Querencia
TEAM: Radhakrishnan T R – School of Architecture and planning, Anna university, Chennai, India
“From sleeping in the Dirty and murky footpaths,
To unsafe and treacherous platforms, Being Helpless and vulnerable,
For them sleep is a NEED,
Not a WANT,
Beneath the darkness of night screens, They dare to have a dream “
With a population of 1.3 billion, India is still a developing country. Where most of its population is either poor or unemployed. At present, 29.8% of the population lives below the poverty line, earning less than 28.65 rupees (56 cents) per day and almost 20% is unemployed in the cities. Do you think these people, who cannot afford even a square meal per day can ever afford a safe place for sleeping? In cities a safe sleep has merely become just a dream for them.
One such metropolitan city is Chennai, which has become a magnet for poor migrants who either come in search for jobs or pilgrimage. These people cannot afford the expensive hotels for a temporary stay for few days and hence end up becoming vulnerable and sleep on the unhygienic and unsafe footpaths or on platforms of railway and bus terminus as individuals or along with their family.
Site- Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus (CMBT) (200,000 passengers /day) and Central railway station (350,000 passengers/day) are the two main transportation nodes for commuters via bus and train in the city, where two kinds of commuters are generally
observed: transit ( 80 % ) and “others” who prefer staying back in the platforms (20% ). The “others” generally comprises the people who come to city in search of jobs ( 6 % ), pilgrims( 3% ), or few who wait in platforms due to transport delay for hours ( 3% ) or the daily hawkers inside the trains and buses who end up sleeping in the unsafe platforms ( 8% ) as they cannot afford the hotels for a safe and comfortable sleep they deserve. In the fast developing urban fabric ignoring the NEEDS of the poor and fulfilling the WANTS of the rich has become the social strata without realizing the fact that they are interdependent on each other. But is it fair to ignore their crucial NEEDS? The NEED being a right they deserve, just to have a safe peaceful sleep of dignity and respect.
– QUERENCIA.
Querencia is designed as a safe and low cost hotel for the needy by utilizing the available waste material that is discarded due to the ignorance and negligence of people. Concrete pipe discarded by the metro projects are majorly used for creating the modules
and other materials include rubber tiers, wooden planks and construction debris. The two sites are chosen in proximity to major transit nodes: central railway station and bus depot. The two dead sites are activated by querencia. The modules are placed around the gathering spaces which is further secured by nature, hence providing them with a healthy and a safe sleep in the midst of urban fabric without disrupting the transit nodes. A total of 300 modules are placed for sleeping in of the each site. The hotel is further brought to life by the supporting morning and night activities. During the mornings, it transforms into a public place wherein commercial markets are setup that are run by the NGOs to collect revenue to maintain querencia affordable for all and inculcate a new sense of purpose, involving participation and interaction amongst the people. In the nights, querencia is mainly used for a peaceful secured sleep amidst the nature with efficient ventilation and vigilant security. Bio toilets are built that generate electricity for querencia, making it self sustaining. The functioning is undertaken by NGO’s (National Government Organisation) who provide querencia at minimal cost which they can afford. Querencia is not only the need for the people, but also an ultimate efficient solution for this issue throughout the Urban fabric in the world, which will thus create a balance between people and environment for a sustainable and a healthy living.