South Asia Earthquake

Shabbir Kazmi of "Project Lifeline" is initiating an effort to provide drinking water and water for sanitation in creative ways. Old shipment containers are being refurbished to transport and supply water to the disaster prone areas.

To find out more about "Project Lifeline" and ways to help, visit: www.project-lifeline.org/

Comments

Architecture - An Impure Art, an Inexact Science

Many of you would not disagree with the statement that Architecture is combination of Art and Science. If Frank Lloyd Wright proclaimed Architecture as the “Mother of all Arts”, then why not the “Mother of all Sciences”? Why has the mother embraced one child and forsaken the other? The Oxford English dictionary defines Art as: “The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.” The Oxford English Dictionary defines Science as: “The intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.” Art in its pure form appeals to our sense of the ideal and our highest aspirations, experienced through passion and instinct. Whereas Science in its pure form tries to understand nature and the environment by ...

Affordable Housing in Mumbai

Affordable Housing is one of the most important issues for Mumbai's development. due to its complex and dynamic nature it is a big challenge for the Government, urban planner and all stakeholders. In Mumbai, approximately 42% of the people live in slums and about 57% households live in one-room tenements, with 9 out of 24 wards with more than 50% slum population. (Census 2011) Affordability is a relative concept. It means different things to different people. But then how do we define Affordability? A high-level Task Force on Affordable Housing for All, set up by the Government of India in 2008, and headed by Deepak Parekh, has put forth the following definition of affordable housing: (http://www.naredco.in/pdfs/report-high-level-task.pdf) For EWS/ LIG: ≤ 4 years of income or EMI/ Rent ≤ 30% of gross monthly income For MIG: ≤ 5 years income or EMI/ Rent ≤ 40% of gross monthly income Currently the two approaches being adopted to address the issue of affordable housi...

Builders Without Borders

Builders Without Borders is an organization that can prove very effective in disaster housing through their technology, resources, training and volunteers. "We are an international network of ecological builders who form partnerships with communities and organizations around the world to create affordable housing from local materials and to work together for a sustainable future. We believe the solution to homelessness is not merely housing, but a local population trained to provide housing for themselves." Housing is a human right - yet increasing numbers of people are homeless, due to war and environmental disasters. In Kosovo alone, an estimated 100,000 homes were damaged or destroyed, while recent flooding in Vietnam has left 2 million homeless. After initial disaster relief, longer-term solutions such as transitional housing are required, as well as the restoration or replacement of homes in devastated areas. Permanent housing is also needed for the chronically underhou...

URBIZEN

Search This Blog