7.2. Cultural Geographies and Building Practices

And also, you know, don’t have too many offsets you know here, this is like too many, so symmetrical but still it’s too many offsets in it but then either try to make more of a defined shape because that is where you can even have a diagonal bracings, you can have some kind of support system so, it will; it is at least bound to a; this plan should be square or rectangular, if it is rectangular then you need to have a kind of intermediate support systems into it.

In architectural design, avoiding excessive offsets helps maintain structural integrity. It's recommended to favor symmetrical shapes like squares or rectangles, which provide a stable base for buildings. For buildings that are rectangular, it's essential to incorporate intermediate support systems to ensure they can handle stress effectively.

Think of a table with four legs. If one leg is too short (similar to an offset), the table won't stand evenly. Conversely, a well-designed square table maintains balance. The support under the table represents how we need supports in a building to prevent it from collapsing.

Now, asymmetric buildings with empty pockets are more vulnerable to damage because don’t leave these empty pockets, we tried to fill that and that is where these are more stable you know, the symmetric buildings are more stable and also when we say about the row house planning; the row house planning also creates wind tunnel effects because the moment your house is one step to another, next to the shore and then it channels the wind and that is where it can damage the edges of the walls or the corners.

Asymmetric buildings can have empty pockets or spaces that lead to a greater risk of damage in adverse weather conditions. These empty spaces can weaken the structure, making it more susceptible to stress. Additionally, row house planning can create wind tunnel effects, which can result in stronger winds funnelling between the houses, potentially causing damage to the walls.

Imagine placing a row of houses on a hill: if the wind gets funneled down between these houses like water through a narrow pipe, it becomes stronger and can cause more damage just like a flood overflowing a riverbank.

So, that is where you can even you know, now even the zigzag planning avoid wind tunnel effect right, so how actually, you can actually see about, how you can actually, give a little bit of vastness and then reduce it so, the zigzag pattern as well can have some control, it depends on how you are actually orienting it and similarly, the long phase of the building facing the wind direction.

Zigzag planning is a modern architectural technique that helps mitigate wind tunnel effects by disrupting the direct path of the wind. By orienting buildings at angles instead of straight lines, the resulting layout can diffuse and redirect strong winds, reducing potential damage.

Consider a line of cars parked in a straight line compared to a zigzag pattern. In the zigzag arrangement, wind can flow around the cars instead of pushing directly against them, minimizing the overall pressure on individual vehicles.

In fact, if you ever visit in the coastal villages of Tamil Nadu and the coastal areas; most of the times your short phase is of the building is facing the wind direction and whereas, in 721 horizontal phase because that is where they have less number of openings and either that, if they are facing that side and they will have less number of openings and otherwise, if they mostly they orient so, the whole building pattern is like you have the seashore and you have these.

In coastal Tamil Nadu, buildings are typically designed with the shorter sides facing the prevailing wind direction. This design reduces openings on the windward side, minimizing wind resistance and potential damage. Proper orientation helps protect homes from harsh weather conditions.

Picture a sailing boat positioned with its bow facing the wind; it navigates more smoothly than if it were sideways to the wind. Similarly, buildings designed to face winds smartly can endure the storms better.

In terms of quality control, it is also talks about the material, what are the ratios we have to include. So, when we say about do not use cement and sand to be less than 1.6 okay, 1:6, so for 1 cement and 6 part of the sand. So, you should not make use of the combination of this mortar not less than 1:6, either it is recommended to use 1 sand, 1 cement and 6 sand or 1 lime with 3 sand or 1 cement, 3 lime and 9 sand, so this is a kind of mortar mixes which normally guidelines do recommend and at the end of the day, all these are coming from the proper IS code but these are only a thumb rules.

Quality control in building materials is crucial for ensuring durability and stability. Guidelines suggest specific ratios of cement, sand, and lime to create reliable mortar mixes. Common recommendations include ratios like 1:6 for cement and sand to ensure appropriate strength.

Just as the right recipe is key to baking a perfect cake, having the correct ratios of materials in construction ensures the structure is strong and enduring, preventing future problems.

But still, I could show you some images of what his work and it was very diagrammatic and really illustrative work. He looks into the before coming into the solutions, he actually explains the situation of how the causes you know, this is a very important aspect of developing any guidance, so one has to understand the consequences of these disasters and especially, what are the causes; root causes for it.

Architect Benny Kuriakose aimed to create user-friendly manuals for construction practices, particularly after disasters like floods. His illustrated work helps local masons understand the issues and underlying causes of damage, which is essential for developing effective solutions.

Creating a manual for building is like providing a user’s guide for a video game. It highlights both the problems players might face and the best strategies to overcome them—making it easier for people to succeed.

And whether it is the form of orientation, whether it is the type of construction, whether it is a citing out you know, so this all for instance, here, you have these normal setup where you have the river level and all of them have built on the top, on the mountains and then the average flood level in case, it might have reached here but then because, after the construction of dams, people started construction near the riverbeds, they change.

When evaluating building practices, understanding the reasons behind disasters—like floods—is crucial. People often construct homes closer to rivers due to misjudgment about flood risks, which can lead to catastrophic outcomes during extreme weather conditions. It’s vital to recognize these patterns for more sustainable building practices.

Think of building a sandcastle right at the edge of the ocean. While it may seem fun, the tide can quickly erase it. Likewise, building homes near rivers without proper caution can lead to flooding disasters.

So, for instance when we say about solutions, how to retrofit it, what are the techniques one can use. For example, in architecture we might have studied shoring and you might have studied about raking shores and you might have studied about underpinning so, these are various techniques which we learn from our architecture building construction subject but then this is one, where you really apply it because this is where, in order to protect this wall and during the restoration process, you need to apply these shores.

Retrofitting is a process used to strengthen existing structures to withstand future disasters. Techniques like shoring, raking shores, and underpinning are applied to provide temporary support during renovations, which helps ensure stability during restoration efforts.

Think of shoring as a crutch for a broken leg. Just as a crutch provides temporary support to help someone walk while healing, shoring provides structural support to a weakened building until it can be repaired.

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