This is a sustainable community construction project for flood-resistant housing and a Community and Educational Center in Londor, in Chengalpattu, Tamil Nadu, India, characterized by the use of natural materials and the aim to combat housing poverty in rural areas and indigenous territories through inclusive participatory design.
The Londor community is made up of 112 people living in extreme poverty, whose main economic activities are begging and supplying human hair for the wig industry. In 2015, a flood caused by torrential rains and the overflowing of a dam hit their precarious homes, leaving the remaining structures in a state of severe degradation and displacing other families from their homes.
The VACA Program, led by architect Juan Carlos Loyo, in collaboration with the My Name is Kumar Foundation, develops architecture projects for the residents of Londor, proposing a construction model using local materials such as bamboo and handwoven palm leaf coverings, to provide a solution that is easy to implement and maintain. The housing and community spaces were intended to be built by the community itself and 10 international volunteers: a flood-resistant dwelling and a Community and Educational Center are proposed.
The constructed house has an area of 35 square meters; the structure has a structural mesh of bamboo poles joined by nails of the same material and coconut ropes, in addition to four palm poles. The wooden poles, isolated from the ground with a protection of concrete and plastic, support a lightweight platform, also made of bamboo and cement, which rests on a line of brick foundation and also serves as an access ladder.
The structure allows water to pass underneath the house without affecting the interior, while also facilitating air circulation that lowers the house's temperature. The palm leaf covering easily dissipates heat, which is useful given the extreme climate of the area with temperatures often reaching around 43 degrees Celsius. Thanks to the lightweight materials, anyone can transport and build this housing module easily, which is also easy to expand, allowing for the gradual growth of the house at very low costs.
