DHANI is a housing project which aims to work on the principles of community living as well help, contribute & encourage the governing authorities of the town to adopt technological yet sustainable approaches.

THE ARGUMENTS
IS TOURISM STILL THE FACE OF UDAIPUR?
Major high economic hotel chains have acquired the vintage palaces & forts & converted them to luxury driven resorts. Apart from these there are numerous hotels taking up lands on the periphery of the Pichola Lake. All this results in massive intake of natural resources with a pollutative consequence. Tourism, which is the face & backbone of Udaipur’s economy stands questionable seeing the current scenario. This question is to be answered with a sustainable & sensitive design approach through the proposal.
THE DECLINATION OF COMMUNITY LIVING.
The immediate adjacencies to the plot bear G+1 & G+2 residential units which stand together, yet function in isolation. The base of living systems in Rajasthan is community living which the current scenario completely contradicts. This very scenario is to be changed by incorporating the principles of the housing typology of Dhani, hence the name of the project.

DESIGNING UNITS
The proposal talks of tourists as its primary user which brings in possibilities of vast variety of socio - cultural & socio - economic backgrounds. Hence, the second argument talking of community living may or may not work. Therefore such spaces are curated which on one hand focuses to enhance the community living, also maintaining the degrees of intimacy in the private parts of the units. Udaipur has housings where a hierarchy in courtyards is seen. The similar notion is abstracted in form of a hierarchy of shared spaces which makes occupying flexible for the users with varied backgrounds.

SITE ORIENTATION
The site zones in a way where the units open up in the interiors & utility functions are subjected to the active edges of the site. A pedestrian path through the site interiors offers multiple levels of experience in terms of scale, volume & degree of openness. The four public spaces in the larger courtyards act in four different ways & maintains a flexibility in occupiability. Sectionally the proposal makes sure of visual interactions at different levels & keep the interiors of the site active throughout.

PROPOSAL TODAY
The design is curated in a way which suits a variety of a cultural & emotional backgrounds & makes sure the second argument [Enhancing Community Living] does not become a selfish design decision by forcibly imposing it on the user. Also, the isolated unit plans adds to the factor of necessary social isolation considering the pandemic conditions in the country.

As a whole, the design proposal aims for a sustainable solution for the near future issues with regaining a lost connect with the cultural base of the context.