Design Research Book

PERCEPTION OF THE ECHOES Role of memor y in the urban transformation of Post-industrial sites in colonial cities

PERCEPTION OF THE ECHOES Role of memor y in the urban transformation of post-industrial sites in colonial cities

Copyright Š University of Virginia School of Architecture Somrita Bandyopadhyay M. Arch Candidate 2021 email: sb7eh@virginia.edu All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of either the author or the University of Virginia, School of Architecture, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Cover (other, wikimapia.com) April 2020

In fulfillment of the requirements for Design Research ARCH7100 At the University of Virginia, School of Architecture

Guide : Prof. Matthew Jull Associate Professor of Architecture TA : Jonah Pruitt M. Arch Candidate 2020

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to acknowledge and thank our Prof. Matthew Jull for always helping me in getting unstuck with his wonderful ideas, our TA Jonah for his unwavering belief in me even when my project seemed pretty doomed, my research group mates, Colin, Adam, Alex and Joe for their timely input and unique insights into the project and Prof Erik Linstrum and TCA Achintya from the UVA History department for some great conversations and interesting new directions.

This book wouldn’t have been possible with you guys, thank you for being there!

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART 1 LITERATURE REVIEW

PART 3 COLONIAL - INDUSTRIAL

Lamp of Memory

by John Ruskin

18

Historical Overview of the British Empire

46

Structures of Memory

by Jennifer A Jordan

28

Industrial Sites in Colonial cities

58

PART 4 CASE STUDIES

PART 2 MEMORY AND TRANSFORMATION Historical Tourism

38

The Peninsula Residences 64 Yangon, Myanmar

Real estate and conservation

40

The Warehouse Hotel, Singapore

Demolition

42

70

PART 5 CITY OF KOLKATA Historic Overview

78

Bibliography

94

Salt Golah

82

Image Credits

98

Angus Jute Mill

84

PART 6 DESIGN PROPOSAL

Maps of Memory

88

The Collage Memorial

90

PREFACE

On June, 2019, once the greatest example of industrial colonial architecture in the city of Kolkata, the Strand Warehouse, was claimed by fire. This was the third colonial era industrial building on the Kolkata riverfront that had caught fire in the last decade. Once an icon, the Strand Warehouse has simply disappeared from the face of the city. Known mostly to historians and architects, most people in the city will not even miss this relic of the colonial era, one of many littering the back lanes of the city, bordering the river.

These shut down industries and warehouses have been abandoned and left to decay. The painful memory of colonial rule that tore apart the state of Bengal and the succeeding collapse of industry 12 | PERCEPTION OF THE ECHOES

in the state is seen today as the legacy of a time of great sadness and strife. This is, ironically, mixed with regard for the glory days of the Raj era of the city as the capital of trade and commerce in the subcontinent.

The weight of expectations in the conservation, land disputes and lack of foresight in redevelopment has led to the apathy of the government towards these structures, which is only matched by the apathy of the citizens.

Very few colonial cities show a structured remembrance of colonial rule. When compared to the cities around the world, there are examples like the city of Berlin that addresses its conflicted history through an intricate and robust memorial culture that has been largely

developed through the initiatives of its citizens and government.

However, the collective memory of colonial rule ends at recorded history in most of these cities.

The extractive industries of the colonial era often lie dormant in the wake of their ecological ruin, claimed by the landscape. Since they have been designed along the lines of a similar structure of urban networks, and due to their need for proximity to the rivers, there is global pattern to this nature of industry that has resulted in unique urban voids in many of these cities.

Having grown up in Naihati, a part of Kolkata known for its jute mills, I have seen the colonial era mills shut one by one and what was once a busy site of people and sound, silently disappear behind the boundary

walls. The closure of the mills changed the inherent nature of the place and as it grew, it forgot about the mills that been the origin of this settlement.

This research looks at such sites across the world, using the framework of literature on memory to analyse its role in their transformation and speculate the possibilities of engagement in the city of Kolkata, in order to recognise what they represented before another industrial building crumbles to the ground.

Hopefully, this will generate a conversation on the need of these sites and institutions to be remembered, so that we, as the second generation of an independent country, can finally confront this inheritance of prosperity and destruction.

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PART 1 Literature Review

The sites of industry are the bridge between the imperial and the people.

By this very nature, they are unique sites of a painful memory of extraction, yet markers of progress and hope.

Most of these industry are now in decay and are voids within the urban fabric .

They are sites that need to be returned to the city, to the people.

How can they be transformed using this thread of memory to pay homage to what they represented?

THE LAMP OF MEMORY

BY JOHN RUSKIN

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Ruskin is a firm believer in the meaning of architecture as one that trascends time. In this essay he delves into the two sides of construction, the decayed and the new and seeks to define a more respectful response to these two conditions.

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In his criticism of contemporary architecture, he upholds the power of the ornament as a decisive manner of symbolism that can become a record oo representation of present times.

His example of the India House in London, a building decorated with imagery, according to hime will serve as a surer record of the present times.

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1. The India House (wordpress.com)

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Ruskin talks about the prevailing aspiration of creating buildings of today for the approval from future generations. He hopes that successors to enjoy these buildings may be able to recognise not only the merit and excellence but also the pain and injustice that led to its construction.

‘The glory of Age’ of a building as Ruskin describes it, thus emerges from its silent witness of time that emanates through its walls that survives the ravages of Change. It becomes a bridge between the “forgotten” and the “following” ages as it ages and it is only after it has matured through passing of time does it come into its true “language”.

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The concept of the “picturesque” is introduced by Ruskin as the beauty of decay which in it reflections of destruction of time, achieve sublimity as it is claimed by nature.

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It is this appreciation for the picturesque nature of decay that puts Ruskin in strong opposition to idea of restoration which he renounces as a harsh imposition that ultimately creates a “new� building out of the old one.

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Ruskin concludes the essay by making a case against the restoration of buildings.

According to him, what is lost should never be retrieved; that right belongs solely to those had erected it. Rather, he urges for the preservation of building s over time so that we not have to restore them from years of negect.

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STRUCTURES OF MEMORY

BY JENNIFER. A. JORDAN

In her book, The Structures of Memory, author Jennifer A Jordan, explores the many layers that transpose a site of meaning to the collective memory. Based on her study and analyses of the rigorous memorial landscape of Berlin, she uncovers the hidden systems and framework that supports the recognition and creation of these markers of memory intertwined with the play of politics and economics.

“How does a given patch of land or a particular building - The land use of the site and its existing areas - Resonance of the sites meaning with a broader (or international) public

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Cationentrepreneur” porepra arum - “Memorial la vit, qui dolupta turehen or someone willing to delendundit ratessed quate lobby for memorialisation porepuditat restendi reriossed

BLINDENWERKSTATT OTTO WEIDT’S WORKSHOP FOR THE BLIND

Located at 39, Rosenthaler Street in post war East Berlin, the Otto Weidt’s workshop employed deaf and blind Jews to make various kinds of brooms and brushes. During the war, he

tried to save the lives of many of his workers by hiding them in the workshop. Today, his story has been commemorated in the form of a museum that is housed within his workshop.

2. The members of the workshop in 1943 with Otto Weidt and his family (offbeattravel.com)

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TIMELINE OF THE WORKSHOP

1941 - 1943

Otto Weidt manages to get his buisness classified as vital to the War effort. During this time, he attempts to hide and save his Jewish workers.

1952

The Workshop, continued by his wife after his death in 1947, is dissolved by the magistracy.

1980’s

Inge Deutschkron, one of the workers he saved, writes to the East Berlin magistracy for many years for the placement a plaque for the Workshop.

1993

Changes in political system, a plaque is placed.

1997

Artist Helen Adkins, who ran an arts centre nearby, suggested the idea of an exhibition developed in the workshop rooms. The first group of six students is formed who worked closely with Detschkron to curate the exhibition.

1999

Bind Trust: Hidden at Hackerscher Markt, 1941-43 Exhibition (“Blindes Vertrauen: Versteckt am Hackeschen Markt, 1941-43) Curated by a group of students from the Museum Studies program at the University of Applied Sciences

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THE EXHIBITION

3. The Workshop Museum today (sygictraveldata.com)

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RESONANCE

When the exhibition was opened, many of the visitors hoped that this authentic site would be permanently preserved.

The Society of Sponsors Blind Trust was founded for this purpose, with Inge Deutschkron as its chairwoman.

With the support of the then Minister of Culture and the Media, Dr. Michael Naumann,

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the site was affiliated to the Jewish Museum Berlin in 2001. In 2004 the national government and the Berlin Lottery Foundation provided funding to purchase the building at Rosenthaler Straße 39. The objective was to preserve the Museum Otto Weidt’s Workshop for the Blind in the long term and to set up a memorial site for “silent heroes”. (www.museumblindenwerkstatt.de).

LAND USE

The Workshop is located next door to the Hackesche Hofe, a popular art nouveau courtyard complex with apartments and restaurants, that is a big tourist attraction. This helped garner tourist popularity for the Workshop.

4. The Hackesche Hofe (i.pinimg.com)

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THE MEMORIAL ENTREPRENEUR

Inge Deutschkron is a

celebrated German - Israeli author who was pivotal in garnering recognition for the bravery shown by Otto Weidt.

Her and her sister Alice were some of the many people he had saved and had supported through the War.

5. Inge (left) with her sister Alice (right) (www.gwd-berlin.de)

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Through her books and her contribution to the museum effort, she worked tirelessly for this cause, for which she herself was awarded the Order of Merit of the State of Berlin and many others later in her life.

LAND OWNERSHIP

According to the author, the legal troubles of the site which was tied to many successors, ultimately worked in its favor.

The dispute withheld any allocations of landuse thus, allowing the housing authority to acquire it and convert it to the museum

“OBJECTIVELY CONSIDERED, SUCH HISTORICAL SITES ARE MERE CONSTRUCTIONS OF STONE, WOOD, BRICK, CONCRETE AND STEEL. THEIR MEANINGS DERIVE FROM PUBLIC ACTION.”

– Historian Rudy Koshar in From Monuments to Traces: Artifacts of German Memory, 1870-1990 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2009) DESIGN RESEARCH | ARCH 7100 | 35

PART 2 Memory and Transformation

HISTORICAL TOURISM ARCHITECTURE AS SCENOGRAPHY

The National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States defines heritage tourism as “traveling to experience the places, artifacts and activities that authentically represent the stories and people of the past”, and “heritage tourism can include cultural, historic and natural resources”.

38 | PERCEPTION OF THE ECHOES

1. Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia (www.photoseller.com)

REAL ESATE AND CONSERVATION MEMORY AS STRATEGIC REDEVELOPMENT

Conservation Buyer Programs are used by conservation organizations as a way to protect properties in private ownership. By working with purchasers attracted to the natural, cultural, historic, and agricultural values of available properties, land trusts can help conservation buyers acquire such properties and ensure their long-term protection. A conservation buyer is a real-estate purchaser whose interest in the natural, agricultural, scenic, or historic attributes of a property steers them toward working with a land trust to protect these values in perpetuity with a conservation easement. (www.landscope.org)

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2. 1881 Heritage Hong Kong (www.discoverhongkong.com)

3. 1881 Heritage Hong Kong (www.lumiereshk.com)

DEMOLITION REMEMBERING/ FORGETTING

Demolition, or razing, is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down of buildings and other artificial structures. (wikipedia.org)

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4. Fall of the Berlin Wall (www.smithsonianmag.com)

5. The “Kings of Freedom� panels from the Berlin Wall, UVA (Dan Addison, University Communications)

PART 3 Colonial - Industrial

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE

THE FIRST BRITISH EMPIRE Historians refer to the period of the establishment of the English settlement of North America and the Caribbean islands, with the establishment of the East India Company as a joint stock company, in the 17th century as the First British Empire.

After experiencing failure in the attempts at establishing settlements in the Caribbean and in finding gold deposits, the British adopted the Portuguese model of sugar plantations in Brazil which was based on slave labour. This led to the successful colonies of Barbados, Nevis and St. Kitts. This expanded with the annexation of Jamaica and the Bahamas from the French and Spanish in later years.

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At the same time, there were British colonies coming up in America that was built by people fleeing religious persecution and by some of the earlier settlers.

However, these colonies were not commercially as successful.

With a large influx of slaves from Africa, slave trade became a staple economy. They became the basis for running their settlements in America and the Caribbean.

The East India Company, at the end of the 16th century was also competing with the Dutch and the Portuguese for dominance in the lucrative spice trade with Asia. This was focussed in two regions, the East Indies archipelago and India. Towards

1. Neptune resigning to Britannia the Empire of the Sea, painting by William Dyce (www.paintingstar.com)

2. Lady Britannia, Royal Ontario Museum (www.flickr.com)

3. The aftermath of Battle of Plassey showing the betrayal by Mir Jafar (www.iaspaper.net)

the end of the 17th century East Indies spice trade had gone to the Dutch and the textile trade in India to the British. The latter proved to be far more profitable, putting the British at an advantage.

In the 18th century, with their victory in the Battle of Plassey, the British were finally able to establish military dominance in the subcontinent and it marked the end of the Mughal dynasty in India and also led to the subjugation of French powers in the continent. Its territories 48 | PERCEPTION OF THE ECHOES

in India expanded over the years with the aid of the British Indian Army composed majorly of Indian sepoys.

At the same time, with the victory over France and Spain in the Seven Years War, Britain became the most powerful maritime power of that time.

In the 1770s growing resentment towards British taxation led to the American Revolution, which ultimately led to the United States declaring their independence in 1776. This was

4. The Battle of Saratoga that gave the decisive victory to the Americans over the British in the American Revolutionary War (www.aoc.gov)

the loss of its thirteen American colonies and this loss of its largest overseas population is marked by some historians as the shift to the second empire.

THE SECOND BRITISH EMPIRE (1783 – 1815) What began as a settlement for transported convicts in Australia, over time, the continent was colonised and it became an exporter if wool and gold. Gold rushes in its colony of Victoria made its capital, Melbourne, one of the riches cities in the world.

In the mid-19th century New Zealand was colonized after the British made a pact with the Maori chiefs.

The advent of the Industrial Revolution brought with an economy of mechanization. The Slave trade act in 1807 and the Slavery Abolition Act of 1834 finally led to the end of slavery in the Empire.

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5. World Map showing the important trade routes with the Empire in its Second Empire period (author)

6. Lithograph showing the Industrial revolution in Britain (www.fee.org)

THE IMPERIAL CENTURY (1815 – 1914) In the century 1815–1914, 10 million square miles of territory and 400 million people were added to the British Empire. By the British Empire Exhibition of 1924 Britain was the ‘Mother Country’ of a worldwide empire which covered a fifth of the land in the world, and at the time, the British were proud of how Britannia ‘ruled the waves’. This view was not shared by many of the people who experienced political and economic inequality and the decline of their culture and religion. Britain’s dominant position in world trade meant 52 | PERCEPTION OF THE ECHOES

that it had control over the economies of many countries such as China, Argentina and Siam, which historians refer to as the Informal Empire. The steamship and the All Red Line of telegraph connections across its empire allowed Britain to exert complete control over its dominions.

The combined forces of the East India Company and Royal Army helped in the capture of Penang Island, Singapore, Malacca and Burma and also helped in strengthening the British Raj in India. A the time, Britain was also engaged in the illegal opium trade with China, and rising

7. The Rhodes Colossus, the All Red Line spanning from Cape to Cairo (www.wikimedia.org)

tensions soon led to the First Opium War which led to the annexation of the island of Hong Kong by the British.

During the late 19th century, there was an increased influence of the British parliament in the affairs of the Company. With the Sepoy mutiny of 1857 in India, the Crown assumed complete control over the Company and appointed a Governor General of India and Queen Victoria was crowned the Empress of India. Thus, India became one of Britain’s most important assets; “the Jewel in the Crown”.

In the early 19th century, Britain had acquired the large Cape colony from the Dutch in South Africa. Rising British immigration pushed out the native Boer population causing the Great Trek of the 1830s and 40s where they moved out to found their independent states.

The Suez Canal opened in 1869 and the soon became the ‘Jugular vein of the Empire’.

After years of rivalry with the French for control of the canal, it was finally declared as neutral territory in 1888. This was at a time when many European DESIGN RESEARCH | ARCH 7100 | 53

8. The Scramble for Africa (www.i.pinimg.com)

powers were competing to gain control over Africa, in a period that is called the Scramble for Africa. Britain held substantial control over East and South Africa. This prompted the construction of the ‘Cape to Cairo’ railway linking the strategically situated Suez Canal with the mineral rich south.

The last decades of imperial rule saw many of the white colonies of Britain unifying under self government. It began with the Act of Union in 1840, which created the province of Canada.

Australia and New Zealand were soon to follow with being granted ‘Dominion status’ in 1901.

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WORLD WARS (1914 - 1945) The British declaration of war on Germany and its allies also committed the colonies and Dominions, which provided invaluable military, financial and material support. Over 2.5 million men served in the armies of the Dominions, as well as many thousands of volunteers from the Crown colonies.

Under the terms of the concluding Treaty of Versailles in 1919, the empire reached its greatest extent with the addition of 1,800,000 square miles and 13 million new subjects.

The colonies of Germany and the Ottoman Empire

9. WWI Enlistment poster (www.wikipedia.org)

were distributed to the Allied powers as League of Nations mandates. Britain gained control of Palestine, Transjordan, Iraq, parts of Cameroon and Togoland, and Tanganyika.

The Dominions themselves also acquired mandates of their own: the Union of South Africa gained South West Africa, Australia gained New Guinea, and New Zealand Western Samoa.

In the changing world order, Britain sided with the United States, signing the Washington

Naval Treaty in 1922. During this time, militarist governments took root in Germany and Japan while the US suffered through the Great Depression.

There were rising tensions in India as Britain clashed with Indians in the Amritsar massacre. Incidents like this led to the Non- Cooperation Movement in the country which was a sign of uprisings to come.

Britain declared war against Nazi Germany in 1939. With the aid of the US, Britain seemed like a strong power DESIGN RESEARCH | ARCH 7100 | 55

10. The Partition of India (www.tosshub.com)

but its subsequent defeats in the Far East were a blow to its capacity, especially in the Fall of Singapore, which was deemed to be an impregnable fortress.

DECOLONISATION AND DECLINE (1945-97) Though Britain emerged victorious in the Second World War, it had suffered a severe blow from the war. Anti colonial ovements that had taken root previously were now in full sway.

India gained independence in 1947 and was divided into two countries of India and Pakistan.

In 1960, British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan admitted 56 | PERCEPTION OF THE ECHOES

there was a “wind of change” in Africa. Most of Britain’s African and Caribbean colonies achieved independence in the 1960s.

In 1973, Britain joined the European Economic Community and became part of a trading community based on free trade between the countries of Europe.

11. Tanzania in East Africa gains independence (www.medium.com)

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INDUSTRIAL SITES IN COLONIAL CITIES

12. The Calcutta Riverfront (www.cms.qz.com)

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13.

Colonial era Bombay waterfront (www.pinterest.com)

14. Yangon Riverfront during WWII (pinterest.com)

15. The Port of Hong Kong (www.mardep.gov.hk)

16. Beginnings of industry along the river in Singapore (straitstimes.com)

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17. Aerial view of the Cape Town Docks (live.staticflickr.com)

18. The Port of Gibraltar (www.lawequitygibraltar.com)

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PART 4 Case Studies

THE PENINSULA RESIDENCES

AN OBJECTIVE RECREATION OF BRITISH NOSTALGIA

YANGON, MYANMAR

INTRODUCTION

LAND USE

The Peninsula Residences Yangon is a luxury hotel which is housed in the restored former headquarters of Myanmar Railways. Originally built in the 1880s, this cherished Yangon landmark has been re-imagined as a world-class luxury hotel.

The site is next to the historic Yangon Central Railway Station and has panoramic views of the golden Shwedagon Pagoda.

The project sits adjacent to the mixed use development of Yoma Central which contains luxury residential apartments all of which is situated within a 10acre property. The site is located on Bogyoke Aung San Road, in the heart of Yangon’s Central Business District. In this area there are three other heritage properties that are currently being redeveloped into luxury hotels. (hshgroup.com)

This project represents a shift in the hotel industry in Myanmar which is now shifting its focus from Western customers to the East. A series of redeveloped heritage luxury hotel projects by prominent hotel chains is an attempt to bank on the Colonial nostalgia through the recreation of heritage settings using historically accurate interiors combined with modern amenities.

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MEMORIAL ENTREPRENEUR The Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotel chain has a legacy of

1. The old Myanmar Railway Headquaters (i.pinimg.com)

2. The building as an architectural landmark (jamesweirhbcblog.wordpress.com)

restoring colonial era buildings and transforming them into hotels. Their commitment to heritage is channelled through their curation of archival material on the oldest hotels in the country for the Hong Kong Heritage Project run by the company. (hshgroup.com)

LAND OWNERSHIP There are at least 189 public buildings listed as “heritage� sites by the Yangon City Development Committee, which are gradually being leased out to the private sector to be refurbished as hotels, office

3. Proposal for the Yoma Central luxury mixed use complex (www.hshgroup.com)

4. Proposed interior of the courtyard (www.straitstimes.com)

blocks, restaurants and retail outlets. The tenants of such properties are contractually obliged to work closely with the committee and the Yangon Heritage Trust to preserve the authenticity of the buildings (scmp.com).

RESONANCE The building represents a key moment in Burma’s transport history, when three of the region’s competing and privately-run railway lines came together into a single network, which knitted the country into

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one unit. The first line in the British-controlled region, then comprising only Lower Burma, ran northwest from Yangon to Prome along the Irrawaddy river and was opened in 1877 as the Irrawaddy Valley State Railway.

The line primarily served an economic function, facilitating the transportation of agricultural goods, mainly rice, from the valley to Yangon. In 1884, a second line was opened, running north from Yangon along the Sittang river valley to Taungoo, extended north to Mandalay soon after the annexation of Upper Burma in 1885. By 1895,

5. Process of conserving the building (www.ccifrance-myanmar.org)

a third railway line, run by the Mu Valley State Railway, connected Mandalay with Katha on the northern reaches of the Irrawaddy. Between them, these three lines connected the north and south of the country, serving both economic and strategic functions. In 1896, the three companies coalesced to form the Burma Railway Company, which was to be a state-run organisation and it was in response to this that a new headquarters was built in Yangon, just across the way from the Central Station. (jamesweir-hbc.com)

CONCLUSION This project is a great example of the balance between the forces of conservation and real estate to preserve emblems of the history of the country. However, the manner in which the building is isolated through the design of the surrounding context and through the closed in atrium and the barrier of trees, speaks of a sense of denial in the memory that lives on.

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THE WAREHOUSE HOTEL

ADAPTIVE REUSE THROUGH MODERNIZATION

SINGAPORE

INTRODUCTION A boutique hotel housed in a meticulously restored heritage building on the bank of the Singapore River in Robertson Quay.

LAND USE The Singapore Riverfront is a very successful project by the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore in the strategic utilisation of existing colonial infrastructures and conservation for the transformation of its riverfront. The historic Upper Circular road, the main artery that fed the riverfront industries and warehouses, was designed to become a new commercial spine for development. The historic quays were used to 70 | PERCEPTION OF THE ECHOES

create zones of development, which utilised the fact that most quays were historically oriented to connect to important internal roads. Thus, the framework of transport from the colonial era was updated to meet the needs of the new city.

In the process of transforming the riverfront stretch into a vibrant public domain, its historic character was given a new life. The first step was in the establishment of a register of Gazetted National Monuments that identified buildings to be preserved. The second step was in demarcating Conservation areas along the Upper Circular Road where the buildings possessed distinct architectural styles. Within these Conservation Area, selected

6. Robertson Quay archival photo (www.wordpress.com)

7. Robertson Quay today (www.ak8.picdn.net)

8. The Warehouse Hotel as part of the sequence of adapted industrial buildings (www.iamarchitect.sg)

9. Interior spaces pay homage to the ‘idea’ of the industrial site (live.staticflikcr.com)

buildings were redeveloped to house public programs like art galleries. Especially along the Robertson Quay, several of the warehouses were retained and adapted to house hotels and commercial facilities, preserving the industrial memory of the site.

industrial conservation projects, there was a constant need to reconnect with Singapore’s history while redefining it for contemporary use. Even the hotel’s signature restaurant, Po, seeks to redefine age old recipes in the ‘mod-sin’ (modern Singapore) trend.

MEMORIAL ENTREPRENEUR

RESONANCE

The project was conceptualised by the design firm Asylum. In the renovation and adaptive reuse of the structure by Zarch Collaboratives, which is known for its contemporary take on

The industrial riverfront of Singapore is now a thriving tourist destination. This building in particular was the site of The Warehouse Disco before it closed in 1996.

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10. Interiors as a collage of industrial elements redefined (tripadvisor.com)

Largely due to the framework of urban design, the riverfront is now a spectacle of the diversity of historic and modern architectural styles within the city and creates a new urban identity that acknowledged its past while moving towards the future though the transformation of what was once the site of squatters and polluting industries.

LAND OWNERSHIP

CONCLUSION The approach to the design of the Warehouse is a clever breakdown and reassembly of the elements that constitute the general idea of industry. In the absence of deeper connection of meaning with the people of the city, the design in turn plays on the idea of industry as portrayed through a collage of design elements within the building.

These sites were leased from the Singapore government from the year 2013.

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PART 5 The City of Kolkata

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

The city of Calcutta in the province of Bengal was established in mid-18th century as a trading post for the British.

The flourishing transportation network via the river Hugli, a tributary of the river Ganga, connected the city to the manufacturing regions of the north and to the maritime trade networks through the Bay of Bengal in the south. The existing cotton and textile markets ensured a stable economy.

The construction of Fort William was the first step in militarising the city. After British gained complete over Bengal after the Battle of Plassey, Calcutta was set to become the capital of the new Empire in India. Over the years, the city grew and its prosperity 78 | PERCEPTION OF THE ECHOES

attracted larger investments of industry and capital. For this reason, the colonial era architecture in the city is some of the finest examples in the world, since they were all built with great lavishness.

The Partition of India in 1905 dealt a huge blow to Bengal. The large and flourishing princely state of Bengal was divided into West Bengal that comprised of modern day West Bengal, Bihar and Orissa and East Bengal that is modern day Bangladesh.

Though the partition was done under the guise of creating administrative efficiency in a large province, it was inherently an extension of the British policy of divide and rule. In 1947, on the eve of independence, the Partition was further solidified

1. Aerial view of Kolkata’s Industrial riverfront showing the Howrah Bridge and Circular Rail (www.gettyimages.com)

2. The mass migration of people during the Partition of Begal (origins.osu.edu)

as East Bengal became a part of erstwhile Pakistan and West Bengal, a part of India.

Largely communal in nature, the Partition saw a huge migration of refugees from either sides of the border, creating a Hindu dominant state of West Bengal and a Muslim dominant state of East Bengal and a deep social rift between the two religions that exist even today.

There was a large migration of Hindus from Bangladesh, especially those belonging to the middle and upper middle class who found occupation in the booming jute and chemicals industries. This led to the establishment of new settlements 80 | PERCEPTION OF THE ECHOES

around these industries which became epicentres of refugee rehabilitation. Due to the need for fresh water to run these industries and for transport, these industries occurred largely along the river Hooghly which further established the industrial riverfront of Kolkata and its neighbouring areas.

However, the social and economic uproar and communal violence caused by the Partition was very detrimental to the industry in Bengal. Historically, East Bengal had been the site of production of raw materials which was then processed and distributed in West Bengal. The Partition line was cruelly drawn

3. Communist riots outside the factory (swarajayamag.com)

to include every single jute mill in West Bengal while four-fifth of the jute producing land was in East Bengal. An anti-national sentiment to the export of jute from East Bengal began to set up its own processing units. In a similar manner, West Bengal’s paper and leather industries were crippled. Thus, West Bengal inherited a struggling industry that worsened over the years with the rise of Communism in the state.

Starting in the 1960’s the Communism way in full sway in Bengal. The British owned factories were now being run by the new elites of Bengal who were living in emulation of their

colonial predecessors. This image of the capitalist businessman spurred the rage that gave rise to militant labour unions across the state. Lockdowns, labour disputes and rampant attacks led to the complete disintegration of law and order in the state causing an exodus of number of industrialists and a severe unemployment crisis.

In a communist democracy the political party supported the pro labour movement to stay in power. Over 34 years of Communist rule in the state, the industrial output of Bengal fell from 20.1% to 2.9% in the country. The ruins of industry in the state is yet to recover from it till this day.

DESIGN RESEARCH | ARCH 7100 | 81

THE RIVERFRONT WAREHOUSE THE SALT GOLAH

The riverfront of the Kolkata is a uniquely odd place.

Separated from the rest of the city by the Strand Road and the thriving local train line, the Circular Railways, the riverfront is in the form of two strips of land that form a distinct edge. Predominantly industrial in nature, it has been left to crumble, containing derelict industrial warehouses interspersed with beautiful and withered bathing ghats and jetties.

Though centuries old, the warehouse still reveal an elegant neoclassical facade even as workers load the trucks past the ‘unstable structure, not permitted to inhabit’ sign posted by the municipality. The bathing ghats were structured 82 | PERCEPTION OF THE ECHOES

commissioned by affluent Indian merchants during the colonial era and are presently used for storage as an extension to the neighboring warehouses. This is interspersed with small squatter colonies that house the labourers who work at the markets nearby and at the Howrah railway station across the river.

On the other side of the river, is a more pronounced and untouched industrial presence with a sequence of jute and paper mills that occupy the riverfront. The mills have been long shut down and lie consumed by the landscape.

Similar to the Strand Road, the Upper Foreshore Road runs along the riverfront, beyond which is, ironically, a prime crop of river view housing estates.

4. The Salt Golah on the banks of Hooghly

5. Interiors of the warehouse

THE INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX

ANGUS JUTE MILL

The jute mill came to Bengal in the mid-19th century when Britain was unable to export flax and hemp from Russia because of the ongoing Crimean War. The first jute mill in India, the Acland Mill was erected in Bengal. Each of these jute mills represent a large urban complex complete with worker housing, private jetties for loading and unloading, factories and water towers. The jute mills were instrumental in the employment of the large droves of refugees that came from East Bengal after the Partition of India. Over the years, with the fluctuating supply and quality of jute in the region and due to constant threats from communist militant labor unions, after changing multiple hands, most of the jute mills in the state have shut down.

84 | PERCEPTION OF THE ECHOES

6. The exterior of one of the mill’s residences (www.telegraphindia.com)

7. Derelict factory unit (www.telegraphindia.com)

PART 6 Design Proposal

MAPS OF MEMORY

The first step in the revival of the collective memory of these sites is the documentation of what exists there today. Since they have been abandoned for many decades, most people even living in the eighbourhood have no recollection of these structures. Combined with the fear of land sharks, these structures have become completely inaccessible.

Maps of memory seeks to record the structure and its stories as a way of collecting its essence and weaving it through stories and images.

88 | PERCEPTION OF THE ECHOES

1. Map of memory of the industrial riverfront of Kolkata (author)

THE COLLAGE MEMORIAL

The Collage Memorial is a public participation desgin charade. Building on the Maps of Memory, the Memorial tries to identify objects, symbols and ideas within the exisiting structure that echoes the memories of the people.

The Collage is a manner of assembling these pieces or ideas within the dissociated building guided by a new future for the site ranging from preservation to demolition!

90 | PERCEPTION OF THE ECHOES

2. The Collage Memorial (author)

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DESIGN RESEARCH | ARCH 7100 | 97

LIST OF IMAGES

PART 1 1. https://spargelandfraise.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/h5329.jpeg 2. http://www.offbeattravel.com/berlin-germany-otto-weidtmuseum.html 3. https://media-cdn.sygictraveldata.com/media/800x600/ 612664395a40232133447d33247d383338323736343631 4. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/56/ ef/0e/56ef0e049f9756c824dc1f4c9742b8d0.jpg 5. https://www.gdw-berlin.de/fileadmin/bilder/publikationen/ publikationen_in_englischer_sprache/Deutschkron-enPART 2 1. https://c8.alamy.com/comp/MTM13N/aerial-view-of-colonialwilliamsburg-showing-the-governors-palace-the-palace-green-and -other-historic-buildings-MTM13N.jpg 2. https://m.discoverhongkong.com/ca/images/see-do/cultureheritage/large/1.4.5.1.1-1881-Heritage_03.jpg 98 | PERCEPTION OF THE ECHOES

3. lumiereshk.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/1881-Heritage1024x694.jpg 4. https://thumbs-prod.si-cdn.com/ IRnrRiZasRvScSTzCpLX7ZgPivs=/fit-in/1072x0/ 5. https://public-media.si-cdn.com/filer/77/b3/77b34312-550a-4549 -8ccc-48b26e086d8b/breaking-wall-water-berlin-wall.jpg 6. Dan Addison, University Communications, University of Virginia PART 3 1. https://www.paintingstar.com/item-neptune-resigning-tobritannia-the-empire-of-the-sea-s120742.html 2. https://i.pinimg.com/474x/fc/8d/e3/ fc8de3f4db2015f1c077e05782dd663c.jpg 3. https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw01347/ Robert-Clive-and-Mir-Jafar-after-the-Battle-of-Plassey-1757 4. https://www.aoc.gov/sites/default/files/styles/artwork-node/ public/images/artwork/6237908336_e2eb8717cd_b.jpg?itok= ThE6QoPJ 5. Author 6. https://fee.org/media/33425/ png?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=1920&rnd= 132017178740000000 7. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ec/ Punch_Rhodes_Colossus.png/220px-Punch_Rhodes_Colossus.png

DESIGN RESEARCH | ARCH 7100 | 99

8. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/63/ cb/06/63cb069a2a84de838ccede05e52729f1.png 9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Empire#/media/File:The_ Empire_Needs_Men_WWI.jpg 10. https://akm-img-a-in.tosshub.com/indiatoday/images/story/ 201810/partition.jpeg?j.lzEq9ck0RPpDTXtngCsohRS9Bt8fIy 11. https://miro.medium.com/max/580/1*KduAgJer_ shTpHmGheNpUg.jpeg 12. https://cms.qz.com/wp-content/ uploads/2018/10/019PHO0000015S1U00085000-NT. jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=450&h=323&crop=1 13. https://i.pinimg. com/236x/8c/4f/5b/8c4f5b1e1f66247477bd090056708353.jpg 14. https://i.pinimg.com/236x/3b/2a/c5/ 3b2ac58e0b5b37b6db9fea76ab8f2b9c--national-archives-ground -floor.jpg 15. https://www.mardep.gov.hk/theme/port_hk/en/p1ch5_4.html 16. https://www.straitstimes.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_ pictrure_780x520_/public/articles/2019/05/30/lwx_singapore _300519_9.jpg?itok=6rf4U62E&timestamp=1559169963 17. https://live.staticflickr.com/2609/3953443298_d3f4cf9867_b.jpg 18. https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/view-of-the-oldmole-which-lies-at-the-northeastern-corner-of-april-pictureid164174029?s=612x612

PART 4 1. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/90/78/ e7/9078e7ea35a768a5c5b3a75604dc3376.jpg 2. https://jamesweirhbcblog.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/burmarailways-building.jpg 3. https://www.peninsula.com/en/yangon 4. https://www.burmeseclassic.org/news_detail_m.php?id= 2265&type=2 5. https://www.ccifrance-myanmar.org/sites/ccifrance-myanmar.org /files/styles/home_page_slider/public/news-images/dscf8587.jpg?

6. https://in.pinterest.com/alanmossrs/old-singapore/ 7. https://ak8.picdn.net/shutterstock/videos/1029099968/thumb /1.jpg 8. https://iamarchitect.sg/project/the-warehouse-hotel/ 9. https://www.flickr.com/photos/superadrianme/33140528411/ 10. https://in.pinterest.com/pin/518476975841842566/ PART 5 1. https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/an-aerial-viewof-calcutta-showing-government-house-the-news-photo/3361360 2. https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2hdhrp 3. https://swarajyamag.com/sitemap/sitemap-daily-2017-05-31.xml

4. https://www.telegraphindia.com/states/west-bengal/come-be-toldsalted-tales/cid/1721472 5. https://www.telegraphindia.com/states/west-bengal/come-be-toldsalted-tales/cid/1721472 6. https://www.thehindu.com/society/history-and-culture/ghosts-bythe-hooghly/article24114961.ece 7. https://www.thehindu.com/society/history-and-culture/ghosts-bythe-hooghly/article24114961.ece PART 6 1. Author 2. Author