A BST R AC T I O N
1
IN TRO DU C T I O N
A P L AC E F OR P R AY E R THE PROCESS The place for prayer was an ambiguous brief, to navigate through which, I had to tackle the design on two fronts. The first was to understand what prayer meant; the design would have to reflect this stance. The second was the manifestation of this stance through architectural elements, abstracting some and evolving a design language. The manifestation of the stance was improved with several readings amongst which Atmospheres and Seneca’s Shortness of Life became important informants for my design. The conceptual start came with the idea of giving significance to an architecture of the sacred through scale and centrality. The aspirations of prayer pushed the form beyond just the necessities. Through several iterations, the characteristics of the central space changed and the outside form changed as well. The prayer cells were of a complementary nature from the start but their position and form changed: the idea of solitariness and austerity remained a constant. The overall plan changed with the adjustment of these two blocks in order to firstly reduce noise from the urban edge. Then procure the right light for the acts of praying: collective and individual. Thirdly, to develop the landscaping which would allow for the act of meandering and reflecting hich was seen as complementary to the rigour and discipline that prayer and meditation invoke. Lastly the presence of the existing blocks on site had to be responded
MY THEORETICAL STANCE The theoretical stance was firstly that prayer meant an act of surrender, thus the space needed to capture the idea of the sublime. Then came the idea of the solitary act of meditation and the idea that an act of prayer needs a room when the prayer becomes a practice that extends beyond the day and thus came the prayer cells. Prayer was later seen as an act of devotion to a higher being. A maxim by Rene Descartes affected the stance further: “All of man’s problems come from not being able to sit alone in a room quietly”. The design then evolved through how a devotee would live and move around in the campus and the placement of amenities and paths through landscape emerged. The last theoretical positioning came through the idea of binaries: how there is an inherent bias in any position which can be removed by highlighting the suppressed binary. The built and the natural, collective spaces and individual spaces, Straight axes and Meandering paths.
2
ere also asked to study the manner in which light can be brought into a building.
IN TRO DU C T I O N
one to build a base for the third key learning of the studio, which emise to further develop each student’s ‘Place for Prayer’.
E VOLU TIO N OF EL E ME N T S SITE INTRODUCTION
GLOSSARY OF ELEMENTS
The interesting part of this situation was how students will incorporate their idea of prayer through their intervention in such a site surrounded by dynamic context The selected site for the studio brief is the Kocharab Ashram in Ahmedabad. Considering the context and the history of the ashram, particularly ARCADE in relation to Gandhi, the students were required to not only interpret their own idea of prayer, but also of how it intersected with the Gandhian philosophy of prayer.
A booklet of all the elements studied was compiled and used for modern abstractions and interpretations in design. For reliable definitions penguin’s dictionary of architecture was referred.
).155#4;
).155#4;
The Ashram is located in the western part of the city, surrounded by low rise buildings and with a direct entry from the main road. The site therefore presented a challenge to the students in terms of managing the context and further connecting and integrating the entire site with their interpretations of prayer.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Origin - Hellenistic period Genesis - Aquaducts
LANTERN
2.#%' (14 24#;'4
CLERESTORY
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
The upper stage of the main walls of a church above the aisle roofs, pierced by windows; the same term is applicable in domestic buildings.
A small circular or polygonal turret with windowa all around, crowing a roof or dome. It functions to admit light inside.
Succession of contigual arches, supported on column or piers.
7
31
14
3
TH E P R O J EC T
The place of prayer gives design to the idea of a being modern and spiritual. For this one has to learn to face the task of sitting alone quietly with one’s thoughts. The elements of the design emerge from this stance; the prayer hall a place where the devotees can come together, prayer cells: where they sit alone and the pathways for them to wander between the two acts.
The prayer cells face a sunken forecourt on the south and a waterbody on the north, through the planters. The cells form a row, breaking the axis defined by the prayer hall and clock tower. From their isolated meditations in these solitary units, the devotees walk to gather in the central prayer hall.
4
TH E P R O J EC T
The prayer hall towering at around 15 m, becomes a prominent anchor on the city and site. On the inside, the large space follows a white marble terrazo flooring with white marbe inlay strips. The thick wall that supports the superstructure is made of rammed earth. The ambulatory that runs around the central space is formed by a jaali of curved fins that let in light selectively. This ambulatory allows for rumination as seen also in cloisters and riwaqs.
Materiality Terrazo flooring detailing with marble inlay, brass strips before- here the flooring was being decided on the basis of our reading of Zumthor’s atmospheres
Process Development of site plan in its later iterations- how the fanning movement and addition of lakes and watering holes happened.
5
TH E P R O J EC T
The prayer cells are where the devotees focus on the toughest task of ‘sitting alone in a room quietly’. The halfway sunken prayer cells open up to the sky and water on the north with a row of planters at eye level, changing the point of view of the site. These cells form a connected passage with a collonade marking the threshold between the forecourt and the cells. The row of the prayer cells ends toward the prayer hall entrance at the east.
Process developement of the prayer cells in the austere materiality and curation of views of the lake and the forest on either side with the inclusion of different scales in response to the prayer hall.
6
TH E P R O J EC T
The prayer hall is entered from the west through a vestibule. The fins which rise toward the entrance to cut off glare of the west sun also give importance to the entrance. The clerestorey windows above are contrastingly topped by a high gutter. The roof, cladded with limestone rises to the oculus with a lantern above which allows light to graze on the ceiling inside. Process developement of the wall section at the later stages with materiality to understand its impact on form like stone cladding, changing of sizes of gutter, fins, clerestorey windows etc.
7
TH E P R O J EC T
The space inside the prayer hall creates a powerful silence through the volume and light. On the upper mezzanine, the clerestorey windows shift inside on the south to allow the gutter to act as a chajja. These clerestorey windows bring in light. The second source of light is from the cupola where the light enters by deflection on a curved surface, giving glow of light that recedes downwards. The hall becomes a place where individuals can gather collectively or meditate together and the silence binds them.
Process development of the wall section at the intial stage to incorporate solar path learnings and yet still achieve a uniform facade.
8
TH E R EV I EW
PO S T C RIT L EA R N I N GS
Site Model development of the wall section at the intial stage to incorporate solar path learnings and yet still achieve a uniform facade.
1. The Prayer Cells The placement of the prayrr cells in the skewed axis formed a poor relationship both in language andposition. This would have been better esolved on the boundary edge of the project. 2. The Clock Tower The clock tower was a redundancy in program, kept superficially for the form and was seen as out of its time.
Site Model The model should have been made in earlier stages to discover relationships of form and implications of locating different bodies across the site.
3. Wall Section The wall section was complemented in terms of the language and resolution of the prayer hall. This would, if given more thought and time, be the holder where prayer cells could be a peripheral part of. Both Shubhra Raje’s and Jaimini Mehta’s critique encouraged this removal of prayer cells to the boundary wall or the prayer hall complex itself.
9
A BST R AC T I O N- M IDSEM EST ER
TH A N K YO U
10