Houses of the weavers

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Uppada’s rehabilitation settlement tells a quiet but powerful story of how people reshape space to keep life going. What began as a uniform, government-planned housing colony built after repeated cyclones slowly changed as families adapted their homes to everyday realities. As weaving incomes declined, families grew, and aspirations shifted, residents enclosed courtyards, added floors, rented out rooms, or turned parts of their houses into shops, classrooms, or storage spaces. These small, incremental changes were not planned in advance, but emerged from necessity, care, and hope. Over time, the houses stopped being fixed structures and became living environments that grew with their occupants. Uppada shows that resilience lies not in rigid designs, but in people’s ability to modify and inhabit space in ways that support changing lives.

Typological shifts in housing

 

Factors affecting typological shifts:

 

1. Occupational changes

2. Growth in occupation 

 

Frequent cyclones, along with the availability of materials and construction techniques, have influenced the way fishers build their homes. The needs of the family, its fluctuating size, and changing professions also play a role in shaping these houses.

Out of the several houses within the fishing community, four can be studied in detail, as over time they have either adapted to newer ways of building or are among those that have stood the test of time.