A Laboratory of Sustainability

Auroville

"It is meant to be a universal town

where men and women of all countries

are able to live in peace and progressive harmony,

above all creeds, politics and nationalities."

(auroville.org)

(Image 1: Auroville Vision model)

Located near Pondicherry in south India, Auroville is an experimental township with global mix of residents. Based on Sri Aurobindo's vision of a perfect society with higher consciousness; his spiritual collaborator, Mirra Richard, founded Auroville in 1968 with a purpose to create a sustainable city based on spiritual understanding.

Design Overview: With maximum of 45% of allowed built environment the township itself is about 1.25 km in radius. A green belt of 1.25 km width with organic farms, dairies, orchards and forests, surrounds the settlement.

Designed by Roger Anger, various zones within the township were separated in the master plan. However, the master plan was never frozen in order to allow flexibility for experimentation. Though the researchers have begun living close to their work places, zoning predominantly remains as seen in the Image 2.

(Image 2: Conceptual zoning at Auroville)

The land belongs to no government. As a result no formal government can legally facilitate amenities and infrastructure in side Auroville. The community members are discouraged from participating politically so as to retain Auroville's autonomous status. It is only the sustainable practices and contribution of knowledge and labor from people from various regions in the world have helped Auroville sustain itself.

Researchers and the beneficiary

From the conceptual stage till date the settlement has been open to everyone who is inclined to learn or contribute towards a greater good of life on earth. Researchers from over 32 countries in the world have contributed in various researches at Auroville. Various colleges and universities from all over India are invited to participate in the educational workshops and research programs at Auroville. In 2003 I had an opportunity to visit this township as a student of architecture and environmental studies. Like most students from urban India, I was awed by the environmental practices and their positive effects in this region.

Auroville has had a big impact on neighboring cities. The green industries in Auroville (furniture making, handmade paper and articles production ) offer employment opportunities, and various levels of schools offer education to the neighboring villages. Auroville has helped neighboring villages set up small enterprises and provided a link to market their finished product.

Successful experiments:

(Image3: Early Auroville Image) (Image 4: Auroville in 2008)

As a result of extreme weather conditions, population growth and unsustainable farming practices; the region had lost its rain forest and faced drought conditions in 1960s. Early Auroville residents observed two extremes in availability of water: flooding and scarcity. As an immediate solution earth bunds and dams were built to capture and percolate rain water into the ground. Though, Earthen dykes, built forming stepped land on existing sloped surfaces, proved to be more successful way of capturing and retaining water. The region suffered from sand storms until the dykes and damns helped recharge ground water table and increase humidity in the atmosphere.

Geographic information system helped researchers locate existing aquifers and device a method to tackle saline infusion. Thousands of trees were planted to create a canopy that supported the growth of secondary trees. With the help of botanical surveys, the residents of Auroville collected seeds and propagated plant species, creating a green reserve for migratory birds and a reserve of healthy gene pool for future development (Thompson-Smeddle, 2007). Research and experiments in forests, ecology and water harvesting continue till date.

Government of India founded the Auroville Earth Institute in 1989. This institute investigated sustainable building materials and architectural forms. A variety of sustainable architectural features can be seen at every building in Auroville.The building are designed to provide natural light and ventilation in each room of the building. Most buildings have solar panels for lighting after dark. One can observe interesting experiments in architectural forms using combinations of stabilized compressed earthen blocks and concrete. In 2003, some single family homes built in earthen blocks were being experimented on for roof top run off catchment.

One of the strikingly sustainable building in Auroville is the common kitchen, known as the Solar Kitchen; for it houses a large bowl of mirrors that supplies the heat/steam required for cooking in the day time. In 2003, it used to serve 3 vegetarian meals daily to about 200 residents and 500 outsiders including surrounding schools. The Kitchen served a wide variety of healthy salads which need zero power consumption and used solar energy for most of the cooking. Community members and ladies from neighboring village volunteered to cook these large meals. Today the solar bowl supplies only a quarter of the required energy. The dining hall is lit by natural light filtering through the etched glass windows in the roof.
(Image 5: Solar Kitchen)

Typically a cluster of ground level housing or a single multi story residential building forms a community. Being an experimental settlement, most communities house a combination of sustainable living experiments. Some of the communities have had an impressive success in their experiments.

A community called Vikas, with multifamily housing, is one such community. It is built completely in earthen bocks with one underground residential floor. Since the underground part of the building is inhabitable in monsoon due to high level of subsoil water the residents have converted it into a bicycle parking space. Residents on the floors above ground enjoy the benefits of earthen building for its thermal properties. The houses remain cool during the day and warm at night.

Residents are supplied with solar power stored through the day. Power from a wind mill draws water to a over head tank at 35 feet height. In 2003, Vikas was the only community that did not require any supplementary power to operate appliances or motors of daily use. This community also has an experimental reed bed system for water recycling and a percolation pit that charges a well supplying water to the community through out the year.

(Image 6: Vikas housing)

Transport in Auroville is underdeveloped. The road network is actually only the stretches where no trees were planted. Roads as well as a mass transit system is being planned for the community, however presently two wheelers (bicycles, motorbikes) are the predominant modes of transport.

Please watch the following video created by a university student in south India (2009)

Recommending the world:
Auroville is a sustainable community in real sense. Its an example and inspiration not only for architects, planners and researchers, but every human being. I peruse it as a laboratory that tests traditional practices and tries to improve upon it. It addresses the spiritual need of human mind, though, to most, it appeals because of its scientific approach. It is a laboratory dedicated to research towards human survival.
Today, there are many green initiatives all across the world; but there is no other experience like the one in Auroville. There is something to learn from every aspect of Auroville. All the experiments in sustainable planning and architecture are available as case studies. The community building model can be repeated anywhere in the world.
UNESCO published a resolution in 2008 that stated- Auroville is a successful and unique model project, proving the capacity of an international community, after 40 years of existence, to continue to live up to its initial founding ideals of peace and international harmony and within the spirit of mutual respect and sustainable development. In my opinion, keeping the politics out of the settlement has helped it retain its integrity from the very beginning. It may not be possible to have such a settlement in any other part of the world for political reasons.
Most visitors would agree that Auroville has changed many of their daily practices, because the experience got embedded in their sub conscious mind. I recommend everyone in the world, irrespective of their field of study or work, to visit Auroville to contribute with your knowledge, if not with labor, in this laboratory of sustainability.

---

Reference:

• Study tour 2003, Green Architecture lecture series, Kamala Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute for Architecture and Environmental studies, Mumbai
  
• Thompson-Smeddle Lisa , February 2007, Auroville: Toward a Sustainable Agricultural, Architectural, Social and Infrastructural Development (URL: http://sustainabilityinstitute.net.www8b.your-server.co.za/newsdocs/documents-mainmenu-31/doc_download/290-auroville-case-study-lisa-thompson-smeddle, Last accessed: November 15th 2009)
• URL: Auroville.org, Last accessed: November 15th 2009
• URL: Wikipedia.com Last accessed: November 15th 2009

Please note: clicking on the media will show it from its original source

Image URL:

• http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Auroville_master_plan_4.jpg, Last accessed: November 17th 2009
• http://www.auroville.org/gallery/index.htm, Last accessed: November 17th 2009

Video URL:

• Amrita, 2009, (Name of the university not specified), http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8450886864846711562, Last accessed: November 17th 2009