Crossing the Lal Dora: Shahpur Jat
ARUSHI JASWAL ROLL NO. :160695026 SYSTEM ID: 2016004208 THESIS GUIDE: PROF. SHHILPI SINHA
TOHFE WALA GUMBAD, SHAHPUR JAT, DELHI •
This is the only Khalji era building located within the walls of the Siri Fort towards its western corner. Although prominently visible from the main road, the enclosure for the building is now surrounded by the Shahpurjat village .
•
Very little is known about why the building came to be known as such, its name literally meaning, ‘the gifted dome’. From the outside this building has the appearance of a tomb, but in reality this was a mosque.
•
The structure that now stands is the central chamber of the main prayer hall of this mosque. The chamber is entered through a large iwan (a rectangular hall walled on three sides with one side entirely open) that contains three smaller and narrower arched openings.
•
Above the central arch is yet another but smaller arched opening for light. There are similar openings on the north and south and these must have led to the rest of the prayer chamber on either side extending to the corner of the enclosure, but unfortunately these have been mostly destroyed and only the foundations remain now.
•
There are three recessed mihrabs on the western wall of the structure which has a dome on top. There are arched openings on the southern and northern side of the structure.
•
This is unlike the structures of Alai Darwaja and the mosque at Nizamuddin attributed to Alauddin Khilji which are much finer monuments. This is much simpler structure built of rubble masonry.
Urban Improvements:
Interpretation Center:
In 2009, a physical mapping/survey of the Basti was undertaken to document the area with the intention of planning sensitive urban improvements. The survey has led to the preparation of street improvement plans which will be implemented by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. The parks along the western edge of the basti will be landscaped to fulfil the needs expressed by the resident community. There will be earmarked parks for women, children, cricket, community functions and weddings. The newly built public toilets - a key intervention for urban renewal in the basti - have improved access to hygienic sanitation for the residents. They are now community managed. Cultural Revival Initiative:
LOCATION: NEW DELHI
At Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti, the project combines conservation with a major socioeconomic development effort that is implemented through a communitycentred, collaborative approach. The objective is to improve environmental conditions and strengthen essential urban services with interventions in core areas of education, health and sanitation. All programmes commenced following a quality of life assessment study. A synergistic, community centered and collaborative approach has been adopted to improve the quality of life for residents through a series of multiinput projects that aims to improve the urban environment, conserve monuments, develop public parks, strengthen basic services through interventions in the three core areas of health, education and environmental sanitation and engage community participation through a regular series of cultural activities and performances. In so doing, the project seeks to integrate conservation, socio-economic development and urban and environmental development objectives in consultation with local communities and relevant stakeholders. All programmes commenced following a quality of life assessment study. Education: Initiatives in education follow a life cycle approach: the early childhood care and development programme aims to facilitate the holistic development of children and facilitate their transition to school. The major effort towards primary education improvement has included a refurbishment of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) Primary school, introducing arts education, greater parent interaction and improved school management. Life Skills education is offered to all project beneficiaries. The Vocational Training programmes for young people include a career development centre (NIIT Institute of Technology) and the teaching of the English language (British Council) as a skill needed for employment.
The “living culture” of the area is a unique blend of secular and inter-faith elements that encompass performing arts, classical music, poetry and traditional crafts. Steps are being taken to revive and revitalise these components by making them viable in a contemporary milieu. This is also where Amir Khusrau started Qawwali music traditions in the thirteenth century. His legacy is being highlighted at festivals, discussions and through recordings. Efforts are also underway to build awareness of the value of the monuments through activities like theatre, craft workshops and heritage walks. Women tutored in the traditional craft of paper cutting now augment family incomes with sales of their products.
AREA OF INTERVENTION:
A state-of-the-art site museum is to be built at the entrance of the World Heritage Site to: enhance visitor experience; allow a better understanding of Mughal architecture and building craft traditions. The architecture of the Museum has been inspired by the tradition of geometric forms in Mughal architecture.
The gallery spaces are arranged in a sequence of intersecting squares, with wide column spans of eight meters. Given the high volume of visitors expected at the site, the public circulation sequence has also been developed along a primary axis, spanning the entire length of the Museum. Natural light, filtered through skylights and open courtyards, illuminates the gallery areas. These courtyards are critical aspects of the gallery, enabling curated displays of Mughal architecture, including façade treatments, landscape elements and ornamental traditions. Complex engineering systems required for a modern museum are woven around each gallery through dedicated service corridors, thus facilitating optimal curatorial and management protocols. The entry plaza, comprising multiple ticket counters, public amenities and a cafe, as well as access to a souvenir shop, an auditorium, library, crafts gallery and seminar rooms, is sensitively arranged under the foliage of large trees. A two-storied structure that defines the northern end of the plaza is built on the footprint and height of the existing structure. Its facade is clad with red sandstone. The plaza also functions as a threshold from which visitors can orient themselves, familiarizing themselves with the many features of the area.
Health:
The health interventions in the Basti include upgrading the MCD Polyclinic to ensure better diagnosis and treatment, reduce referrals and build the capacity of a community health outreach team for preventive health care. A Pathology Laboratory has been set up. The initiative has included additional specialist consultations in gynaecology, ENT and Eye care.
LOCATION: NEW DELHI ARCHITECT: CHARLES CORREA
CONTEXTUAL CHALLENGES: The immediate context of the complex consisted of the historic Purana Qila on one side and Correa was faced with challenge of how to respond to it. CLIMATE: The weather of Delhi is composite. In summers (April to June) it gets very hot up to 45 degrees Celsius at times. Winters (December to Jan) can go down ti 1-2 degrees. Shaded by a lot of sizeable open areas, Correa created a microclimate for the area which keeps the surroundings comfortable.
BUILDING MATERIALS: Demonstration Area – materials used in each pavilion are local to the region they represent. MOVEMENT THROUGH SPACE (CLOSED MUSEUM COMPONENT): • The museum has a series of courts. One moves along central pathway– going from village to temple to palace – a metaphor for the Indian street. • Walking along this spine, one catches glimpses of principal exhibits that lie on either side. The circulation is casual nut well defined.one can visit any particular exhibit or progress through all the sections in a continuous sequence • Towards the end, the building fragments themselves become a part of exhibit. . OPEN - BUILT RELATIONSHIP: • The central pathway is punctured at certain intervals by courts that house a variety of activities. The play of levels and arrangement of the spaces around the courtyard adds an element of surprise as one moves from one space to another. • Human scale has been very well incorporated by keeping objects of display into courts which otherwise would have been large open spaces. CIRCULATION: • Clearly segregated into 2 components- the wide open and the closed. The casual
LOCATION: Rufisque, Senegal ARCHITECT: Hollmen-Reuter-Sandman Architects The women's center, built in a suburb of Rufisque, offers facilities for the activities of the various organizations formed by the women. The idea and the spatial programme of the center were born in cooperation with local women's groups.
ROOF DETAIL EARTH AND CLIMATE: Ecological and local solutions in the construction work have been applied, and for a long while studied about use of among stabilized mud bricks was done. But there was no suitable type of clay for this purpose in the nearby region was found, and since Sococim, the largest cement factory of Western Africa is in the outskirts of the city , cement is accordingly a local material. This issue was ultimately solved by the fact that Sococim donated all the necessary cement for the project.
According to the west African custom, the building is grouped around an internal courtyard; the line between private and public is clear albeit flexible. The simplicity of the street facades adapts the building to its surroundings; the corner facing a road crossing forms a small public square where the facilities reserved for commerce are located. The building's red color gives the house its own identity amidst the grey tone of the city block structure.
The roof of the women’s center is of corrugated metal on steel beams, with thick woven straw matting as an insulating ceiling layer. The intervening space is ventilated, which keeps the air inside the building pleasantly cool. The weaving of straw matting is a local custom that is no longer seen very often. On the other hand, straw is a seasonal product, and the work on the roof and ceiling took place out of season, which raised the price and made it difficult to obtain materials. PLAN:
CULTURAL AND SOCIAL CONTEXT:: The general African way of women organizing themselves in organizations, with the number of members ranging from tens to hundreds, also occurs in Senegal. An active and strong women's group attempts to ease its members' everyday life amidst poverty and strives to guarantee them a reasonable 'social security'. The schooling level is raised by independent initiative and literacy courses. The organizations supplement their incomes by selling home-made food and needlework. Also they help women to adapt to the change in life in moving to the city from the countryside. Their activities have an organized structure, which means a step forward from the traditional social network created by family and friends.
MATERIALS AND BUILDING TECHNIQUES: The building frame is a column and beam structure cast on site, with the walls made from concrete blocks cast in a mold and dried on site. The roof is corrugated metal sheeting supported by a steel beam system, with thick woven straw matting forming an insulating ceiling structure; the spacing between is ventilated, which guarantees that the indoor air is kept pleasantly cool. Localness and recycling is emphasized in the material choices; for instance, the use of wood is limited to only those places where it could not be replaced by any other material; and in detailing, for instance, old car wheel rims have been used as ventilation holes and the bottoms of old glass bottles for windows. The reinforcement irons in the concrete have been made from recycled iron.
SECTION:
LOCATION: Vaghaldhara, Gujrat DEVELOPER: Vaghaldhara Vibhag Mandal SITE AREA: 18000 m² YEAR: 2010
The vocational center is run by a charitable trust for underprivileged tribal students of Vaghaldhara area of Gujrat. The trust also runs a school in the same complex. OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT: • Offer skill training program to tribal youth in residential state-of the art multi-skills centre • Fulfill need of skilled manpower for industries in Gujarat • Provide opportunity beyond traditional occupations • Place trained youths in organized sector employment • Provide technical services to industry and organization • Bring self sufficiency and self-reliance The center offers training in: • Electrical and house wiring • Electrician • Refrigeration and AC Technician • Refrigeration and AC Mechanic • Draughtsman civil • Junior civil supervisor • Computer operator and programming assistant • Computer and Tally operator • Welder • TIG and MIG welder • Plumber • Turner • CNC turning operator
PARAMETERS
LOCATION REASON FOR STUDY
FUNCTION
NIZAMMUDIN URBAN RENEWAL
Delhi , India
To understand Urban Renewal as a live working example in a urban village in context of Delhi and to understand how a model can serve for civil society engagement in urban development. Mix-use development
JAYAPRAKASH NARAYAN CENTER
CRAFTS MUSEUM
Lucknow, India
Delhi , India To understand the mix of open air and closed elements and how to curate a experience of contextual as well as cultural evolution.
To understand the flow of movement visitors through the gallery spaces
Interpretation Center
Museum
WOMEN`S CENTER
Rufisque, Senegal
To understand various spaces required for a center for women
Women`s Center
VAGHALDHARA VOCATIONAL CENTER
Gujrat, India
To understand various spaces required for a vocational center
Vocational Center
MAIN INTENT
PROGRAMME Vocational center, public toilets, Conservation of Humayun`s tomb INFERENCES
- Community upliftment is treated not just as cultural revival, but very realistically grounded in the present. - Addresses important issues such as health, community education, hygiene, sanitation, and environmental awareness - Identifies important social issues that have been resolved with small infrastructural interventions such as the need for creches- for women to freely able to go to work. - There is need to supplement the vocational training with adult education programmes - Some programmes feel a little sexist, like why vocational center for women is restrained to cooking & sewing
Gallery, Shop, Admin office , Storage
- Spatial distribution is seamless. - Play of levels can be observed which adds a character to the space. - How to restrict light yet make the gallery spaces well lit through using sun and water as elements.
Library, Museum, Shop, Café, Exhibition area, Craftsmen residency
-
-
-
Response to context- by not creating something very iconic. Correa respects the historicity while providing visual connect to purana qila - Low height of blocks – below trees – blocks noise from the road maintaining the ambience of Indian villages. - Scale and materiality – the human scale of open and built spaces and use of natural stones and mud plasters is responsible for the sense of comfort- visually & haptically.
Adult education, RWA+ Village community services, Hall/Audi , Catalyse development
All spaces open onto central courtyard and significance of semiopen verandas and shaded areas
Adult education/ Training center, Mess, Residential , Catalyse development
- All spaces open onto central courtyard and significance of semiopen verandas and shaded areas
Around 10 houses are demolished for the proposed Woman’s Center and those residents would be dislocated in vertical development of existing houses
MASSING
POLY-CLINIC
WOMEN’S CENTER TOHFE WALA GUMBAD
INTERPRETATION CENTER VOCATIONAL CENTER
INTERPRETATION CENTER
WOMEN CENTER
WHY IS THERE A NEED OF WOMAN’S CENTER IN THE VICINITY? Even in the 21st centaury , patriarchy exists and through surveying women in Shahpur Jat it became an issue that needs to be solved. Many women have been victim of domestic violence , so setting up a redressal is crucial. Apart from that the system of cast and greed still prevails in the vicinity, the women are suppressed on the name of muscularity. Hence a woman’s center is the need of the hour. A center that makes the women empowered through developing skills in them. SURROUNDINGS AREA OF THE SITE:
VOCATIONAL CENTER
CONNECTING THE GREENS
HERITAGE WALK PLUS CAR PARK SITE AREA: 28255 SQM 240 CAR PARK
GREEN AREA 2 SITE AREA: 12100 SQM
CAR PARKING SITE AREA: 10750 SQM 110 CAR PARK
GREEN AREA 1 SITE AREA: 14450 SQM
The remains of Siri Fort are enhanced by using artificial lighting and information panels are provided about the history. The heritage walk connects the Tohfe wala Gumbad to the remains of Siri Fort on the site through an organic loop of pedestrian and cycling network that is designed in such a way that it merges in the site perfectly. . There was a need of developing a parking because the cars were being parked at this same spot but informally and there was no surface treatment so during the rain it became like a puddle and during the rest season the air is filled with dust in the air. The site is heavily forested and the parking is developed in such a manner that there is minimum deforestation and the blank area is only being utilized by giving surface treatment and the area with forestation is developed as a landscaping project. The design proposed caters for 250 cars. Cars are out of seen during the early morning time as the footfall is low, so half of the parking adjacent to the open gym and kids play area can be used for other useful activities like yoga and meditation during the morning. Its better to use the space rather than leaving it empty