By Gaurav Patel
Kathmandu Valley
Sketches and illustration by Gaurav Patel
Walk with me
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Acknowledgment First and foremost, I extend my heartiest gratitude to the team at Pratyush Shankar and Associates for conducting “public open spaces in kathmandu valley ” workshop where i got this opportunity to explore Kathmandu with the help of the guidance from Pratyush Shankar. I also had the opportunity to work on CityLabs alongside Vaibhavi Dave that formed the first steps towards creating this series, and it was her that suggested the very name of this compilation, ‘Walk With Me’. All this came from me working as an intern for Pratyush Shankar, who showered me with his guidance and ideas at every step. His studio makes for an environment that motivates one to strive to be better constantly, and my growth under his guidance is unparalleled. I would also extend my gratitude to my friend and brother, Nishant Arya, for always being there for me. I also can’t thank Aviral Singh, another brother, enough, for his iPad helped me create and move ahead with this book very smoothly. I would like to thank Ipsita Choudhury for helping me with the writing of the book, and last but not the least, my parents who have always supported my dreams and let me be whoever I wanted to be.
Walk
with me Gaurav Patel
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Bu Bahal
Patna, Kathmandu Valley
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ARCHITECTURAL TYPOLOGY AND PUBLIC OPEN SPACES
In this theme we had to try and-understand how the nature, perception, and use of open spaces in and around particular buildings is very much the result of the architectural typology of the particular building. For example, a T courtyard based building has certain character of open spaces, which will be very different from the one that is linear on a building that is extremely transparent/opaque. We had to represent this relationship between open spaces and the architectural typology, while emphasizing a particular interpretation that we perceive while being in that space.
The small coutyards in Bu Bahal contain religious shrines which peole pary to very morning.
While most of the smaller courtyards have one shrine some of the bigger coutyrads have multiple shrines and the bigger couttyards also sometimes have temples.
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OBSERVATIONS
Bu Bahal is an innovative housing in Patan which captures the essence of the circulation through tunnels and courtyards at the ground level of the area. The houses have a pathway on the ground floor which is designated for public use, that inter-connect the courtyards spread out in the area
Due to over population the houses keep on growing vertically, which is making the courtyard dark and the pathways through the houses even darker. The sketch tries to show the courtyards which are blown out of proportion. As a result of which there ts barely any light even in the middle of the day.
The coutyrads are surrounded by house on all four sides so even though thety are public spaces they have eyes on surveillance through these windows.
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HITI - Water structure Patan, Kathmandu Valley
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KONTI HITI, KUMBHESHWAR COMPLEX
NAG BAHA HITI
This particular hiti was part of a temple complex. It was a crucial part of the public space in the complex.
Right across the road was a typical public Hiti which was surrounded by residential units.
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OBSERVATIONS Fig 1. Konti Hiti, Kumbbheshwar complex Once a year during a festival the Hiti is used for a ritual where a deities is kept in water in the middle of the Hiti and people go and pray. Though the sketch I’ve tried to capture a moment where the Hiti is being used for prayer.
Fig 2. Nag Baha Hiti
This particular hiti was more public as unlike Konti hiti it was situated in a residential area and was used by the people. 6 months a year it gets continuous water and which is used for bathing, drinking, washing the remaining time it servers as a public space. The steps, the parapet, the small temple by the Hiti all of these elements accentuate the its use as a public area.
URBAN NATURE OF WATER STRUCTURES The premise here is that water structures in Kathmandu Valley have performed many other public functions apart from being a source of water. For example, they activate existing public spaces, they create a sheltered cocoon environment for community gathering, they are excellent for women as social spaces, they have a larger ecological function, they maintain ecological health and are thriving spaces fro flora and fauna. Through my drawing, I depict how these water structures have a unique formation with respect to public space, activities, typology, symbolism etc.
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Patan Gate Patan, Kathmandu Valley
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PATAN GATE Patan gate is one of the original entrances to the main city of Patan. It’s a very vibrant and colorful piece of architecture, so when you go through it is bound to grab your attention. There are painting of gods and goddesses all over it which also add to the multicolored skin of the structure.
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TRANSIENT OPEN SPACES NODES AND STREETS Open spaces in Kathmandu valley show immense variation and contrast in a very small area. One observation that the spaces of a certain typology move or change into another, in a very smooth or articulate fashion. This Transition gives a level of richness to the experience of the city, which defines the character of the Kathmandu Valley. The objective here is to represent the fluid nature of these transition spaces
and how
they mutate to form a variety of open spaces.
OBSERVATIONS Since it was standing on a node, it became a part of the study. The idea of the drawing is to show how the Patan Gate is acting not just like a transition space but also transition between two different sides of the city. It is clearly depicted how the area below the drawing is more open, green and as a wide road where everyone was commute easily. On the other hand beyond the gate is a con-justed Urban area which is depicted by the elevations of the tall houses.
Thank you
to be continued....