Domus Green Issue 2008
Manav Sadha Activity Centre
Rama Pir Tekra, Wadaj, Ahmedabad
I read this interesting article on a building in India that used municipal waste and converted it into building components.
The article broadened expectations, placing emphasis on the projects ability not only t create a piece of architecture, but through local resources and know how, educating locals in order to improve their own economic self reliance. This is an important aspect of actually making a difference, providing locals with the tools to replicate the construction of the building so that when the foreigners leave they are able to build themselves, using none other than the waste which surrounds them.
They used only six types of materials in the build, including cement bonded fly-ash bricks, mould compressed bricks made from landfill site waste residue, plastic bottles and vegetable wood crates as interior paneling. Each element was of course tested according to ensure it met safety and engineering standards.
The main question the article poses:
“India has a well established tradition of waste recycling….Food ad many other objects are given added value for their multiple uses and diverse applications. Can the building industry not learn from these applications?”
Actually after having a look on the web I found that the building won an award, “The winner of the 3rd IFI Design for All Award is
Manav Sadhna Activity Centre at Ram Dev Pir Tekra, Ahmadabad,
for "Recycling domestic Waste as Building Components, an Environmental, Economic and Aesthetic Imperative"
Link: http://www.ifiworld.org/index.cfm?GPID=114
