‘ Manav Sadhna

Activity Centre, Ahmedabad.’

Recycling Waste as Affordable Building Components: An

Environmental, Economic, Social and Aesthetic Imperative

Category in Exhibition Earth

PROJECT TEAM
Vastu-Shilpa Foundation for Studies and Research in Environmental Design
‘ Manav Sadhna Activity Centre,Ahmedabad.’Recycling Waste as Affordable Building Components: An Environmental, Economic, Social and Aesthetic Imperative CONTEXT & RESOLUTION

The activity centre is located amidst the largest squatter settlement of Ahmedabad,
and was created under the initiative of the social NGO, Manav Sadhna. The multi-
purpose activity centre serves as an informal school for young children, provides
evening education for adults and serves as a training centre and activity workshop for Nearly 27.4 million tonnes of
the manufacturing of craft based products by women and elderly. The campus also waste is produced daily in the
includes a dormitory, an administrative unit and an all-religion meditation unit. The urban centers of India.
campus Cities like Ahmedabad alone
is built using components prepared through recycling municipal/domestic waste. This produce 2750 metric tonnes.
process simultaneously addresses environmental concerns, economic issues and
affordable housing; As municipal waste from the domestic sector is used for producing
building components, it helps to reduce waste as pollution. Through value addition
processes of recycling the waste,
The campus is built using
it provides a means of economic activity for the poor as well as a sense of
components prepared
empowerment. Finally as the recycled building components are cheaper and of higher through recycling
quality than the conventional materials, they provide affordable and superior quality municipal/domestic waste.
building alternatives for the urban poor. As municipal waste from
the domestic sector is used
for producing building
components,
it helps to reduce pollution.

Manav Sadhna Activity Centre, Ahmedabad

‘ Manav Sadhna Activity Centre,Ahmedabad.’Recycling Waste as Affordable Building Components: An Environmental, Economic, Social and Aesthetic Imperative VIGNETTES & LIFE

PROJECT BRIEF
Set amidst largest slum, Manav Sadhna
centres are a cluster of
multipurpose activity campuses including
school, vocational training centre,
gymnasium, crèche, handicraft unit and
community centre for
festivities. The centre, completed in
2012,is an exemplar of sustainable design
using municipal/domestic, digital waste as
alternative building components. Waste
such as fly ash, dump fill waste, crate
packaging, plastic bottles, glass bottles,
rags, wrappers, metals crap, broken
ceramic wares, compact disc and
electronic hardware etc. have been
transformed into walling, roofing, flooring
and fenestrations.
An eco-friendly architectural
demonstration, it reduces carbon footprint
through waste recycling, empowering the
poor (inclusive of waste pickers in the
slum) by generating economic
opportunities through value addition and
developing alternative building products
and a community space for them.

Manav Sadhna Activity Centre, Ahmedabad

‘ Manav Sadhna Activity Centre,Ahmedabad.’Recycling Waste as Affordable Building Components: An Environmental, Economic, Social and Aesthetic Imperative

Manav Sadhna Activity Centre, Ahmedabad

Manav Sadhna Activity Centre, Ahmedabad
Manav Sadhna Activity Centre, Ahmedabad
Manav Sadhna Activity Centre, Ahmedabad
Manav Sadhna Activity Centre, Ahmedabad
Manav Sadhna Activity Centre, Ahmedabad