Working Drawings are an efficient method of communication from an architect to the contractor on site and the workers in order to build a structure. But there are several practices around the world that do not necessarily rely on these very detailed sheets in order to execute their design.
Traditional , ancient practices around the world used various methods like drawing on rocks, making models etc. to understand the techniques of building.
In the Medieval period, buildings were developed by master masons and masons, who travelled from one project to the next, where they would use skills handed down through generations to construct buildings using tried and tested techniques.
In modern building projects, the communicative environment involves daily phone calls, emails and collaborative working. The architect operates virtually within a design team, and with the client, project managers, constructors, suppliers and public authorities
The terms “social inheritance”, or “tradition” put emphasis on how culture is acquired rather than what it consists of ’. Culture Consists of conditioned or learned activities and the idea of learning brings us back again to what is socially transmitted, what is
received from tradition, what is “acquired by man as a member of societies.
-(Built to Meet Needs,Paul Oliver)
For Example, The village carpenters of Podhale, Poland used neither drawn plans nor written calculations: ‘their entire technological knowledge was based exclusively on memory and was reduced to the repetition, in practical action, of a few basic models a larger, two-roomed house, and a smaller one having one room only, with certain variants which consisted of adding summer-rooms and stores (kamora)’.
WADAS -
The architectural design and layouts of Wadas were affected by various cultural factors of which rituals and religion are an important aspect.
The form and design developed on the basis of their daily activities and spaces needed to undertake those activities.
Osari: It is the transition space or verandah . It is a semi-open space or a
passage or spill out space for activities.
Dewadi: A verandah for guards
Sadrecha Sopa: Open to courtyard, verandah space used for administrative activities, usually in the first or central courtyard.
Kacheri : Office: It is the administrative department in the first or central courtyard.
Khalbhatkhana: Negotiation Room. It was a semi-public space where discussions/decisions place
Diwankhana: Living room. Huge hall for formal meetings. It is planned just above osari and Dewadi
Majghar: Middle room. From this part, the private area is segregated from the public area. Generally, women & family members use it. It is a private hall .
Devghar: Prayer Room. Tijory : Treasury.
Gotha: Cow-pen in the backyard of a house.
Swayampak Ghar : Kitchen. Kothar: Storeroom.
Wadas, as a form of residential architecture that emerged in the 18th and 19th century.Topography and Climatological have also played an important role because in some regions people used flat roof and in some areas in sloping roof depending on the rainfall.
The spaces followed the structural grid. These structural system measurements depended on the type of timber available.
All the dimensions of these houses are the multiples of the unit bays called khann.
Ghay =2 x width of khann
Chapekhann is always used at the corners of the structural system.
The unique planning based on a square grid pattern set the wadas apart from the other typologies available in India.
Windows and Doors and Brackets differed for each Wada-and mainly depended on the status and wealth of the family. A wealthier family would have ornate carvings and hence hire skilled workers for the same- for whom the art of carving may have passed down through generations and mastered through practice.
DOCUMENTATION OF BHALERAO WADA IN NASHIK
-Pair Work with Radhika Choksi
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