The Comprehension

In this part we will focus on three aspects including working principles, technology involved and design insights into the problems related to shelter homes for salt pan workers. Following are the major problems that will be the focus of the project:

i. building material catches fire easily

ii. the house gets blown away

iii. exteriors and gaps allow water to pass through

iv. damp land and the insects, which at times forces them to leave their work, hindering the process

v. extreme temperatures in the house

vi. expenditure in buying materials every year

The material used for building the current shelter homes includes bamboo, dry grass, wood, sacs, ropes, plastic sheets, canvas. All the materials are prone to catch fire. The house is built upon sand that supports as base and prevents water into the house through exteriors and gaps as it flows down into terrain. The bamboo rods form the basic structure of the house and rods are tied with the ropes. The roof is made up of bamboo strips, covered with plastic sheets and jute sacs vulnerable to get blown away. The walls of the house are formed using dry grass brought from village. This is a weak structure as exterior and gaps left inappropriately causes water to enter inside. The water stored for the purpose of drinking is hanged from the roof into vessel to keep it away from domestic animals. High wind velocity outside the house restricts cooking activity to be carried inside the house and therefore a passage is provided for the smoke to escape acting like a chimney structure. Also they make vents in the polymer sheets that are part of the walls. The height of house is just high enough for the inhabitants to stand upright and accommodate while kitchen’s height is compromised as most cooking is done while sitting. The leftover materials brought back to their homes are hardly any worth to be used in the following year as material like bamboo rods develop cracks and can’t be reused next year. Our mission for the product is to design a low cost, easily deployable and a compact yet comfortable self-standing shelter inculcating design innovation, technological and working solutions; for those hardworking salt farmers.