Premise
The biggest democracy in the world, India, is also quickly becoming the epicenter of one of the biggest refugee crises in the world. Assam, a border state in the nation, owing to its geographical location and shared international frontiers has been facing the brunt of this influx since as far back as 1951.
Even as the region remains in political and social turmoil, the government has sanctioned the construction of at least 11 more detention camps across the state to house people excluded from the register.
At present, a majority of the people whose name didn’t make it into the draft are housed in camps in existing prisons across the state. Living conditions inside camps and prisons have been reported for overcrowding and a lack of resources.
Fear and depression among detainees is extremely common owing to an uncertain future. Even with the detention camps in place, dignified living for the detainees remains an unattained target.
Several nations have gauged into a low cost, alternate construction methods to house their growing refugee and desolate population. 3D printing has emerged in that sphere as a dominant technology, a potential solution, that can achieve an economy of construction in record time, along with the structures being seismically and thermally resilient.
India’s Assam and Rohingya situation is being termed the second biggest humanitarian refugee crisis after Syria in the world. Can the nation employ this progressive technology to house its detainees?
Challenge
The challenge is to design an assembled accommodation, and thereafter a neighbourhood, to absorb the rising and foreboding crisis in Assam using the principles of 3D printing construction.
The challenge is to employ the technology to achieve residences for the displaced families. Participants must design a singular modular unit for 3D printing keeping in mind the design objectives. The same unit must then be used to design an entire neighbourhood comprising of 150 households on the given site.
Objectives
The following objectives can be a point of beginning to conceive this design. Participants can assume a rough context from the region’s images provided and a 4 person family demographic before initiating their design process.
- Economy of Construction: the intervention must look to resource and material efficiency to achieve economic construction.
- Replicability/Modularity: the design of the unit especially must look to be readily applicable in cases of such crises across the world.
- Swift Construction: the intervention must fully utilize the opportunity of speedy construction offered by 3D printing.
- Dignity of Living: the design of the unit and neighbourhood must look to restore normalcy and dignity for the displaced.
Site Plan
Within the 1.6 Ha site, 150 such 3D printed homes/units must be placed to form a fully functional neighbourhood. Provision of greens, circulation and open spaces need to be worked out on the Masterplan Level. Areas for Community Spaces/Facilities, Services, and Admin need to be only earmarked and designated on the master plan simply by way of a boundary. Participants can assume municipal provision of site level services. All units are to be printed/fabricated on site, and part by part prefabrication off site may not be assumed.
Awards
- Prize pool of worth 5000$
- First Prize: 1500$ (For students and professionals)
- Runner up: 800$ (For students and professionals)
- People’s Choice: 450$ (For students – Most appreciated project wins this)
- People’s Choice: 450$ (For students – Most appreciated project wins this)
- Honorable mention x 2 (Students): 200$ each
- Honorable mention x 2 (Professionals): 200$ each