Inspiration for cover.................... Those who arrive at Thekla can see little of the city beyond the plank fences, the sackcloth screens, the scaffoldings, the metal armatures, the wooden catwalks hanging from ropes or supported by sawhorses, the ladders, the trestles. If you ask, “Why is Thekla’s construction taking such a long time?” the inhabitants continue hoisting sacks, lowering leaded strings, moving long brushes up and down, as they answer, “So that its destruction cannot begin.” And if asked whether they fear that, once the scaffoldings are removed, the city may begin to crumble and fall to pieces, they add hastily, in a whisper, “Not only the city.” . If, dissatisfied with the answers, someone puts his eye to a crack in a fence, he sees cranes pulling up other cranes, scaffoldings that embrace other scaffoldings, beams that prop up other beams. “What meaning does your construction have?” he asks. “What is the aim of a city under construction unless it is a city? Where is the plan you are following, the blueprint?” . “We will show it to you as soon as the working day is over; we cannot interrupt our work now,” they answer. . Work stops at sunset. Darkness falls over the building site. The sky is filled with stars. “There is the blueprint,” they say. . -Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
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1
Jewellery Shop INTERIOR DESIGN
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2
Duplitectures COMPETITION ENTRY DOCEXDOCE
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3
Street-vendors; placemaking COMPETITION ENTRY RE-ORGANIZING THE BUILDING BLOCK LEGACY
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4
Semi-basement Parking COMPETITION ENTRY RE-ORGANIZING THE BUILDING BLOCK LEGACY
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Moorang Fort, Kinnaur INTERNSHIP | PWD SHIMLA
13 103
47
39 47 128
47
161
47
80 47 55
345
272
562
18
18
170
186
16 118
13 118 186 392
FRONT ELEVATION
LEFT SIDE ELEVATION
7X9 CM. VERTICAL WOODEN POST 10 CM MUD ROOFING
34X17 CM.WOODEN MEMBER 16 98 17
4 LAYER OF BHOJP
VERTICAL WOODE POST NAILED 466
30 75
SECTION XX'
SECTION ZZ'
WALL STONE WOODEN MEMBER
10
40 58
173
264
124
45 X40 VENTILATOR THREE 45% ANGLE EQ HOLE
17
34
191 57 58
57
9
40
466
58
140
45
34
152
55
75
17
16 115
5 CM. WOODEN LOC
SECTION YY'
858 142
44
X' 311
X
Z'
140
275
Y
40
274
257
X
X' 80
19 19 23 23 55
Z
Z'
OPEN MUANDAA
44
Z
200
Y'
44
GROUND FLOOR PLAN
44 110
Y'
155
306
44
659
FIRST FLOOR PLAN
QUEENS FORT
714
Y
75
87
101 40 84
436
75
75 50 44
44 98
ROOF FLOOR PLAN
N SPORT
CK
PATRA
EN
| relevance of location | •The fort is built next to the Satluj river on an elevated mount. •It used to be surrounded by the Satluj on three sides, serving as a natural protection against enemies. •The fort is build such that it is visible to all the residences of the village and also of the nearby villages across the river •No retaining wall has been built due to the already rocky nature of the terrain. •The village used to be connected to the fort by a wooden bridge. •The a few logs of the wooden bridge are currently placed elsewhere in the village and hold cultural beliefs and folk sayings. The villagers believe that taking a sliver from the log calms agitated infants.
| building features | •The Structure is 5 storeys high, of which plinth is 2 storeys high. •There are 12 rooms of 2-2.5m height. •The entrance door to the structure is at 5m. It is accessible through an external stairs. •The doors are only 1m tall to avoid entry of cold air into the interiors. The doors were also elevated about 20cm above the ground to stop snow and rodents from getting in. •Similarly, windows openings are also small. They are tapered to serve warfare purposes. • Shelves were built as niches in walls or a wooden projection was added in the wall and later covered with mud plaster. •The staircases for all the floors are made up of wood and aren’t attached to anything. They stay immovable solely due to their heavy weight. •The fort is said to have a secret tunnel which led a passage out of the fort. It is now closed. •The balcony has a huge single wooden rafter. •Mud plaster of the entire building is done by the locally available white mud near the fort itself.
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Kamaksha Temple, Karsog DOCUMENTATION
JOURNALISM TROPHY 2019 ZONAL NASA
RIYA SINGH riyabhimta@gmail.com 7018175803