Snigdha Bhattiprolu | Seamless

Seamless A sustainable Rural development strategy through eco-tourism and rural education in India by blurring threshold between agriculture,architectre and community

Agricultural rejuvenation by reintroducing native crops rather than monocropping of cash crops which are water intensive and vulnerable.

Resource management, efficient steardship and community rejuvenation are some goals.

This commemorative postage stamp that shows rejoicing people was issued in 1950 to mark the inauguration of the Republic of India on the same day. The stamp valued two annas.

Nationalistic goals alligned to self reliance, swadeshi was a movement that identified with this.

Focused on rejuvenating the lost glory in the realms of agriculture, textile and literacy.

Preface Before India’s independence, British incentivised cheap labour to migrate from villages to urban centers, Post independece lack of livelihood in villages makes farmers migrate from rural to urban centers. Vishakapatnam to Chennai is one of such large urban migration corridors. This phenomenon overburdens cities and destrys rural social fabric.

The nationalistic sentiment during independence 1950s was to imporve agriculture, which Green revolution neatively affected, especially diversty in agricultral species and fauna involved in the food chain. Thus the project starts from a critical regionalism standpoint, along with nationaistic sentiments to propose a social cultural and economic exchange between urban and rural spheres of India.

It preserves intangible heritage of sustainable rural lifestyle through ecotourism that triggers nostalgia. In return, it uses rural education to facilitate empowerment of men in agricutural techniques and women in finance and energy pdroduction research. The larger aim is to not only be seamless in all aspects of community argriculture and community but also as a nation

Program Starting off from critical regionalism theory, the development takes cues from local fabric to understand familiar placemaking to allow the rural commuity to embrace the development.

It proposed a new addition to the village grid along the east west axis to create more energy efficient system.

The project manipulates the flat landscape ever so slightly to create a slope and divert stormwater and collect it in a central water body for drought season and prevention of slood(both typical of the region).The dug up soil is used to make adobe sundried bricks used in construction insitu The project also strickes a cultural dialogue between te past and present by using the symboli prescence of columns as a ode t ancestors and curates salvaged coloumns of importance at key locations along with other found objects to craete nostalgia.

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Rural Construction Current scenario: Vast Expanse but not integrated

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Developers’ Construction: Increased disconnect between aro-ecosystem and built enviornment

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Proposal: Creating permeable thresholds and micro agrosystems for greater integration

Problem Statement The biggest question is how do we bridge the sectional drop between the village fabric and crop lands. When developers take over a piece of realestate, often they bruild a tower further hightening that difference. Whats more inapproprite is that the apartments in those towers have no connection, visual or physical to crop lands or as a system of hydrology, energy or food production. The project creates a perforated seam between the built and unbuilt realm, which is not a new idea to the region, infact is the traditional way of living.

The seamlessness of traditional lifestyel made it more sustainable as household used cultivated food in the kicthen and kicthen waste became manure to nourish the crop creating a symbiotic relationship. The project aims to throw light on that relationships and inspire visitors to revive it.

VIsion Despite being ecotourism, the local community is not a shwopiece in any way, to remian fair and ethical. The urban population is expected to live as equals with the locals, thus the porgram is called a homestay. They must cook together in the communal kicthen, allow older rural generations to interact with young urban dwellers to exchnage stories as grandparents would tell their grandchildren in joint families in the past.

Similarly, evening childrens playtime is where rural and urban kids leanr games from eachotehr, and women can pluck jasmines together before the evenig shadow puppetry show at the amphi theatre by the water body.

The program is intergenerational, and creating a diversity in all realms of the project.

Context The left hand side shows the exitsing house which is converted into a exhibition space for local textiles through adaptive reuse and right hand side shows immediate surroundings a s a cultrual context.

Parti | Negotiating between village Grids (organic growth) and a East West Grid for ventilation be

est practice

Parti | Program to be Encased by promenade + carving Visual Corridors towards cro

op lands

Parti | Blurring the Seam between Village and Cropland through promenade and pla

acing cultural experiences along the walkable distances(70ft)

Parti | Placing Attraction points as opposite ends to create interactions at crossing p

CORE CULTURAL EXCHANGE ZONE (PERFORMING ARTS AMPHI + VEGETABLE MARKETPLACE)

paths between diverse users eg. Urban tourist and rural homeowner

LANDSCAPE STRATGIES BIOSWALES TO COLLECT ROAD RUNOFF

COMMUNITY KITCHEN + DINING HALL

COCONUT PLANTATION

SOFT BARRIER TO CUT CYCLONE WINDS AND WATER PURIFICATION THROUGH NATIVE SPECIES TO SUPPLY TO SPA POOL

PROGRAM FIRST ENTRY/EXIT GANESHA SHRINE COWSHED RURAL HOUSING BIOGAS PLANT SECOND ENTRY/EXIT

EXHIBITION CENTER (EXISTING HOUSE) RURAL HOUSING FRONT YARD BECOMES PRIVATE PUBLIC GREEN CORRIDOR OF NATIVE GARDEN WITH LOCAL SPECIES RURAL EDUCATION CENTER

FARMERS WATCHTOWERS(NIGHTTIME) VIEWPOINTS (DAYTIME) MIXED/FLEXIBLE USE AMPHI+MARKETPLACE(SURPLUS CROP SOLD HERE) HOMETAY UNITS SPA AND INFINITY POOL

Material Pallette The material selection consists of some new and some old items.

The adobe brick structure or wooden columnade is added with some curated found items to mark certain important items of cultural importance.

The left is wood and stone columns (for interiors and exterior use respectively) There are also salvaged door frames and door panels with exquisite carving sof Goddess lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity from the author’s old house.

There are also some culturally important kitchen items and such.

CONSTRUCTION CATALOGUE Assembly of typical columns at Ganesha shrine

GANESHA SHRINE Looking towards the cowshed and landscape water filteration area on the right hand side

EXHIBITION CENTER ENTRY BY GANESHA SHRINE Ganesha is a god belived to remove all obstacles, usually placed in the entrance

CONSTRUCTION CATALOGUE Assembly of typical columns and placemaking

INTERIOR OF TEXTILE EXHIBITION SPACE

BEHIND EXHIBITION CENTER WALKING TOWARDS COMMUNITY KITCHEN AND DINING (LEFT) NATIVE SPECIES ARE GOWN IN MIXED CROPPING (PEASA AND MARIGOLD AND TOMATOES) ALONG WITH HERB GARDEN NEAR THE KICTHEN

FRONT SIDE OF DINING AREA IN THE HOT HUMID CLIMATE, BUILDINGS ARE ORIENTED ON NARROW FLOOR PLATE EAST WEST DIRECTION. ALL ARE PAVILION STRUCTURE WITH LIGHT ASSEMBLY AND BREATHABLE METAL MESH MEMBRANES AND ROOFS WITH GOOD OVER HANDS.

LOOKING INTO GREEN THRESHOLD OF NATIVE GARDEN , A CUMNILATION OF EACH PRIVATE FRONT YARD GARDEN OF RURAL HOUSING WITH TULASI PLANT FOR WORSHIP

FLEXIBLE USE OF AMPHI AND MARKET PLACE MORNING USE FOR IMPROMPTU INTERACTIONS BY THE WATERSIDE

FLEXIBLE USE OF AMPHI NIGHT USE FOR VEGETABLE MARKET TO SELL SURPLUS PRODUCED ON The CROP LAND, ALSO HOSTS DANCE PERFORMANCES,SNAKECHARMERS AND Other MAGICAL SPECIES OF TRADITIONAL VILLAGE WEEKLY MARKETS

LOOKING BACK AT MARKET PLACE WHILE WALKING TOWARDS RURAL EDUCATION CENTER

RURAL EDUCATION CENTER RAISED BRICK VOLUME MIMICING THE COCONUT TREES, LOWER PAVILLION LIKE CHARACTER ALLOWS FOR AFTERNOON STUDY TO PROVIDE VENTILATED ENVIRONMENT. UPSTAIRS IS AIRCONDITINED CONFERENCE ROOMS ETC

ft mtrs

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SECTION OF RURAL EDUCATION CENTER

CONNECTIONS OF VIEW PAVILLIONS WITH FRUGAL CONSTRUCTION OF EXHAUST FAN FACADE AND OPTIMIZED SUN SHADING FINS AND OVERHANDS TO CUT HARSH SUN

THE EVOCATIVE QUALITY OF A PAVILION. IT BRINGS THE ABILITY TO FINALLY WALK INTO CROP LANDS, SAFELY FROM SNAKE BITES FOR FARMERS AND GETTING A VIEW FOR TOURISMS AND AGRICULTURAL STUDENTS, ALL AT THE SAME TIME. THE TRANSITION OF THE THRESHOLD ON The GROUND LEVEL IS OF VARIES MIXED CROPPING OF MARIGOLD(PREVENTS MOSQUITOES) WITH A TRAP PLANT OF TOMATO. (PREVENTING

CAN RESPONSIBLE AND ETHICAL ECOTOURISM BE THE SOLUTION TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE DYING RURAL SETT ELEMENTS WHICH ARE AGRICULTURAL POWERHOUSES , FEEDING TE URBAN CENTERS? WOULD YOU WANT TO EXPERIENCE A SUSTAINABLE INFINITY POOL, 3-6METERS OFF THE GROUND? AND HELP SUSTAIN A COMMUNITY AND A NATION’S INTANGIBLE HERITAGE?

SNIGDHA BHATTIPROLU MArch | BDes