Nagari Niwara Parishad, Goregaon East

This is a typical unit plan of Nagari Niwara Parishad, Goregaon East, Mumbai - a low cost housing project designed by Adarkar Associates during 1981-92. The area allocated to the project was about 62 acres to house about 6000 people who were displaced during the expansion of the city. The plot is adjoining the edges of the national park and therefore at the foot hills of the mountain. The run off of water necessitates a large nallah (drain) that creates a moat-like boundary on one end of one of the plots. The series of bridges and three storey buildings throughout the colony create scaled courtyards and a labyrinthine ground space that opens into different direction.

The courtyards earlier meant as gardens have now been paved and converted into parking spaces for the cars, two-wheelers and bicycles. There is still enough greenery within the overall campus. Each building is a society within a cooperative model with three wings. Different buildings are interconnected by intermediate level bridges - an idea adopted from the earlier Mumbai chawls that housed equal densities of people. These intermediate bridges create spaces for play and pause for young and old alike, and offer a unique perspective of the space between the buildings. 

Most layouts are one room, kitchen format with attached facilities for toilet and bath. The living room is around 3m x 6m, and the kitchen is around 3m x 2.5m - spacious enough for further divisions. Many residents have further subdivided the large living space into smaller study or private bedroom space for themselves. In some cases, the kitchen has been converted into a bedroom, while the cooking space has been carved off from the large living room. However, most of these living room interventions leave the remaining space with less light. Often these partitions are made up of glass in order to allow for light to pass through.

The entire project is made out of concrete - including the walls. This was a unique technique developed during the period which brought down the cost of construction drastically. Although, such a move causes the buildings to heat up excessively during the summers or get extremely damp during the rains. The task of using the walls to install furniture becomes difficult since it is not easy to drill holes in these concrete masses. Nevertheless, the layouts are very efficient and keep all spaces well lit and ventilated throughout the day. The sense of well being is maintained, and the common spaces are social extensions of the apartments.