Type in a Cluster
Architectural Typology or the study of type in architecture is one of the fundamental frameworks for understanding architecture.
Type is not the building or the drawing of the building, but it is the diagram of how the various constituent elements of the building come together. A diagram is a spatial organization of components of a form. It is the drawing of the structuring principles of a system. Diagram spatialises relationships. The various samples which identify themselves as the same type may have different nuances and therefore may have different drawings. The course helps students to identify architectural type in a specific context that has emerged from exigencies of climate, culture and life force and to work with the type to address contemporary needs, paying attention to behavioural affordances and experiences that the new interventions generate.
The house we studied was built by the husband four years ago and expanded gradually over time. It consists of a semi-public verandah, a dark interior space with one kitchen, a combined bedroom/living area, a storage room, and a separate outdoor washroom with a septic tank. The structure uses local materials—karvi and turati stick walls, concrete columns, wooden log beams, and an asbestos sheet roof covered with tarpaulin for waterproofing. The walls are finished with a cow dung and mud mix. With no windows, the interior remains dim, while the verandah, added six months later, serves as the most used and well-lit space.
