In a world where inefficient and unsustainable buildings are predominant, the poor are met with the challenge of not being able to cater to their current needs of energy, well-being, productivity and income. Compounded with climate change, these inefficiencies make the poor more vulnerable. Additionally, the construction industry causes 37 per cent of global carbon emissions, with the public sector being the largest contributor. The panel titled Four Walls and a Roof: Failures in Housing featured speakers like Manikandan KP of the Indian Housing Federation, Gautam Khot CTO-in-Residence of Brigade Reap, Bijal Brahmbhatt, Director, Mahila Housing Trust, Deepak Visvanathan from Habitat for Humanity India Trust, and Anjali Mohan, Partner, integrated Design, on how the sector can make sustainable and resilient practices a norm.

In a discussion on the Ecosystem for Construction, Manikandan KP spoke about the quality of housing and that it cannot be absolute, but a process. Long-term assets like housing drive the value proposition for an individual and a family to invest in. The quality of housing, therefore, becomes a critical question for everyone to answer. “What exactly is sustainability? And are we a part of the problem or the solution?” In his failure story, Manikandan reflected on the topic and definition of sustainability among organisations, especially in the development sector.

He was joined by Gautam Khot, who was dwelling on questions like —

“What are the challenges that stop us from achieving efficiencies in the sector, in processes, and in defining accountability? If the top developers are unable to get their arms around this? How can this be done when we scale down to implementers in affordable housing and low-income housing sectors?”

Bijal Brahmbhatt highlighted the housing finance issues in the sector, especially in the context of scaling housing in low-resource settings. She explains the complexity that lies in the linearity of the solutions provided. Navigating formality, tenure rights, land titles, income documentation, and other legal complexities is essential for end-users to be able to formalise an asset such as a home.
In his failure story, Deepak Visvanathan shared his experience with respect to engagement and interest in the process that deals with one crucial material — sand. “In India, there are sand sufficient states, sand surplus states, and sand deficit states. There was a time when states in India were importing m-sand from Indonesia and Malaysia for construction. The gap also resulted in the mafia exerting its control over the availability of sand that caused war and even death.” He mentioned that it was important to develop strategies to preserve sand in an ecologically responsible manner. This includes designing systems that both reduce sand usage and explore alternative materials in the construction sector to meet future needs. Design solutions should focus on identifying viable substitutes for natural materials like sand. Regenerative construction is one such approach, offering a sustainable strategy to incorporate alternative building materials.

The last speaker of the session was Anjali Mohan who drew from kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery using gold, silver, and enamel, to talk about the art of ‘transformative repair’ in the development sector. She used this elegant artform as a metaphor for adapting to changes and accepting failures and the need for collaboration among organisations, sharing accountability in professional circles, and listening to fresh voices to echo the innovations of today. These could be the tools for building strong collaborations and to be able to take risks and accept weaknesses.