jessica.dian.reed arch_520 spring 2011
FOREWORD
This document is intended, as part of the thesis design project, to critically analyze the role that architecture can play in the interaction and possible mediation of crosscultural conflict. It describes certain assumptions based on research, questions, and then applied exploration of this role within a site that is the ultimate test for an application of these ideas: the Kashmir Territory in northern India.
I. INTOLERANCE
In contemporary society, there are instances of intolerance that provoke cross-cultural conflicts. Religious wars disrupt lives throughout Middle-Eastern countries, Roma culture is excommunicated from European nations such as France and Italy, and the construction of Mosques and Muslim community centers are protested throughout Europe and the United States. These are just a few instances that plague our world today. These conflicts are not architectural in nature, yet they manifest opportunities in which architecture can become a part of the cultural interaction and mediation. The built environment can become a part of cross-cultural conflict mediation as well as a physical manifestation of peoples who have been systematically oppressed by ignoring preconceived notions associated with typology. It can provide programmatic elements
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that allow diverse people to interact in a peaceful and honest way. The intent of this thesis design activity is to pursue a mode of conflict mediation through the implementation of an architectural solution by integrating historical ideas, design precedents, as well as explorations of site and programmatic activities.
II. CONFLICT MEDIATION
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In order to understand architecture as a physical manifestation of people who are oppressed as well as to facilitate peaceful cultural interaction, one must first understand different approaches to conflict mediation in general, as discussed from sociologists’ and psychologists’ perspectives. Bernice Lott argues in her book entitled Multiculturalism and Diversity: a
Social Psychological Perspective that culture is a learned behavior and that we are all multicultural individuals by nature, essentially belonging to many groups with different social values and norms based on our ethnicity, gender, social class, and sexual orientation. These multiculturalisms are also determined by our beliefs, interests, and goals, and they thread together to form a 1
mosaic that creates our own self identities. Lott argues that through the analysis of behavioral norms, there are
common aspects that can associate peoples of different races and ethnicities.2 Also, psychologist and author Johan Galtung argues that culture inherently produces marginalization of certain people, but that peace and compromise can be found by analyzing the legitimacy of the goals of each opposing side in terms of human rights and basic needs, and then by finding and sharing common practices among different people.3 Both Lott’s and Galtung’s ideas together suggest that by finding a common aspect about each culture in conflict, one can reach peaceful, cross-cultural awareness and understanding. The question then arises as to what type of activity facilitates this kind of peaceful interaction? How can an activity react to a commonality between conflicting cultures? Transportation, or the act of travelling, functions as a programmatic activity that not
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only accommodates a diverse range of people by uniting them through a common purpose, but it also promotes cross-cultural awareness by exposing opposing cultures to one another in a peaceful manner. Furthermore, the act of transportation is one that not only accommodates local people on an everyday basis, but also foreign tourists visiting an area to gain cultural understanding. When one travels, one is most open and vulnerable to cultural encounters of norms, customs, and heritage. This vulnerability of exposure to other cultures facilitates awareness and therefore a certain level of understanding that allows one to become more sympathetic to other cultures whose values are different from his or her own.
III. TRAVEL, TOURISM, AND AWARENESS
The notion of travel as a catalyst for awareness has been discussed by Mark Twain, in his book entitled Innocence Abroad, which states the following: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these counts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.4”
The adventures detailed in Innocents Abroad Twain’s own while travelling throughout Europe, the Mediterranean, and parts of the Middle-East. It explicitly illustrates the effects of travel on one’s perception of other cultures as well as the positive consequences from such an activity. Another author who discusses the relationship between travel and awareness is Alain de Botton, author of The
Art of Travel, Architecture of Happiness, and A Week
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at the Airport. In The Art of Travel, de Botton refers to airplane travel: “Below us are enemies and colleagues, the sites of our terrors and our grief, all of them now infinitesimal, mere scratches on the earth. We may know this old lesson in perspective well enough, but rarely does it seem as true as when we are pressed against the cold plane window, our craft a teacher of profound philosophy and a faithful disciple of the Baudelairean command: Carriage, take me with you! Ship, steal me away from here! Take me far, far away. Here the mud is made of our tears!5”
De Botton eloquently and poetically argues here for the necessity of travel, stating that it not only allows for outside perspectives concerning our own lifestyles, but also facilitates revelations that are necessary in order to overcome cultural prejudices by distancing one’s self from his or her everyday surroundings.
Architects Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio further discuss tourism in their work entitled Back to the Front:
Tourisms of War. “…tourism is defined by socio-economists as ‘the world’s peace industry’…Contemporary tourism accounts for the single largest peaceful movement of people across cultural [areas] in the history of the world.6”
Diller and Scofidio discuss tourism in relation to the conflict of war in that both war and tourism each offer experiences of different cultures.7 The authors describe tourism as ‘non-war,’ forever linking the two entities by association in that not only does war offer the soldier experiences of other cultures, but also the everyday person the experience of war, acknowledging that some primary tourist destinations around the world contain inherent history as being a battle site or the site of a famous fallen hero.8 For example, the sunken U.S.S. Arizona in Pearl Harbor is the most visited destination in Hawaii due to its historical significance as a battle
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site.9 The soldiers who were stationed at Pearl Harbor during World War II were offered an experience of the Hawaiian culture; today, the site’s inherent quality as a battle ground draws tourists to the area not only for a different cultural atmosphere, but also an experience of the effects of war. Diller and Scofidio also discuss the notion of the tourists’ search for the ‘authentic.’ According to Diller and Scofidio, authentic experiences are validated within spatial surroundings through the use of signage; the place or artifact itself is not authentic to the tourist without the signpost stating that it is so.10 This notion of presenting an authentic cultural experience is something that would have to be taken into account during any design activity associating tourism and the
built environment not through the use of signage, but through the architecture itself.
IV. MEDIATION AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
In the passages above, Mark Twain, Alain de Botton, Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio all suggest that travelling and tourism are peaceful industries, and that they facilitate benefits in relation to cross-cultural awareness, peaceful interaction and conflict mediation. The question remains as to how the architect and the architecture can become part of this mediation. Author, professor, and architect Lisa Findley provides several approaches in her work entitled Building Change:
Architecture, Politics, and Cultural Agency. Within this book, Findley discusses the cyclical relationship of politics, power, and architecture, and how these separate entities have influenced one another through several examples of recently completed projects. She argues that it is not realistic to assume that architecture can immediately address cultural conflicts at a large
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scale; architecture itself does not have the ability to stop terrorism, change people’s values, or end poverty.11 However, she states that the built environment does have the ability to become a physical manifestation of people that have been systematically invisible, and that translating cultural complexities into built form gives these people “depth, dimension, individuality, and spatial solidity.12� Here, Findley is arguing that while architecture itself cannot stop conflict, it can become a catalyst for cultural change, which would be especially applicable in combination with the integration of travelling and tourism in a location that deals with conflict and clashing ideals. Such a location exists in the region of northern India known as the Kashmir Territory.
V. SITE
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The Kashmir Territory is a disputed area of land that shares borders with India, Pakistan, and China. Because of its location at this junction, the territory has been in a constant state of conflict since its accession to India in 1949.13 Prior to this date, the area was a collection of smaller territories owned by the wealthy Hindu Dogra Leader, Gulab Singh, who purchased the small valley of Kashmir from the British 1846.14 When India became independent from Britain in 1947, Singh’s great-grandson Maharaja Hari Singh was given the choice of either becoming a part of India, joining with Pakistan, or remaining an independent entity. The territory remained independent for only two months before militants from Pakistan began invading the territory from the north and west borders. In an attempt to defend the territory, Singh signed a hurried accession with India in exchange for
their protection from these militants.15 This territory, now known as Jammu and Kashmir, has been in constant conflict ever since, always in the middle of war between Pakistan and India. Although the United Nations issued a ceasefire between India and Pakistan in 1949, violence resumes not only between the Indian and Pakistani military, but also non-government militia, Islam extremists, and civilian protesters.16 For the most part, the Kashmir territory resides under Indian control through the states of Jammu, Ladakh, and the actual valley of Kashmir, while the territory that lies east of the valley as well as the plateau to the north is known as Azad Kashmir, or ‘Free’ Kashmir, under Pakistani control.17 The people who make up Jammu and Kashmir are primarily Muslim, with Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, and Kashmiri people making up the minority.18 The current
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conflict exists as a result of cultural differences between the Hindu Indian leaders and predominantly Muslim population. Muslim extremists have been accused of violent massacres within the valley of Kashmir, and Indian military personnel have been accused of the same atrocities against Muslim protesters throughout the territory, including accounts of rape involving Muslim women. These ongoing conflicts have had a major impact of the people of Kashmir, such as extended curfews, which has further affected their industries and economy. Prior to the territory’s accession to India in 1947, the area had a booming tourism industry due to its beautiful landscape of lakes, national parks, and the Himalayan mountain range. Kashmir was known for its many outdoor activities such as skiing, trekking, and boating, among others. This market exists in some form today, but is shrouded by the
ongoing conflicts between Pakistan and India. Jammu and Kashmir is an area that is difficult to reach due to its remote location; if one were to venture into Kashmir, the only ways possible are through a single railway connecting northern India to Jammu, or by airplane from Mumbai. Kashmir currently has three airports: one located in the southern city of Jammu, one in Srinagar, the northern city located in the disputed valley, and one in the city of Leh, located in the eastern territory of Ladakh. However, planes from Mumbai to Kashmir primarily go through Jammu, and they only do so once or twice per week.19 Both the positive and negative qualities of Jammu and Kashmir, its constant state of conflict due to religious and ethnic differences as well as its foothold in the tourism industry, make it an ideal location to implement the ideas previously discussed concerning architecture’s
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role in conflict mediation and facilitating peaceful interaction among people with a common purpose.
VI. PROGRAM
This relationship of conflict and tourism is an interesting complexity that can be explored through an architectural approach as a mode for cultural mediation. As stated before, a programmatic element needed and used by a wide variety of cultures is that of transportation. The component of transportation not only fulfills a necessity of many different people, but also allows for peaceful interaction among people that require a common purpose. Travelling and tourism in relation to transportation also allow for cultural interaction among people whom may not have otherwise experienced a culture outside from his or her own. In relation to Jammu and Kashmir, the idea of integrating additional routes of transportation is a way of not only allowing the people of both Muslim and Hindu heritage to share in a common purpose peacefully, but also of
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bringing outside tourists to the area and perhaps having a positive effect on not only the tourism industry but also the overall economy. A programmatic element that applies the notions of transportation, travelling, and tourism in a way that facilitates a peaceful mode of cultural interaction is a train station. In Jammu and Kashmir, a train station would be especially applicable as opposed to another mode of transportation such as an airport because the territory already has three separate airports linking the three largest cities. Also, the availability of train travel is more accessible and cheaper for the everyday person to use in order to get from village to village within the territory. Train travel also allows for a more authentic experience of a place’s landscape for the everyday user as well as the outside visitor in that it is directly integrated with the surface of the earth. One is
more aware of a train’s speed and the essence of leaving one place behind in pursuit of another. The train alludes to the concepts of mobility and moving forward in a way that is absent in airplane travel, through which one is elevated into the clouds and is so far removed from any distinguishable landmark that the sky experienced is the same sky that one could experience elsewhere. The connection to place and landscape is therefore lost through the act of airplane travel. As stated previously, Alain de Botton describes the benefits that airplane travel allows, arguing that this act of distancing one’s self from his or her everyday surroundings facilitates the revelations necessary in order to view conflicting situations in a new light. Train travel, with its comparable speed and ability to traverse long distances, could allow for the same type of revelations that de Botton refers to by distancing one’s
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self from his or her immediate surroundings, retaining the idea’s relevance in relation to transportation and travelling as a vehicle for cultural awareness. The implementation of a train station would also be more appropriate than something like a bus station because of the train’s degree of permanence; as stated before, the train is directly integrated within the earth, it has an inherent quality of representing something permanent and substantial to which the automobile or the bus cannot relate. This relationship to permanence also refers back to Lisa Findley’s ideas in that the built environment can provide a level of ‘spatial solidity’ to the people that it represents. The implementation of a train station design solution in Jammu and Kashmir is necessary not only because it has the best connection to the everyday people of the
area as well as potential tourists from elsewhere, but also because there is a current lack of railway transportation in the area. There is only one railway line through Jammu and Kashmir, and it is disjointed due to the fact that it has not been fully constructed. The lower segment of the line has been in place for some time, yet the upper portion of the railway was just completed in 2008.20 The other two legs that unite these two lines are still under construction, and there are not current plans in place to expand the railway north, east, or west in relation to the map shown. The construction of the railway system has been difficult throughout Jammu and Kashmir not only because of the ongoing conflicts and aggression by many Muslim residents against any sort of Indian governmental action, but also because of the terrain. The land area west to the railway lines indicated on the map is an obstacle
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because of the Pir Panjal Mountain range, while the area to the east of the existing railway lines is obstructed by the Himalayas. This topographical challenge would have to be taken into account during any design activity that may result either east or west of these landmasses. The permanent nature of a railway and the train station is also relevant in terms of how the train is regarded by the people it transports. The existing railway system of Jammu and Kashmir is used by the people as a form of protest, in both peaceful and aggressive ways. The tracks themselves have been used for various forms of sit-in protests, while the stations have been a target for Muslim protesters in their fight against the Indian occupation not only in Kashmir, but throughout India. This could be viewed as a potential challenge, but if the station is designed in a way that disassociates itself from the
typological notion of ‘control,’ then the spaces would take on the role of facilitator of cultural interaction rather than that of violence. This solution would need to accommodate the kinds of activities that occur within a train station. These activities will not only include boarding and exiting the trains, but will also envelope a more integrated level of interaction among the passengers that could be addressed in spaces such as waiting areas, small shops, or a cafĂŠ. Other necessary programmatic elements that would need to be included are baggage claim areas, offices, a ticket booth, and public restrooms. Another programmatic function of the design solution could be some temporary living quarters, such as an attached hotel, in order to accommodate the current unorganized train schedules inherent in Indian train travel. Trains are often delayed or
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cancelled without much warning or reasoning given to the passengers, so the addition of a hotel would help to accommodate these instances.21 The current typology of a train station is that of a rectangular building with a linear organization parallel to the motion of the tracks. This has addressed the need for the ability of the passengers to board and exit the trains in a timely manner. Also, there is typically some sort of vertical element, a clock tower for example, that stands above its surroundings in order to denote the buildings importance as a public space, as well as to make its self known to the outside visitor. This typology could be addressed in a way that the station could become a place that facilitates cultural interaction in a conscious manner rather than just responding to a functional need.
An additional programmatic element that would allow for diverse interactions among different peoples would be the integration of a bazaar, or market. A market serves as an authentic experience of a culture, inherently possessing qualities such as resources, local goods including placespecific clothing and foods, as well as local crafts and trades. The general organization of a market also allows freedom of movement and interaction among different peoples, including tourists, students, as well as residents from different backgrounds. Some markets also exude the essence of spontaneity and free-flowing movement; these qualities make it an interesting and unexpected juxtaposition against the somewhat opposite inherent qualities of a typical Kashmiri train station, that of being extremely rigid and secure.
VII.
PRECEDENTS
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There are several design precedents that can be studied in regard to transportation as well as the idea that architecture can become a physical manifestation of people in that it provides spatial solidity. The World Trade Center (WTC) Transportation Hub designed by Santiago Calatrava is currently under construction in lower Manhattan, located at the base of the Freedom Tower, also currently under construction. This transportation hub will act as a bus terminal as well as a junction between thirteen New York subway lines.22 The design of the building has ignored the typical typology of a New York subway station in that it is monumental; the form stands out from its surroundings and does not blend in with the streetscape in the way that other subway entrances do throughout the city. Also, the form extends above ground and is made up of exposed steel framework and glass,
which is completely opposite from the design of other subway station entrances within the city. When one exits a subway train within the WTC transportation terminal, he or she is immediately exposed to the sunlight, skies, and buildings towering above in the centralized terminal. This contradicts the traditional mode of exiting the subway in that normally one is deposited onto an underground platform and then funneled through a tight stairway immediately onto the street. Also, the conceptual form designed by Calatrava was influence by an abstraction of a dove being released; this abstraction was considered in relation to the attacks that occurred on September 11th, 2001, in that it was a direct response to the symbolism of hope that the construction of the Freedom tower represents.23 Another project that could influence the decision
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making process during a design activity concerning the relationship of architecture to peaceful interaction and peaceful solidity is the Museum of Struggle in New Brighton, Port Elizabeth, South Africa designed by Neoro Wolff Architects. New Brighten endured under the rule of apartheid government from 1948 until 1994, in which time blacks were excommunicated from the city center, forced to live in a township outside from the community, only allowed in certain parts of the city during certain parts of the day, and not allowed into cultural institutions such as museums. Once this regime fell in 1994, blacks were allowed into these major cultural facilities, and the newly established government almost immediately commissioned museums to display and educate the people about the horrors and prejudices that blacks were subjected to during this time period. The Museum of
Struggle was completed in 2005, and became a symbol of solidity for the people still living in the separate township. The architect sought to challenge the typology of a museum as a white institution and a symbol of the oppression that was endured by the current occupants. The museum therefore resembles more the typology of a factory, in relation to its industrial history within the community, and also to have a more familiar connection to the people that it symbolizes. The use of materials also reflects this relationship to the existing community in that the architect used typical cement board and corrugated metal, the same materials that make up the small, onestory dwellings within its surroundings, in a beautiful way and as a conscious choice rather than because it was all that was available. The organization of the museum does not follow any
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sort of pattern; the interior layout is comprised of several ‘memory boxes’ that contain separate exhibits. These are not organized chronologically and do not enforce strict movement through space. The architects did not want to exercise any sort of control over the occupant, but rather wanted to allow the viewer to wander freely through the exhibits and experience them in his or her own way. Therefore, not only do the form and materials implemented within the design for the Museum of Struggle respond to its surroundings as well as the people that it represents, but also the interior organization. Although this precedent does not relate to this thesis proposal programmatically, the ideas that the Museum of Struggle embodies concerning form, material, and organization in becoming a physical manifestation of the people it represents and an honest portrayal of a
culture is relevant to this project, and these ideas can be implemented within this potential design solution.
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VIII.
CHALLENGE
The built environment can and should become a part of cross-cultural conflict mediation as well as a physical manifestation of peoples who have been systematically oppressed by ignoring preconceived notions associated with typology and by providing programmatic elements that allow diverse people to interact in a peaceful and honest way. The intent of this thesis design activity is to pursue a mode of conflict mediation through the implementation of an architectural solution by integrating historical ideas, design precedents, as well as explorations of site and programmatic activities. The ideas of Bernice Lott and Johan Galtung have influenced thinking on conflict mediation, while writers Mark Twain, and Alain de Botton as well as architects Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio have all contributed ideas concerning the importance of travel and tourism with regard to
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raising cultural awareness. Lisa Findley also contributes ideas concerning the built environment at the heart of all of these solutions, stating that architecture can become a catalyst for cultural change. All of these ideas could greatly contribute to the current cultural conflicts present in Jammu and Kashmir by manifesting into the form of a train station that could facilitate a mode of honest cultural interaction through the peaceful activities of transportation, travelling, and tourism. This implementation hopes to not only contribute to a brighter future for the people within Jammu and Kashmir, but also to influence world-wide views of cultural conflict, awareness, and understanding.
DESIGN
I
FURTHER RESEARCH
Design work for this project commenced with additional research involving the nature and location of the conflict in the area as well as the nature and location of existing train stations throughout Kashmir, which would both affect the train station element of the program. Another component of this research portion included the nature and location of resources and trades in the area, which would affect programmatic element of the market.
This research also led to, and allowed for, a clearer definition of site. The small urban area of Sopore, located approximately 25 kilometers northwest of the summer capital of Srinagar, was chosen due to its proximity to the heart of the major conflicting areas within the region. Other contextual influences that led to this site selection were the location of several major
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schools within Sopore; it contains both boys and girls highschools, as well as a degree college. The interaction of this project with these schools is important for two main reasons. The first is that the primary users of the Kashmir railway are students commuting from smaller villages. The second reason is that the primary demographic that is responsible for the civilian uprising within Kashmir are the younger, college-level adults. This notion directly ties the train station to the existing conflict within Kashmir, and creates opportunities for exposure and awareness of these issues to those who would be visiting the area as tourists.
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SRINAGAR SHOOTINGS
SRINAGAR BOMBING KULGAM MASSACRE DODA MASSACRE
NADIMARG MASSACRE QASIM NAGAR MASSACRE SRINAGAR SHOOTINGS KISHTWAR MASSACRE CHALWALKOTE MASSACRE AMARNATH MASSACRE CHITISINGPURA MASSACRE
KARGIL WAR WANDHAMA MASSACRE SANGRAMPORA MASSACRE
PAHALGAM TOURISTS
SOPORE MASSACRE
GAWAKADAL MASSACRE
Various train station conditions throughout Kashmir.
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Various market goods and conditions throughout Kashmir.
DESIGN
I
EXPLORATION
While exploring how to support the thesis argument that the built environment can become a part of cross-cultural conflict mediation, there were three main questions that I asked myself. Each of which tries to ascertain different yet supplementary ways of exploring what the built environment can do in the realm of conflict mediation. HOW CAN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT SOLIDIFY OR EMBODY A CULTURE THAT HAS BEEN SYSTEMMATICALLY INVISIBLE?
This was explored through researching and analyzing local cultural patterns, that of both Muslim and Hindu origins. After studying these patterns, there was a clearly defined repetitive shape, that of an elongated diamond. This exploration led to the notion that these patterns could be extruded three-dimensionally and become clearly defined circulation elements and occupiable spaces. This was then used, not as a driving conceptual force, but as a simple
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organizational tool as well as a basis for the design of the station and market spaces. Another exploration intended to analyze how the built environment can solidify or embody a culture began with the previously mentioned research concerning local trades of Kashmir. Kashmiri craftsmen are renowned for their intricate wood carvings, usually made of walnut and used in interior ceiling applications. This activity was translated into the station’s overall enclosure. The main structure was conceived as a monolithic wooden black that was hollowed out to allow for occupation, and then carved away in strategic moments in order to focus and enhance certain views from the interior. The wood form appears monolithic from the main entrance point, oriented in relation to the Sopore Degree College, yet is open and revealed to the opposite side.
HOW CAN ONE FIND A BALANCE BETWEEN SECURITY AND FREEDOM THROUGH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF BUILT FORM?
The security presence within Kashmir at the present time as well as the near future is inevitable. Indian security forces are going to exist in the area, so the challenge was to implement a suggestion that takes the focus away from the security occupation yet still allows it to operate. One way that this was executed was through spatial organization. The security office that services the train station is located adjacent to the café, creating tension by not only juxtaposing the programs themselves, but also the users. Also, the main market spaces located on the south end of the site are oriented in such a way to act as a ‘filter,’ facilitating freedom of movement throughout by people coming and going in multiple directions.
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Another application of this notion was through specific moments of view. The entire station is elevated in order to enhance visitors’ experience of the surrounding Himalayan mountains, the market activity below, the street activity below, as well as the distant street view of the site where the massacre occurred in Sopore in 1993. Allowing for this view of the massacre site was also critical due to the fact that the violence occurred in a pre-existing market setting. Views from the security office also enhanced the notion of balancing security by allowing for views of the train platform below, views of the market and street activity that are separate from that of the other users, as well as views of the college grounds. This specific view is the only one oriented towards the college and is spatially oriented within a longer term waiting are for use of the
train station. This allows the security to exist in a more unobtrusive way by placing the hierarchy on the visitors and residents using the space. HOW CAN THIS PROJECT FACILITATE SOCIAL INTERACTION THAT INCREASES AWARENESS OF AND IS SENSITIVE TO THE CURRENT STATE OF KASHMIR?
A primary social space within India as well as Middle Eastern countries related to the other occupants of Kashmir is that of the street. The street was directly strung through the heart of the station, and manipulated in relation to the market and the platform to try to make their boundaries less distinct and the spaces more synonymous. The street is not only an essential component within historical market settings associated with these cultures, but it also facilitates civilian protests within the region. By enveloping the street within the design, these occasions and issues become more
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apparent to the users. Another space within the design that helps to facilitate these types of interactions is the open departure platform. The platform was conceived as a plaza, where additional market activities could occupy in addition to people boarding and exiting the trains. This space not only allows for this mix of different peoples and agendas, but also encourages the occupant waiting for the train, who may be a tourist to the area, to be immersed within the market and open to the immediate surroundings through the open market stalls. One other application of this notion of social interaction is the orientation of the cafĂŠ and waiting area. These spaces are intended for both residents and tourists in need of a space to stay that is more sheltered than the platform
for extended lengths of time. These spaces are elevated in a hierarchical way to celebrate the intention of these interactions as well as to facilitate the important views previously described.
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Context map of Sopore.
Site diagram showing contextual influence; public voids set back from street edge.
Market level floor plan.
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Lower level floor plan.
Upper level floor plan.
TOURIST STUDENT RESIDENT
Circulation diagram showing the mix of different user types.
SECURITY OFFICE
CI RC UL
TOURIST INFORMATION CENTER
AT IO
N
PERMANENT MARKET SPACES
CAFE WAITING AREA
SPONTANEOUS MARKET SPACES
Volume diagram showing relationship of ‘secure’ to ‘free’ spaces.
TRAIN PLATFORM MARKET ACTIVITY
MARKET ACTIVITY DEGREE COLLEGE
HIMALAYAN MOUNTAINS
MASSACRE SITE
View diagram showing significant orientations.
1
Wood form development diagram showing 1. monolithic form, 2. made occupiable and elevated to focus views, 3. tilted as a response to local vernacular and climate, and 4. carved to reveal specific views.
3
2
4
Cultural Pattern abstraction: initial layer.
Linear components become circulation elements.
Repetitive shapes become occupiable spaces.
Extruded three-dimensionally.
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PERSP. 2
CONCLUSION
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After exploring the questions outlined prior to these design activities and reflecting on the execution of these assumptions, the resulting conclusion boils down to a few hard realizations. The issue represented here is a lot bigger and more complex than something that can be solved by an architectural solution. However, with that in mind, there are implementations that can occur that start to get at the heart of the conflict and become simply a catalyst for change. By seeking to spatially solidify a culture that has been systematically oppressed, by facilitating a different type of social interaction that exposes these people and issues to others, and by exploring the tension and balance of freedom and security in a conscious and critical way, the built environment can become a part of cross-cultural conflict interaction and mediation.
1
Bernice, Lott, Multiculturalism and Diversity: a Social Psychological Perspective (Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., 2010), 7.
2 3
Ibid, 8.
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Johan, Galtung, “The TRANSCEND Method in conflict mediation across levels: Conflict literacy and competence as a n approach to peace� European Psychologist 15, no. 2 (2010), 84. Mark, Twain, The Innocents Abroad (New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1911), 407. Alain, de Botton, The Art of Travel (New York: Pantheon Books, 2002), 5. Elizabeth, Diller and Ricardo Scofidio, Back to the Front: Tourisms of War (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1994), 24. Ibid, 20. Ibid, 27. Ibid, 28 Ibid, 28. Lisa, Findley, Building Change: Architecture, Politics, and Cultural Agency (New York: Routledge, 2005), 29. Ibid, 34. Victoria, Schofield, Kashmir in Conflict: India, Pakistan, and the unending War (New York: I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd., 2003), xi. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. http://www.jktourism.org/inside.aspx?id=89 (accessed December 15, 2010). http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7664900.stm (accessed December 15, 2010).
21 22
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20071217/j&k.htm (accessed December 15, 2010).
23
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9905E7DF1639F930A15752C0A9629C8B63 &sec=&spon=&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink (accessed December 15, 2010).
http://www.lowermanhattan.info/construction/project_updates/world_trade_center_transportation_34922.aspx (accessed December 15, 2010).
IMAGE SOURCES
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