KATHA - THE STORYTELLER'S CENTRE - By Sulagna de

Acknowledgement I am so grateful to all those characters who played major roles, sub roles, special roles even side roles in my THESIS story making and helped me to give a tangible shape to my Dream topic “Katha: The Storytellers’ Centre” from intangible array of thoughts & emotions.

I tried my best to make my research based sociological topic of storytelling translate into architecture with proper justification. For this, first and foremost I would like to thank my thesis guide Dr. Mainak Ghosh for his guidance and advice throughout my thesis project. My thesis would not have been possible without our enthusiastic discussions and his valuable inputs & supporting behaviour.

Besides, I am highly indebted to our Head of the Department and Thesis Coordinator Prof. Sanjib Nag for his guidance and constant supervision.

My Teachers SD Sir, SB ma'am, JGN Ma'am, TKB Sir, Shibashish Sir, DD Sir & others for their continuous support for the 5 long years.

My Seniors Saumya Chakrabarti, Indranil Basu Aniruddha Mutauddi, Kaustav Ghosh, Gourab Roy, for our encouraging discussions and guidance.

MY SUPPORT SYSTEM

Special Contributions Prof. Samantak Das (HOD of Comperative Literature, JU), Architect Subir Kumar Basu.

Storyteller Priyanka Chatterjee & Scottish storyteller Daniel Allison, Socio-cultural organization Uro-Taar, Writer Nabaneeta Dev Sen for their valuable suggestions & ideas

My Family My parents , my brother, my grandparents for their unparalleled support & love & care.

My Friends My friends Soumik Hati, Himel Barikdar, Arkaprava Mukherjee for their encouragement & enthusiasm.

My Ghoras Arjun Das, Ananya Maji, Shaurya Dutta, Bipasha Biswas, Aratrika Sarkar, Bishal Roy, Saoni Sanyal for their sincere efforts.

Thanking you, Sulagna De.

Preface O

nce upon a time,

There was a student of Dept. of Architecture, Sitting alone & thinking hard, To choose for her Thesis, A topic – on something very close to her heart.

All at once, A voice within her, Breaking the silence, Shook her up & uttered the word – “s–t–o–r–i–e–s“ A pause – She nodded! She nodded with a quick approval!

Coz’ that’s what she always loved – To write, to hear & to share!

So…..

Why not design a Storytellers’ Centre?

Stories & Architecture!

Storytelling & Architecture!

Narrative Architecture??

Why not discover that bridge connecting one with the other?

And thus – The Quest begins – For an answer………

Content

Section I

Story & The Storyteller Storytelling is the oldest known form of human communication. It is a process of combining facts & narrative in order to communicate a message & an emotion to a target audience.

Stories are “narratives with plots and characters, generating emotion in narrator and audience, through a poetic elaboration of symbolic material. This material may be a product of fantasy or experience, including an experience of earlier narratives. Story plots entail conflicts, predicaments, trials and crises which call for choices, decisions, actions and interactions, whose actual outcomes are often at odds with the characters’ intentions and puposes” (Gabriel, 2000,p. 239).

Types of stories

Types of stories

Types of stories

Storytelling Techniques 8 Classic storytelling techniques :

1. Monomyth The monomyth (also called the hero's journey), is a story structure that is found in many folk tales, myths and religious writings from around the world.

In a monomyth, the hero is called to leave their home and sets out on a difficult journey. They move from somewhere they know into a threatening unknown place.

[https://www.sparkol.com/en/Blog/8-Classic-storytelling-techniques-for-engagingpresentations]

Storytelling Techniques 2. The mountain The mountain structure is a way of mapping the tension and drama in a story. It's similar to the monomyth because it helps us to plot when certain events occur in a story.

It's different because it doesn't necessarily have a happy ending. The first part of the story is given to setting the scene, and is followed by just a series of small challenges and rising action before a climactic conclusion.

[https://www.sparkol.com/en/Blog/8-Classic-storytelling-techniques-for-engagingpresentations]

Storytelling Techniques 3. Nested loops Nested loops is a storytelling technique where you layer three or more narratives within each other.

You place your most important story – the core of your message – in the centre, and use the stories around it to elaborate or explain that central principle. The first story you begin is the last story you finish, the second story you start is second to last, etc.

[https://www.sparkol.com/en/Blog/8-Classic-storytelling-techniques-for-engagingpresentations]

Storytelling Techniques 4. Sparklines Sparklines are a way of mapping presentation structures. Graphic designer Nancy Duarte uses sparklines to analyse famous speeches graphically in her book Resonate.

She argues that the very best speeches succeed because they contrast our ordinary world with an ideal, improved world.

They compare what is with what could be.

[https://www.sparkol.com/en/Blog/8-Classic-storytelling-techniques-for-engagingpresentations]

Storytelling Techniques 5. In medias res In medias res storytelling is when you begin your narrative in the heat of the action, before starting over at the beginning to explain how you got there.

By dropping your audience right into the most exciting part of your story they'll be gripped from the beginning and will stay engaged to find out what happens.

But be careful – you don't want to give away too much of the action straight away. Try hinting at something bizarre or unexpected – something that needs more explanation. Give your audience just enough information to keep them hooked, as you go back and set the scene of your story.

[https://www.sparkol.com/en/Blog/8-Classic-storytelling-techniques-for-engagingpresentations]

Storytelling Techniques 6. Converging ideas Converging ideas is a speech structure that shows the audience how different strands of thinking came together to form one product or idea.

It can be used to show the birth of a movement. Or explain how a single idea was the culmination of several great minds working towards one goal.

Converging ideas is similar to the nested loops structure, but rather than framing one story with complementary stories, it can show how several equally important stories came to a single strong conclusion.

[https://www.sparkol.com/en/Blog/8-Classic-storytelling-techniques-for-engagingpresentations]

Storytelling Techniques 7. False start A 'false start' story is when you begin to tell a seemingly predictable story, before unexpectedly disrupting it and beginning it over again.

You lure your audience into a false sense of security, and then shock them by turning the tables.

This format is great for talking about a time that you failed in something and were forced to 'go back to the start' and reassess. It's ideal for talking about the things that you learnt from that experience.

Or the innovative way that you solved your problem.

[https://www.sparkol.com/en/Blog/8-Classic-storytelling-techniques-for-engagingpresentations]

Storytelling Techniques 8. Petal Structure The petal structure is a way of organising multiple speakers or stories around one central concept. It's useful if you have several unconnected stories you want to tell or things you want to reveal – that all relate back to a single message.

[https://www.sparkol.com/en/Blog/8-Classic-storytelling-techniques-for-engagingpresentations]

Section II

Storytelling & Knowledge Appreciation

A story has both context & purpose.

The context of a story revolves around three prime factors : i. STORY : Meaning ii. TELLER : Intentions iii. AUDIENCE : Expectations Storytelling has multiple purposes to serve : Share, emotion, experience, history, communication , etc.

marketing,

creative,

Storytelling & Transformation

Every story transforms through 3 parts : The beginning The middle The end.

Basically, every plot has its ups & downs – it revolves around the movement of how it reaches the climax – THE JOURNEY. Thus, it can be deduced that TRANSFORMATION is actually the journey.

Storytelling & Hermeneutics

HERMENUTICS The art of understanding & interpretation of verbal & non-verbal texts.

A text can be any form of communication.

The interpretation is not just what is being said, but how it is said as well.

Experience

5E’S of Experiential Design

EXPERIENCE Studying all the three aspects : Knowledge Appreciation, Transformation & Hermeneutics, it is observed that the one that binds all of them together is : EXPERIENCE.

Thus, comparing Storytelling & Architecture, it can be observed that all the aspects that are dominant in storytelling are also equally important in architecture. And also bind by experience.

Storytelling & Architecture

Brief Research Conclusion

Narrative • “Narrative is often seen as a form of representation bound with sequence, space and time.

• The relationship between narrative structure, perceptual experience and representation is the aspect of narrative that is most relevant to architecture.”

• Different art forms are the expression of human mind and experience, they carry messages and/or narratives.

• Literature, music, drama, dance, movie are the progressive form of art that sequentially construct the narration with their own delivering media (i.e. words, sounds, steps and rhythm, scenes).

• If their outer shell or the delivering media is ignored they are the similar intention of structuring of narrations: i. developing, ii. unfolding, and iii. moving towards the ultimate peak and iv. gradually to the finishing.

• Movies or motion pictures require most of storyline or plot construction to develop a story or narratives. This art form have own technique of constructing its narratives.

(Sophia Psarra, Architecture and Narrative. The Formation of Space and Cultural Meaning (New York: Routledge, 2009), 14)

Narrative The 6 Elements of Every Complete Narrative: Everyone enjoys a good story. Telling a good story, however, isn’t as easy at it seems. It takes dedication to the craft, a willingness to learn and understand the different elements and techniques, and a heck of a lot of practice. Regardless of genre or style, however, all good stories have six common elements. When developing your next narrative work, make sure you’re paying careful attention to all of these.

1. SETTING The setting is the time and location in which your story takes place.

Settings can be very specific, but can also be more broad and descriptive. A good, well-established setting creates an intended mood and provides the backdrop and environment for your story.

Narrative

2. CHARACTERS A story usually includes a number of characters, each with a different role or purpose. Regardless of how many characters a story has, however, there is almost always a protagonist and antagonist.

CENTRAL CHARACTERS: These characters are vital to the development of the story. The plot revolves around them.

PROTAGONIST: The protagonist is the main character of a story. He or she has a clear goal to accomplish or a conflict to overcome.

Although protagonists don’t always need to be admirable, they must command an emotional involvement from the audience.

ANTAGONIST: Antagonists oppose protagonists, standing between them and their ultimate goals. The antagonist can be presented in the form of any person, place, thing, or situation that represents a tremendous obstacle to the protagonist.

Narrative 3. PLOT The plot is the sequence of events that connect the audience to the protagonist and their ultimate goal.

Example: A group of climbers plan to escort paying clients to the summit of Mt. Everest.

There is always a clear goal. In this case, it’s to get the paying clients safely up the mountain and return them to basecamp unharmed.

4. CONFLICT The conflict is what drives the story. It’s what creates tension and builds suspense, which are the elements that make a story interesting. If there’s no conflict, not only will the audience not care, but there also won’t be any compelling story to tell.

5. THEME The theme is what the story is really about. It’s the main idea or underlying meaning. Often, it’s the storyteller’s personal opinion on the subject matter. A story may have both a major theme and minor themes.

MAJOR THEME: An idea that is intertwined and repeated throughout the whole narrative.

MINOR THEME: An idea that appears more subtly, and doesn’t necessarily repeat.

Narrative 6. NARRATIVE ARC A strong story plot has a narrative arc that has four required elements of its own.

SETUP: The world in which the protagonist exists prior to the journey.

The setup usually ends with the conflict being revealed.

Rising Tension: The series of obstacles the protagonist must overcome.

Each obstacle is usually more difficult and with higher stakes than the previous one.

CLIMAX: The point of highest tension, and the major decisive turning point for the protagonist.

RESOLUTION: The conflict’s conclusion. This is where the protagonist finally overcomes the conflict, learns to accept it, or is ultimately defeated by it. Regardless, this is where the journey ends.

Storytelling- Forms & History

Section III

Brief Timeline Of Storytelling

Indian Forms Of Storytelling

Indian Forms Of Storytelling

Indian Forms Of Storytelling PATA CHITRA

KATHAKALI PUPPETEERS IN KERALA

HARI KATHA IN TAMIL NADU BAUL IN WEST BENGAL

EPIC KAVADA BACHAN IN RAJASTHAN

Why Storytelling TODAY ?

Section IV

Power Of Storytelling PERMEABILITY

LIGIBILITY

Environmental Storytelling

Connecting to these senses brings:

Memories – Nostalgia – Relatibility

Concept Relevance

Power Of Storytelling

Aim & Objectives

The Rationale & Feasibility

Section V

About the Survey

General Survey Result

General Survey Result

General Survey Result

General Survey Result

General Survey Results

Interview over Email

With Scottish Storyteller Daniel Allison

Interview over Email

Interview over Email

Rationale & Feasibility

Rationale & Feasibility

Scope & Limitation

1. The thesis will mainly concentrate on the design of the informal space & the facilities needed for The Storytellers Centre, 2. The site will not have the provision for future expansion of the proposed buildings.

CASE STUDY - Primary Case Study - Secondary Case Study

Section VI

Case Study & Classification

Secondary Case Study - I

Storytelling Spaces & Functions

Storytelling Spaces & Functions

Storytelling Spaces & Functions

Storytelling Spaces & Functions

Storytelling Spaces & Functions

Storytelling Spaces & Functions

The building had to reflect both modernity & tradition of this living oral art form,& also reflect the stories of the site & the building.

Secondary Case Study - IIe

Functional Spaces & Activities Jawahar Kala Kendra The Cultural Centre:

Entertainment Recreational Educational

Functional Spaces & Activities

Functional Spaces & Activities

Functional Spaces & Activities

Functional Spaces & Activities

Primary Case Study - I

Storytelling Functions

Storytelling Functions PARTICIPANTS:

Students, theatre artists, film makers, advertisers, journalists, software professionals , government employees , parliamentarians, doctors, trainers, chartered accountants, bankers, parents, grandparents, teachers, academicians, researchers, lawyers, and an army of international participants from across the world have all been part of the transformational journey.

Storytelling Functions

Storytelling Session

Primary Case Study - II

Sense Of Place

APPROACH: These multifarious activities, all arranged in a fine-grained mix, complex system of spaces... from broad colonnaded public arcades to narrow bazaar ‘galis’ to large from terraced plazas... culminating in the Kund in the centre of the complex...

It captures the true spirit of Kolkata & its passion for ‘adda’.

Sense Of Place SITE PLAN & ORGANIZATION: Clustered organization, Repetitive or cellular space with similar functions sharing common orientation & shape, Crisp volume juxtaposed around pedestrian spines leading to courtyard & open spaces .

.

Sense Of Place PEDESTRIAN PATHWAYS CONNECTIORS: Double height , Act as the organizing axis , directing movement., The double height spaces are covered on top with a semicircular translucent roofing which lets in diffuse light.

Sense Of Place

These gathering spaces are abuzz with people & activity & are pleasant spaces to use with their comfortable volumes , greenery & enclosure.

Sense Of Place- ‘Golpo Space’

VISUAL APPROPRIATENESS

STREET LIKE PAVING PATTERN & MATERIAL

ROBUSTNESS same space with different use

Sense Of Place- ‘Golpo Space’ LEVEL CHANGES Breaking up spaces

PERMEABILITY Easy linkage & connectivity within the place

RICHNESS Landscaping sculptures , ‘gachtola’, social gathering

Sense Of Place- ‘Golpo Space’ LEGIBILITY Proper usage of signage, landmarks etc.

DISORGANIZATION Roadside stalls & 2-wheelers scattered parking

ENCLOSURE & RICHNESS The nostalgia story

Sense Of Place- ‘Golpo Space’ ENCLOSURE & RICHNESS The nostalgia story

GREENERY

STORYTELLING

Sense Of Place-‘Golpo Space & Artworks’ INFORMAL SPACES

HANDICRAFT INDUSTRY

Case Study- Conclusion

Case Study- Conclusion

Connectors (corridors/streets/tributary spaces) merging into grand central space

Site Study

Section VII

Valuable Suggestions

Site Justification

The Site

Site Description

MORE LANDMARKS: Thakurpukur Bazar, DPS Joka , VMS Joka , BMRI Hospital , Airport: 30.7 km , Howrah Station: 18 km

Location- Spatial Data Joka Covers All The Major Public Transport Networks In The City – Expansion of metro from IIM Joka to BBD Bag , Widening of Diamond Harbour Road (NH117), A new bus route from Pailan to Baruipur

Strategically located & well connected: Airport : 30.7 km BBD Bag (heart of Kolkata):17.1 km Park Street : 15.1 km Science City : 19 km Salt Lake Sec-v: 25.4 km E M Bypass (Chingrighata): 22 km Tollygunge Metro: 9.20 km New Alipore: 10.0 km Howrah station: 19.70 km Sealdah station: 18 km Comfortably connected to Major bus routes, infrastructural facilities , the buzzing hotspots of Kolkata PERSPECTIVE PLAN VISION 2025:Proposal of 2 outer Ring Roads- one of them intersecting through Joka nearby- SCOPE OF DEVELOPMENT

Joka is situated amidst green, In a relatively pollution-free environment , away from the hustle & bustle of Kolkata’s city life yet WITH all comforts of modern urban living.

Quality healthcare within easy reach Home to good educational institutions Modern urban amenities

Landform- Spatial Data

Climate & Orientation- Spatial Data

Visibility - Morphological Data

Movement , Street & ParkingMorphological Data

Space & Form- Contextual Data

Architectural Features- Visual Data

Socio - Cultural Factors

Site Study Conclusions

Project Brief

Section VIII

Overview –

About “Katha” : The Storyteller’s Centre It will be an active environment as well as knowledge hub.

It will portray the cultural heritage of our country through stories and will revive the traditional art of storytelling – something which is getting lost .

Stories are bigger part of our lives- we cannot live without.

The storyteller’s Centre is a land of stories & storytellers – a platform to discover the inner talent , a shelter to our limitless world of imagination & exploration & a break away from everyday busy lifestyle.

The centre is proposed to be built over a site area of 15 acres at BRATACHARI GRAM, JOKA, KOLKATA.

Functional Requirements

Area Programming

Conceptual Level

Functional Zoning - I

Functional Zoning - II

Initial Images

Vocabulary

Vocabulary

Conclusions

Proxemics

Proxemics

Proxemics

Codes, Standards, Bye-laws

Section IX

Standards- Film Animation

MOVIE THEATRES

ARTS S TUDIO

Standards- Film Animation

AUDITORIUM

Standards- Instrument & Music

Standards

FUNCTIONS REQUIRED

MUSEUM

Standards

MUSEUM

Codes

Design Sheets

Section X

Survey

I believe I got my answer….