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B-ORGAN - House 1: Shelter for Ambikachechi

Death isn’t the end of one’s journey. While the self is destroyed and the body cremated, the spirit of existence transcends through the many donations we make in the form of useful body parts, be it eyes, heart, skin etc. What becomes unwanted for the dead, becomes a blessing for another living being. Similarly, have you ever thought about a dead building giving life to a new one?

When Ambikachechi asked us to inspect her house under construction, little did we think that our life and approach to architecture would change so drastically. Ambikachechi cooked for us. She heads a family of five members and is the sole bread winning member. She was offered 5 lakhs by the local Government for constructing a house of her own. She bought 1.5 cents of land at a price of 2.5 lakhs. The linear plot has a quarry edge. She assigned a local small time contractor to construct a house for her. He had almost built the ground floor, when we decided to visit her house. The sight was a painful one; every brick like a scar. We asked her to instantly put a halt to the construction and promised to finish the house for her in one way or the other. Thats when this journey began.

Our primary question while undertaking this project was: Can we replace money required for constructing a house with materials. We almost believed that if we can crowd source materials, then we might end up spending zero money on the construction. What kind of materials do we choose? Where do we get them? Our initial research pointed at building demolition waste and its potential re-use. Construction and demolition waste amounts to about half of the total solid waste generated around the world. At the end of a building’s useful life,  parts are pulled down and the debris generated/extracted is transported and recycled adding to total energy consumed by the building. Recycling industries thrive on these building waste. Construction and Demolition Waste Management Rule 2016 by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change,India, suggests the severity of waste generated and the impending need to regulate them. A vast majority of construction and demolition waste are consumed by landfill sites, and in the recent past architectural practices across the world have developed several innovative methods to introduce construction waste into new building design. However, there are several parts of a building that do not need recycling, for e.g.: toilet fixtures,kitchen fixtures, tiles, taps, pipes, doors, windows etc. An estimate of a newly constructed house reveals a prominent amount (around 20% of the total project cost, if not more) goes into flooring, plumbing, electric connection and fixtures. If carefully extracted and handled during demolition( even during renovation) these building - waste materials can become important resources for re-use. This would not only reduce the input into construction and demolition waste but also act as an accessible resource for economically weaker sections of the society who are in urgent need for a toilet or a kitchen or just a door. 

We decided to contact various local architects for building materials. We profusely thank Ar. Devi, whom we contacted first to seek opinion on the project. Various architects in Trivandrum city came forward with help in the form of materials. Ar. Indugeetha, Ar. Chitra and Ar. Jayakrishnan, Ar. Shibuaboosali, Ar. Suja Kartha made generous contributions in the form of toilet fittings, tiles, doors etc. Our friends Ar. Abhilash, Ar. Sudheesh, Ar. Sreeraj, Ar. Jerry, Ar. Aromal, Ar. Binu Jones, Anil, Dilin, Ar. Goutham, Ar. Visakh and Ar. Shebin, Sarala Raja, Navaneeth, Maya made valuable contributions in the form of brick, bottles, cement, steel, kitchen fittings, plumbing etc. Dinesh Reghunath, Vishnu from Devi paints, Shaan,  Anand pillai, Reshma, Abhay, Taniya, Nivin, Akshaisankar and a group of painters volunteered to paint the house using left over paints that we collected from different sources, as well as 2l of paint sponsored by Devi paints. Most importantly Vijayan Maestry offered to construct the building for us at a nominal rate. Every day that we spent running around in the city of Trivandrum with a ‘petti auto’ collecting one material after another, have translated into a new lesson and a new chapter in our professional life as architects, designers and social activists. The house is incomplete, but it is definitely a shelter, a place that one can call home. 

We began this project with the basic assumption that money is not required to build a house, but as we proceeded with the work, we realized our assumptions were wrong. We need money but we can definitely reduce the amount spent (mostly a vulgar amount) by re-using resources. 

Observing the present ‘throwaway’ culture and increasing construction and demolition waste, while keeping in mind the potentials of re-using building parts, Studio Commune has initiated an online repository of used building parts which we call B-ORGANS. You can register your building 'organs' through this platform for a present or future donation and we will contact you whenever there is someone who is in urgent need of a B-ORGAN. In case you need an organ, you can register with us by sending an e-mail to borgan.studiocommune@gmail.com. Such donations can give life to a new house which otherwise may not be affordable for many.

Visit our website: www.b-organ.com for registering a building organ. This is a not for profit, free platform.




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