Snehal Oswal_Urban Design Portfolio

Street along the outskirts of the market place.
Houses open directly onto the street. These houses have small
scale shops like grocery or departmental stores.
Gutters run along the streets thus in rainy season collect all the
water falling from the roof and streets. Therefore all the roofs
slope towards the street.
Street along Beach – Tourist Development
As tourism has prevailed along this beach, many temporary
structures of tourist shops have developed.
Random and rapid growth of tourism in Malvan has affected its
identity and character as a town.
Market Street of Malvan
This street is completely commercial with small and big shops,
with each shop having its own spill over space to exhibit the
goods.
The temple on the street forms an image of identity for locals and
visitors, thus forming place identity for users.
Internal streets – residential zone.
The internal houses and structures have bigger plots and thus get
a garden area depending on the design.
Thus the streets in these parts have fencing on both the sides with
planters covering them. This also enhances the street and maintains
the privacy of the people living in these house.
Current Development
Haphazard and un-monitored growth due to
tourism
Deteriorating conditions of locals and their
occupation (Fish Market)
Inappropriate construction using reinforced
concrete in coastal regions, a result of copy-paste
architecture
Inferences
The culture of a region is one of the most constant
aspects of vernacular Architecture of
any place, and on the other hand, aspects such as
construction techniques, material availability,
technology etc. may change with
time.
Thus the character and identity of a region is
determined by its culture and traditions
which have been carried forward for generations.
Vernacular architecture is a style of architecture
which responds to the context in which it is
built.
Few beneficial aspects of Traditional Vernacular
Architecture which could be considered may be
listed as follows:
i. Culture of the region
ii. Physical context of the region
iii. Climatic conditions, and
iv. Traditional values of the region.
Conclusion
It is necessary to understand the importance
of local identity and character of a region and
breakthrough today’s trend of globalization in
construction all over the world which is resulting
in the fading away of the Vernacular Architecture
of any region.
An amalgamation of both, the beneficial aspects
of Traditional Vernacular Architecture and the
advanced construction techniques with modern
technology can prove to be appropriate solutions
to retain the identity of the region.