So, I realise that they are actually following the capitalist’s
system, except somebody is using artisans in concrete or somebody is using artisans
in mud. So, there is nothing sustainable about their building which are created in mud,
because the mindset is that of a capitalist.

So, until and unless you are not open and free with your knowledge you imagine that
if you have something and you can make money out of it. But actually, it is the
opposite. The more you share the more you actually make more money and also you
get goodwill.

But the world operates that if you have something you should patent it and make
money out of it. So, we try to say that, No, let’s experiment with the idea that the more
you give the more you will get- My grandmother used to tell this.

In all our religion it is said as “The more you gibe the more you get”. That is the science
behind this, people don’t realise this so we decided that we must share our
knowledge openly with everyone and so we set up a school so all the artisans can
also learn about all the skills. I always say that we are not learnt this, this is something

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we have all learned from you, only from your traditions and values. We have added
a little bit to it but now it is our turn to give it back.

So that is why we don’t patent anything. We are against any patenting of

technologies and we are very open with our technologies and skills to everyone.

And what we wanted was that we wanted other architects to use these artisans
because if they are only working with me I can give opportunity to five or six artisans.
I can get them only that much work. But if I setup a school I have trained 400 artisans,
if they do not get work they will say all these educations is just theoretical. So, we said
to all the other architects who want to work on sustainability must be confident that
they can use these artisans.

Nizya: Four walls and a roof enclosing it can become a shelter but from your
experience what is the key to build a ‘good’ shelter?

Ar. Sandeep: You know the house is……. Any human being wants to express their
values, you will express it…… For example, if you are a poor person and you have
been able to make money to afford an air conditioner, you will make sure that
everybody from the street can see you have an air conditioner...(laughing)

But there might be somebody else who says that I am very conscious of the
environment. He owns a mud walled house and he used it exposed without getting
plastered.

In every culture even if they are making two rooms a kitchen and a bathroom they
are expressing their values through that house, everybody put in their life savings in
making a good house. “So, the house is an expression of what you value”

That is why we have found that every region every 10 km you go you find a new
typology of house. It might be a two room, a kitchen and a bathroom but it is different
in appearance form etc each 10 kms away. So, in every 10 km in every direction you
will find a new house which express the values and the typology of that region and
they will always be been something that had been taken from their ecosystems.

So, the moment you cross an area where stone is no longer available you will start
seeing a brick house or mud house or bamboo house. So, it starts reflecting your own
natural environment. Today you might be sitting in Delhi but you have no
understanding of your nature around and you are making a concrete house or a
glass house. So that is what we find that you can make a million houses with two
rooms, kitchen and a bathroom but they all are being different if you are being in
touch with your nature and your own natural surroundings. And if you are not ….
Everybody will be making the same concrete house with on glass window there and
door here.

Nizya: In your experience have you ever faced a situation where you had to make
design trade-off decisions?

If yes where and how do you compromise?

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Ar. Sandeep: Long back in practise my mentor had told me that you should keep
three things in mind and if at least two of the three is there, then go ahead and do
the project. You may not get the opportunity to get all the three together.

One is Money, other is the good relationship with the client, and third is the opportunity
to do environmentally good work. So sometimes you get a good client and good
money-then it is fine. In other you get a good money and everything needed to be
green then also its fine. Sometimes you get good client and environmentally good
work but no money then also you have to do the work. Don’t say no to that, So that
is the basic principle we followed, so I hadn’t face a situation of design trade-off
decision. Sometimes we get all the three, then it is great.

Nizya: In your opinion, what is the future of architecture?

Ar. Sandeep: With Covid… I think the future is very good. In this pandemic situation
what will happen is you will not be able to get materials from outside. You will have
to relay on local material on your region. So, you will have to start again becoming
more sustainable.

Here in Kutch I was talking to farmers, they grow lots of cash crops and they were not
able to sell them. Because they normally selling these in the APMC market and the
crop is taken to all over the world from the market. Now in this monsoon as it has
started raining everybody is growing only crops that can be used in Kutch. So, they
are growing crops they are growing fruits etc which they can sell all around the
villagers in Kutch.

So, I said is very good. Because due to Covid you are going to start developing
relationships with your own people around.

What they need, they make and they have….

The same thing will happen to architecture also.

Nizya: Do you have a role model (in the architectural field or otherwise)?

Ar. Sandeep: Yes of course…. It is Mahatma Gandhi and Laurie baker.

I was really confused that how to translate Gandhi’s philosophy to architecture and
Laurie baker given me the answer to it.

Nizya: Climate change is the ‘elephant in the room’, even for architects. How do we
combat climate change?

a. What are the other global criticalities that an architect should be concerned
about?

b. Do you have solutions for these criticalities?

Ar. Sandeep: One thing in cities that I have an opinion that we have enough
constructions, we need not actually do more constructions.

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There is an Architect in Germany, he refuses to do new buildings. It is because for the

population in Germany it is having enough buildings. So, I can only refurbish the
buildings for you.

In Italy there is an area where they never allow to break a building. Until the life of the
building is not over they are not allowed to break a building there. So, there are stone
buildings which stands for 1000s of years and they can still stand for another 1000 years
so they cannot break it.

So, I feel in our cities we have enough space we should only refurbish space, if you
need to build you must build for the poor. And also, in our cities if we actually have to
built use only recycled materials. Because in our cities we have created so much of
waste, so we can always use this waste materials to recycled. So, we have to try to
develop a vocabulary of just using waste to create a building.

And in Villages it Is a different matter, for the cities I believe we need not want more
constructions. We must frame policies and laws regarding the same. Architecture
alone can decrease 30-40% of carbon emissions and climate crisis across the globe.

Nizya: Thank you so much sir, it was a very informative session and I hope your
experience, principles and philosophies will be an eye opener for new budding
sustainable architects like us… Thank you so much for your valuable time

Ar. Sandeep: You are welcome…and keep in touch.

By 5.00 pm we wind up the google meet interview.

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