creat<strong>in</strong>g space vertically March 2010Kirthi Ramesh & Juan Carvajal22
As we squeeze through the alleys of theSweeper Colony, Sonu, a girl from thecommunity, shows us some t<strong>in</strong>y roomswhere often 2 or 3 generations crowdtogether every night to sleep. Walk<strong>in</strong>gfurther through the tight pathways, wesuddenly notice a narrow two-storeybuild<strong>in</strong>g tower<strong>in</strong>g above the one storiedhouses. Curious about its function, we decideto take a closer look. Arriv<strong>in</strong>g therewe meet Ajab Lal and his son, Rajak Lal,who are the tenants of the house. Theymake a gesture <strong>in</strong>vit<strong>in</strong>g us to climb up allthe way up to the rooftop. After tackl<strong>in</strong>gthe grips of iron jutt<strong>in</strong>g out from the wall<strong>in</strong> irregular <strong>in</strong>tervals, an excellent view ofthe community awaits us.Twelve years ago, Ajab Lal built a smallroom above the narrow passage adjacentto the neighbor’s house, just big enoughfor two people to sleep <strong>in</strong>. By that timehis daughters had already been marriedand moved <strong>in</strong> with their <strong>in</strong>-laws, but hissons were yet to be married. While girlstraditionally move to their <strong>in</strong>-laws houseafter marriage, boys stay with their parents.Sens<strong>in</strong>g that the 7m 2 room on theground floor would not be enough to accommodatehim, his wife, his two grownupsons and their families, Ajab decided toenlarge their liv<strong>in</strong>g space. With no spacearound the house the only possibility wasto build upwards, on top of the hallway astheir own roof is slanted and shared withthe neighbor<strong>in</strong>g house.This was not an easy undertak<strong>in</strong>g. Ajabfirst had to get permission from the Pourashavawho owns the land and builts thehouses. He approached the chair personof the community to discuss the matterand then went to the Pourashava who approvedhis request. His next challenge wasactually build<strong>in</strong>g the new upstairs room.With little outside help it took him about20 days to carry out this project. Today hisnewly married younger son sleeps <strong>in</strong> thesmall room on the upper floor while heand his wife live on the ground floor. Hisolder son, who lived <strong>in</strong> that room before,moved to another house nearby with hiswife and their three children.For many community members, however,the reality is still a crowded one. This isnot unusual <strong>in</strong> Bangladesh where the overallpopulation density is one of the highest<strong>in</strong> the world with 1075 persons per km².In fact, <strong>in</strong> slums the population density isabout 200 times higher, despite the factthat most slum dwell<strong>in</strong>gs are only s<strong>in</strong>glestorey, as <strong>in</strong> the case of the Sweeper Colony.Population density <strong>in</strong> the Sweeper Colonyis 150 times higher than the nationalaverage, with as many as 168 172 peopleper km². This can lead to situations where15 people live with<strong>in</strong> 8m 2 . In return fortheir work as cleaners for the Pourashavano rent is charged, which is the major reasonwhy most families stay despite cont<strong>in</strong>u<strong>in</strong>gpopulation growth.Some community members tell us thatthey are all very proud of Ajab’s <strong>in</strong>telligencebut, for various reasons such asf<strong>in</strong>ancial constra<strong>in</strong>ts, lack of knowledgeon construction work etc., so far no oneelse <strong>in</strong> the Sweeper Colony has taken upthis idea to vertically extend their houses.23