Consider the following passage from the module on Architecture:
Unlike our modern cities, most of which grew organically out of a town or a village, Harappan cities were planned, with the streets generally oriented along the cardinal directions. Houses were built with bricks of standardized proportions; some of the larger ones had at least an upper storey; roofs consisted of wooden structures covered with grass or leaves. Most houses had individual bathrooms connected to extensive drainage networks. Complex structures, such as Mohenjo-daro‟ Great Bath or the so-called Granary, demonstrated advanced planning and construction skills. In the Great Bath‟ central basin, for example, the floor was made of tightly fitted bricks set on edge and cemented with a gypsum plaster to make a watertight surface; it was then covered with a layer of bitumen (natural tar). Humbler structures, such as wells constructed with trapezoid bricks, which prevented inward collapse, were no less advanced. Some of these Harappan techniques and concepts were preserved in later Indian architecture: for instance, the general house plan, with rooms organized around a central courtyard, survives in many parts of rural India; the drainage system of the later Ganges civilization was very likely a Harappan legacy.
At Dholavira, a large and rigorously planned city located on an island in the Rann of Kachchh, stone was used to build massive fortifications, while a network of enormous reservoirs ensured water supply to the city through the year. ... Dressed stone was used in construction along with mud bricks that conformed to Harappan standardized proportions. Stone pillars made of highly polished segments have also been found here.
Bathing platforms with drains were often situated in rooms adjacent to the wells. A small drain cut through the house wall out into the street directed ***** waters into a larger sewage drain. Tapered terracotta drainpipes were used to direct water out to the street. Many houses had distinct toilets, separate from the bath areas; commodes were large jars or sump pots sunk into the floors. Drains were made of burnt bricks and connected the bathing platforms and latrines of private houses to medium-sized open drains in the side streets. These open drains flowed into the larger sewers in the main streets: those were covered with baked bricks or dressed stone blocks. In Mohenjo-daro, large garbage bins were also provided along the major streets at regular intervals.
Answer these questions in relation to the above extract:
What general impression do you get from this brief description of Harappan cities?
Based on this passage, what estimate can we form of the manner in which Harappans met the urban challenges of their time? How would that compare with our meeting the challenges of today‟* urbanism?
