INTRODUCTION

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introduction

1.1 Jail system evolution and its future in Indian context.

1.2 What is urban courtyard? 1.3 Outline of study 1.4 Relevance 1.5 Aim & Objectives 1.6 Scope Limitation

1.1 CONCEPT OF JAILS AND ITS EVOLUTION IN INDIAN CONTEXT

The purpose and concept of jails and imprisonment evolved over various time frames which can be categorised into 3 epochs1:

1. Till middle of 15th century- Detention Rooms (Bandhi-Khana2)

Prisons were only for the purpose of accommodating the criminals before their trials or before they were punished. Imprisonment was not a punishment. Exile, torture, death, banishment, etc were the punishments.

Since imprisonment was not a punishment the time duration that a criminal use to be in these detention rooms was less and the only purpose was isolation which was ensured by providing underground chambers and high security around. The number of criminals was also less during that time.

2. Experimentation with Imprisonment

The punishments mentioned above were against the juveniles, prostitutes, etc. And as the number of criminals under these headers increased there was a need for developing alternative punishments for them. Therefore, ‘Imprisonment’ starting

taking shape as a punishment.

Since now imprisonment was considered as a punishment, the time span these criminals occupying the space was more. If these criminals escaped, it may be a threat for the society and hence now jails were designed in the outskirts away from the settlements and royal families.

During the rule of Mughals, some of the fortresses, situated at different locations were used for imprisonment. Mughals converted forts like Ranthambore, Rohtas and Gwalior located away from the Mughal capital Agra, into jails. Gwalior fort was used for captivating Royals. Akbar’s cousin was kept in the prison here and later on executed. Also, many of Aurangzeb’s brothers were executed here.

3. Adoption of imprisonment as a punishment for literally all the corporal and capital penalties

Imprisonment is a punishment for all the offences. This system was more organised as the British rule began. During British rule these jails were strategically placed in the freedom struggle hot-spots. Supreme court was established. Jail was the smallest unit of this whole system and had British origin.

East Indian company was reluctant to spend money on jails and thus many of them were established by converting the existing forts. Forts become the best option for them considering the security attributes it offered. Thane Fort, Ahmednagar fort were some of the examples of such adaptive reuse.

(Amarendra Mohanty, 1990)

Sabarmati Central Jail is the main prison in the walled city of Ahmedabad, Gujarat. British constructed this new, secure jail outside the city limits in late 19th century when city had become populous. The Jail constructed in 1895 is functional even today with a Maximum-Security Class. The city has now grown a lot beyond the walled limits and now the Jail, which was once in the outskirts, is inside the residential core of the city.

Figure 3 Location of Sabarmati Jail (past & present) (Source: Author)

The largest prison in Maharashtra, the Yerwada Central Jail was built in 1871 by the British on the outskirts of Pune city. The space which has witnessed imprisonment of great freedom fighters, was planned in the city-outskirts. Today with a tremendous increase in city boundaries, the jail is now surrounded by the residential side of the city and also have an airport in the vicinity boosting the development even further.

Figure 5 Evolution of Jail system and its future (Source: Author)

1.2 WHAT IS URBAN COURTYARD?

A courtyard is a space that is enclosed within walls/built form which forms an element in traditional housing typology. 1These courtyards impact not only the functionality but also the space quality, experience and cultural relevance. These attributes of a typical courtyard when compared at a larger urban scale through the niches found in city surrounded by dense urban fabric.

Figure 6 Comparing Typical courtyard with Urban courtyard (Source: Author)

These ‘URBAN COURTYARDS’ responding to the context, community and fabric of surrounding, can be developed to have great impact on various Urban factors concerning the city and its people. In some cases, it could be a green lung for the city, in some a leisure, interactive spot for the community. In some it may highlight a cultural aspect of the city or in other it may define the identity of the city itself. Since, cities have many more shades to it, the urban courtyard can explore beyond the typical attributes further dwelling into economics, technology, smart city, congestion, quality of life, tourism, etc. aspects as well.

Figure 7 Imagining Urban courtyard (Source: Author)

1.3 OUTLINE OF STUDY

Infrastructure aids the smooth working of the city and the comfort of its people. The development of a city thus is facilitated with an inter-related loop of people and infrastructure. It facilitates the growth of cities and helps in building up its character. Today at the times of rapid development and advancement in various fields, some of the old infrastructure existing for many decades may not suffice the growing demands. There thus is a need to rethink, change, expand, retro-fit, relocate or completely eliminate such infrastructure and ensure its relevance in today’s time.

‘Jails’ is one such physical system, many of which, functional today were built, organized & adapted during the British rule; 100-150 years ago. These jails were planned in the outskirts of the settlement. Some of them were even housed in old forts away from the city core. But today, when the extent of the city has increased, these aging Jails sit right in the metropolitan establishment and are a sticking point. Also, the capacity which the jails were planned for is not meeting today's demands. The people around, resent the thought of jail being in their neighborhood. These prisons which behold chapters of our glorious freedom struggle are now a closed space housing the dark side of the community.

Thus, it becomes very important to understand the adaptability of such spaces so that they would be more favorable for the cities and it's people. It would also promote the future smart-cities 1to take ahead with them the historic chapters associated.

The large chunk of land occupied by the Jail premise can have great attributes to it like history, architecture, ecology, un-exploited land, strategic location, viewpoints, etc. Exploring these, it thus will have a great potential to be a value-addition for the city, impacting its lifestyle, economics, community bonding, environment, and microclimate, etc. Thus, Jail infrastructure, if reimagined into ‘URBAN COURTYARD’ can escalate the city and its urban fabric.

Thane city, being one of the rapidly developing metropolitan regions, has witnessed growth in industrial & trading sectors, construction, transport, IT sector, etc. It has attained a place of a prime suburb with great potential for future developments. It’s Jail which was once a fort having great attributes to offer to the city, is one such system that needs to be

questioned for its admissibility.

1 Smart City: City using information and communication technology (ICT), and various devices connected to the IoT (Internet of things) to optimize the efficiency of city operations and services and connect to citizens.

1.4 RELEVANCE

Today in the face of the drastic expansion of Thane City and tremendous increase in population, the old infrastructure constructed in different time frames considering different purposes cratering to different demands may not be efficient. Thus, planning and adaptation of such infrastructure become very crucial. Offices were shifted and rebuilt, hospitals were expanded, some functions were completely closed down. Even ecologically, the spaces were modified; Lakes, which is the city’s asset, were filled in, creek, which is a rich bio-diversity zone, was reclaimed for development.

Thus, the city has always tried to acclimatize to rapid urbanization which had good as well as bad impacts. Thane Central jail, which was once a fort and in the city outskirts, is today in the residential core of the city. Thus, it can be questioned for its continuation in accordance with the concept of jail being isolated from society. Also, the Jail is exhausted, housing 200% more than its capacity and thus is do not suffice large population demands and is inefficient.

Thane jail fort has a rich history not only at the time of freedom struggle but also dating back to the Maratha era when it was a Naval Fort. Along with this, its strategic location, accessibility, ecological context, bio-diversity, economic potential, etc are some of the great attributes. It has many things to offer to the city but these untold narratives and features are unexplored as it is not open for its citizens due to its function.

To ensure relevance and adaptability of old infrastructures (physical system) like JAILS in the face of rapidly developing Thane city context through architectural intervention which will dwell into Urban tissue of the city, its history, changing demands & requirements of the communities around in co-relation with the new infrastructure and smart city concept creating an URBAN COURTYARD for the city.

OBJECTIVES

• To analyse the Jail system, its position in society, and the related notions. • To synthesize the evolution of Thane city over different time frames, current developments and its impact on jail infrastructure, its demands, and attributes. • To identify what the jail has offered to the city's historical narrative and how can it be manoeuvred today to escalate the urban context by analysing at macro and micro levels. • To analyse the concept of smart city and tying its knot with the historic context. • To interpret site through different lenses of Ecology, History, Economic and Cultural attributes. • To devise a survey for developing an architectural program considering different stakeholders. • To define the scope of intervention by evaluating the development regulations.

1.6 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS

• The scope of the study is to understand the relevance of old planned infrastructure in today's times and its adaptability to the current demands of the cities and its people. • The scope is limited to jails only as a physical system/infrastructure aiding the city. • The thesis has limited its scope to architectural intervention while devising the design scheme. • The thesis is specific to the site and not a repeating module. But it can be a derivation for various other sites sharing similar attributes. • Since Jail is a high-security area, constraints on the accessibility of data. • The pandemic situation may limit some parts of On-field study.

KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS

• URBAN COURTYARD: Niche in a dense urban context which, like a courtyard in a traditional house, would be a value addition at a larger urban scale in terms of culture, ecology, economics, etc and beyond.

• URBAN TISSUE: understanding the built landscape, trying to decode the spatial structure and character of a metropolitan area by studying the patterns of its component parts and the process of its development.

• COMMUNITY: all the people related with a common factor like living in a particular place, sharing same public spaces.

• ADAPTIVE: One that changes with time and upgrades itself to meet the requirements according to the current external conditions.

• INFRASTRUCTURE: It is the basic, physical framework/system, established to serve an area, city, or country for the ease of its people.

• JAILS: It is the smallest unit of the judiciary system where people are confined and lawfully kept under custody.

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