SPACES Nepal JULY-AUG 2009

JULY-AUGUST 2009

ART - ARCHITECTURE - DESIGN

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GANATANTRA SMARAK IN PERFECT HARMONY THE NEW CAMPUS OF SPA, INDIA ART STUDENTS FIND THEIR VOICES

Jagat Narayan

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CONTENTS

ANALYSIS

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COVER PHOTO Photographs: Ashesh Rajbansh Canon EOS 5D Mark II Camera Av 5.6 Tv 1/125 ISO 2000

ART STUDENTS FIND THEIR VOICES: KU’S 2009 BFA GRADUATES The expression or articulation of one’s creative energy in visual and verbal forms is an art. It is a challenge with both personal and societal significance. This is the challenge the fourth year students at the Kathmandu University’s Center for Art and Design faced as they spent their final six months preparing for solo exhibitions and an exposition.

ARCHITECTURE

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REPORT

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With the Kathmandu Valley's population ever growing, its cities are undergoing a radical transformation. In this first part of a three-part series of articles researching this change, anthropologist Andrew Nelson analysis how anthropology can provide unique insights into urban change.

53 HARNESSING THE WIND A wind turbine to generate electricity is wonderfully a new concept for a country hit hard by load shedding and Amrit Thapa and four of his co – partners have made us proud by developing the three wooden blade HAWT machine, a first of its kind in Nepal.

59 HERITAGE

ART

ANTHROPOLOGY, THE CITY, AND KATHMANDU

JAGAT NARAYAN TEMPLE The impulse and achievement which culminated into construction of grand temples were accomplished during the Malla and Licchavi period.

Nevertheless, the establishment of the Jagat Narayan temple, dating back to 1855 A.D. by Jagat Shumshere indicates of such grandeur during the Rana period also.

GANATANTRA SMARAK DESIGN COMPETITION

ARCHITECTURE

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IN PERFECT HARMONY

65 PROFILE

The Government of Nepal has planned to establish a Republic Memorial inside the Naryanhiti Palace premises to symbolize peoples’ victory over the autocratic monarchy system in Nepal. For the same purpose, a national design competition was held in which John Sanday Associates were declared the winners.

AN EMOTIONAL INVOLVEMENT Architect Indra Bahadur Shrestha, the new Director General of Department of Urban Design and Building Construction, Ministry of Physical Planning and Works, Nepal, believes that a true architect is one who devotes time, has interest in his work and infuses his feelings and emotions into every creation. He is also of the opinion that although Nepal has immense potential in terms of architecture and planning, there is a lack of proper mobilization as well as political and professional commitment.

On a trek around the Manasalu area, architect Prabal Thapa stumbles upon some modern architecture in rural Nepal, nestled into the landscape and in perfect in harmony with the surrounding.

INTERNATIONAL

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PRODUCTS

SPACES CONNECTS

OPINION

THE NEW CAMPUS OF SPA, INDIA: INTERNATIONAL OPEN URBAN DESIGN COMPETITION School of Planning & Architecture, New Delhi, India, held an International Urban Design Competition to obtain a comprehensive urban design strategy for its new 20 acre campus property situated along a ridge preserve that runs through at the capital city. There were over 130 entries, primarily which came not only from different parts of India but from countries far and wide, including Nepal.

EDITORIAL

CONTRIBUTORS Prabal Shumsher Thapa graduated from the Technical University in Vienna in 1993. Since then he has worked in many prominent projects in Nepal and abroad. Besides winning the second prize for “Exekutivezentrum II, Salzburg” in the open Nationwide Competition for the Police Headquarters in Salzburg in 1993, his design for the recently concluded National Planning Commission Building, Nepal, was placed third in a national design competition. (ptarch@infoclub.com.np)

Jinisha Jain is an architectural journalist, a researcher and a trained conservation architect. Published widely in several leading national and international journals/magazines, she tries to mainstream the values and pressing concerns of the profession and of our cultural possessions. She fosters a special interest in the study of the sub-continent’s crosscultural linkages and its shared heritage. Also a visiting faculty in Jamia Millia and Islamia University and School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, she presently divides her time between research, writing, projects and teaching. (jjinisha@yahoo.co.in)

Andrew Nelson is a PhD candidate in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Virginia. He is currently conducting dissertation research on the urbanization of Kathmandu Valley supported by a Fulbright-Hays fellowship. Having first come to Kathmandu in 1999, he has observed with interest the rapid expansion of the city over the last ten years. (asn8p@virginia.edu)

Sharareh Bajracharya is a creative arts educator. She is currently finishing her third year in the BFA program for Arts in Education at the Kathmandu University Centre for Art and Design. (sharareh.bajra@gmail.com)

Sweta Pokharel is a fresh young architect from Kathmandu.

She is interested in creating ecological housing for the poor and the socially excluded urban people. (abbunu@hotmail.com)

Rupesh Shrestha is a fourth year student of architecture in IOE, Pulchowk Engineering Campus. He believes that Nepalese architecture is a profound subject from which we can ‘Learn from the past, build our present and plan for the future’.

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July-August 2009

Significant events occurred within the past few months. Significant because it not only shook our fraternity, but also indicated as to where our architecture and design is leading to. And as architecture and design affects life and history, its importance becoming every persons business cannot be considered to be abnormal.

The one taking centre stage was the ‘Ganatantra Smarak Design Competition’, which created a furore of sorts, as we found out when we conducted a presentation of the winners, followed by an interaction among the invitees, the presenters and the organizers. The then ruling government’s decision to build a ‘Ganatantra Smarak’, especially to mark the country’s shift to a Federal Republic, which formally ended the 240 year rule of the Shah Dynasty, is no doubt something to be ‘written in gold’. Unfortunately, this noble concept remained nothing more than that. The logic behind the choice of the site for the monument – the premises of the Narayanhiti Palace – is first and foremost questionable. An explanation, that the Palace being the most prominent representative of the Shah Dynasty, as ‘the’ appropriate site to represent the peoples’ victory over the Shah rule may seem logical at first. But then again, the extent to which one should reject the past - a past which has undoubtedly shaped the country to what it is today – needs to be addressed as well. The DUDBC was given explicit orders to materialize the project in time before the next budget (July / August) and call for design proposals were published – not once, nor twice, but three times (the third one was in SPACES). In spite of this, there was a meagre 14 entries only!

This indicates that either the project was not important enough (which it was, both in terms of recognition and prize money), or the country has a dearth of architects (SONA, the society of architects of Nepal, has 400+ registered architects, leave alone another 300+ unregistered ones). Nevertheless the competition concluded with all required proceedings and fanfare. The results are published in this issue for the reader to analyze and do not miss out the ‘Opinion’ section for views on the design competition - a new addition to SPACES from this issue. (As the ‘Opinion’ section will be a regular feature, thoughts, comments and analysis, which provoke a positive development towards ‘Art, Architecture & Design’ are welcome.)

Another noteworthy event which took place was the ‘International Seminar on Structural Steel for Civil Construction’. Attended by more than 400 engineers, the program is a step forward towards construction of more safe buildings in the future – an issue of paramount importance as we lie in one of the most active seismic regions of the world.

SPACES too has had its share of ripples in the past few months. As we were mulling over the possibility of including international articles, an email from a Jinisha Jain from Delhi, offering to contribute articles was a pleasant surprise. Thanks to Ar. Ashok Lall for connecting us through. Jinisha writes in this issue about the International Open Urban Design Competition on the new campus of SPA, India. Welcome aboard Jinisha!

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Macchapuchere in Kathmandu!

I couldn’t help but observe the Macchapuchere mountain of Pokhara on the interesting rendering of the Central Park Housing in Kathmandu in your cover page. In this age of computer graphics and information abundance, there is a fine line that we tread from reality where we can make mountains move. But perhaps a certain honesty is desired in the renderings if it is but to market the products to its consumers.

LETTERS

Central Park by the name itself is a park in the middle of New York, which is still an interesting concept relevant for Nepal in general. Yet the challenge lies on how we can still call our built environment Nepali yet Contemporary. The environment conscious green design efforts are noteworthy and by itself is a great marketing tool to push architecture towards a desired direction.

But beyond the commercial marketing hoardings, where does our reality check on the basic infrastructure (the roads, electricity, water and sanitation) fit with the naturalness of the site that goes into supporting these housings which should not be an island by itself. Greater problems loom, yet greater challenges lies in perhaps addressing a city and a country that can still retain its charm, for it is said that beyond the filth, water is still pure. Let us not lose that purity and the special environment we have in our country.

Sarosh Pradhan, Kathmandu (info.spa.ktm@gmail.com)

Encouraging yet Scary Your analysis ‘Housing Matrix’ on the current scenario of housing in Kathmandu was informative.

It is also encouraging that the Nepalese housing market is now exposed to designs by international architects (Central Park and Cityscapes) in spite of the fact that such housing caters to a very small section of the society. At the same time the following article ‘Housing Consequences’ indicated a grim picture of what the future of Kathmandu will be. I sincerely hope that the concerned authorities are aware of this fact and will become serious on its seriousness before it is too late.

Pragya Shrestha, Kathmandu

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July-August 2009

July-August 2009

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News and Happenings

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July-August 2009

Prayer for Humanity 26 April 2009, Lalitpur

“I love creating collages using various types of materials and objects,” says Gaurav Shrestha on his 7th solo collage and mixed media paintings exhibition at Yala Maya Kendra, Patan Dhoka.

Initially starting with pencil sketches and water colour, Gaurav later moved on to various kinds of mixed media and since the last 9 years, has been creating collage paintings. Besides Nepal, his works have found collectors from India, Indonesia, Israel, France, USA, UK, Germany, Scotland and Netherlands.

“It has always been my desire to create unique & experimental art with new ideas through this collage medium,” expresses Gaurav, and in this exhibition are showcased art works created from various kinds of acrylic materials & mixed media along with lungta (prayer flags), plastics, jute and posters. Gaurav makes the materials play with each other and with the colours to give a blend of textures and expressions.

Ganatantra Smarak Interaction 28 April, Kathmandu A presentation, review and analysis of the ‘Ganatantra Smarak Concept Design Competition’ was organized by SPACES and the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction (DUDBC), amid architects, academicians, artists and government officials at the conference hall of DUDBC. Architect Purushottom Dongol, DDG of DUDBC, started off the program beaming on the design competition, which was then followed by presentations by the consolation prize winners: ANot Architecture and Architects, Ar.Akriti Rimal, Ar.Bijay Lal Shrestha, and Sarosh Pradhan and Associates, and finally by the winner of the competition - John Sanday Associates. Each of the presentation was followed by a brief interaction on the design with the audience, igniting discussions and criticisms, which was mainly focused on the controversial site proposed within the premises of Narayanhiti Palace.

AVCO Opens Second Hyundai Showroom 7 May 2009, Kathmandu On 7 May AVCO inaugurated a new Showroom at Tinkune, Kathmandu offering easier access for their valued customers.

This new showroom is the second one following the one at Nagpokhari, Naxal.

AVCO International (Pvt.) Ltd, sole distributor of Hyundai Vehicles for Nepal, is a leading name in automobile industry of Nepal. It has been 25 years since AVCO came into operation and for the last 12 years, it has been importing and providing Hyundai brand of vehicles as sole distributor for Nepal.

In addition, AVCO has a new fully functional after sales Service Centre at Dhobighat. The new Service Centre is spacious and is aimed at providing better service to the customers as with the pre-existing service centre at Maitidevi. All together AVCO has two state-of-at service centres.

the emotion that calls for unity to build a new Nepal.’ said architect D.N. Gongal, and further added, ‘The design if implemented could kill the spirit of the Palace, ganatantra itself and of the country as well.” Dr. Bijay Krishna Shrestha, visiting faculty of IOE, vented his dissatisfaction over the TOR of the design competition and the site chosen for it, ‘Any structure in the proposed site will overshadow the history of the Palace and will also give rise to various problems like circulation, which could further add chaos and confusion.’

The program was organized with the intent to develop an awareness towards design competitions, encourage and promote aspiring designers, and to create a platform where concerned people can analyse and deliver their suggestions on such an issue of national importance. However, important societies like SONA, SCAEF, NEA and NEC were conspicuous by their absence.

At the program, many prodigies and veterans of art and architecture expressed their views on the proposed designs.

‘The elements that evoke nationalism and unity seem to be missing in the designs’, commented Prof. Dr. Sudarshan Raj Tiwari, an architectural virtuoso of the country. ‘The design lacks spacesnepal.com

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NEWS AND HAPPENINGS

First Real Estate Marketing Agent Course 29 May 2009, Kathmandu

With an aim to provide a thrust to disciplined and ethical business, a six day ‘Real Estate Marketing Agent Course’ concluded with a function at the Everest Hotel in Kathmandu. Introduced by Brihat Investments Pvt. Ltd., Real Estate Investment, Real Estate Partnering for Entrepreneurship and Real Estate Marketing Agents conducted this first time ever training program with 15 participants taking part in the six day program (May 24 to May 29, 2009). The program consisted of experts speaking on related topics like Marketing, Business Opportunity of Housing in Nepal, Role of Media in Real Estate, Recent By-laws in Building Construction, Role of Local Authority and Nagarpalika / VDC, Architects’ Role in Property Market, Banking Procedures, Legal Formalities and Civil Construction Activities.

the assets, as transactions conducted through such trained agents are most valid and reliable and at the same time, such activities encourage entrepreneurs to join the real estate business as well.

According to the Chairman of Brihat Investments Pvt. Ltd., Mr. Om Rajbhandary, the importance of such trainings not only absolve unnecessary disputes and squabbles arising between buyers and sellers but also provide true value of

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NEWS AND HAPPENINGS

International Seminar on Structural Steel for Civil Construction 12 June 2009, Kathmandu

The first international structural engineering seminar on ‘Structural Steel for Civil Construction’ was organised by the Structural Engineers Association of Nepal (SEANep) at the Hyatt Regency in Kathmandu. Attended by more than 500 participants, the day long program included a special invited paper, ’Seismic Safety of Steel Structures’ by Prof. Dr. C.V.R. Murty (Cochair, IIT, Hyderabad), besides other presentations by Dr. Hikmat Raj Joshi from I.O.E, Lalitpur (High-rise buildings in Kathmandu), Dr. Jishnu Subedi from I.O.E, Lalitpur (Damages to steel structures from earthquakes: Lessons from Northridge and Kobe earthquake), Dr. Rupen Goswami from IIT, Madras (Steel moment connections in high seismic regions), Mr. Rajendra Sapkota from Kathmandu (Finite element analysis and fatigue damage calculation of welded bridge k-joint), Mr. Bipin Shrestha from Kathmandu (Dynamic

Nepal has experienced many earthquake disasters over the years. The last major earthquake to hit Nepal was in 1934, when almost 20,000 people were killed, and as in many other countries, it is not usually the earthquake itself which results in the high number of casualties but instead, the structural quality of buildings. Experts are today warning that Nepal is well overdue for another major earthquake and in all likelihood will have a greater loss of life.

response of long span cable-stayed bridge to near field ground motion) and Dr. Prajwol Lal Pradhan from I.O.E., Lalitpur (Retrofitting and strengthening of brick masonry infill frame using ferro-cement jacketing). The program was co-ordinated by Dr. Roshan Tuladhar, Secretary of SEANep and was sponsored by Jagdamba Steels (Shankar Group) who incidentally have also launched structural steel in the Nepalese market.

In such a scenario, the role of structural engineers becomes more than important and seminars such as these contribute to update concerned professionals on the latest design and technology in this sector. And as Dr. Murty commented in his presentation, “There can be no such thing as an economical structure, but rather a safe or an unsafe structure.”

Nepal Heritage Site gets US funding 26 June 2009, Washington

The restoration of the intricately carved stone sculpture of the Tusha Hiti and Bhandarkhal Tank at the Patan Royal Palace in Kathmandu, Nepal, is one of eight projects at World Heritage Sites to receive financial support from the U.S. Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) in 2009, according to US department of state website.

Established by Congress in 2001 and administered by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Cultural Heritage Center, AFCP provides direct grant support for the preservation of cultural sites, cultural objects and collections, and forms of traditional cultural expression in countries around the world.

The Nepal projects are exquisite examples of 17th-century water architecture. The Tusha Hiti and Bhandarkhal Tank are among the

crowning artistic achievements of the Malla kings, whose patronage of the arts marked the height of Nepalese culture. The project to restore the stone sculpture has been awarded a grant of $86,700 and is part of a larger effort of the Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust to preserve the palace complex and reopen its courtyards, gardens, and other spaces to the public. The Patan Royal Palace is part of the Kathmandu Valley World Heritage Site.

Other projects within World Heritage Sites that AFCP will support in 2009 are: Restoration of a gallery in the 13th-century citadel of Gjirokastra in southern Albania; Restoration of the early 20thcentury palace of Teferi Mekonnen in Harar Jugol, Ethiopia; Restoration of a 14th-century courtyard house in the ancient ksour (trading center) of Oualata, Mauritania; Preventive conservation of the national museum building, a former royal palace of the King of Laos, in Luang Prabang; Preservation of the Remains of the 13thcentury Franciscan monastery in Kotor, Montenegro; Documentation of the site of the 16th-century Turei Zahav (Golden Rose) Synagogue and associated buildings in L'viv, Ukraine;

NEWS AND HAPPENINGS

Rat Trap Bond Brick Masonry Promotional Event: 13 June 2009, Biratnagar

With the objective to promote Rat Trap Bond (RTB) walling technology in eastern Nepal, VSBK/CESEF Programme Nepal organized a workshop at Hotel Namaskar in Biratnagar. The workshop was attended by more than 100 participants from Dharan and Biratnagar, which included architects, engineers and overseers, contractors and masons, brick entrepreneurs, house owners, NGO and INGO’s, and potential infrastructure developers. The event was managed by Avi and Savi Brick Industry of Biratnagar.

The RTB is a brick masonry walling technique in which bricks are laid on edge such that the shiner and rowlock are visible on the face of the masonry as a brick cross, creating an internal cavity bridged by the rowlock. This cavity acts as an insulating layer to balance the heat transfer from outside to inside or vise-versa. It is as good as English bond and due to its light weight, is resistant to earthquakes also.

Besides being economical (25-30% of bricks and 40-50% of cement is saved), there is energy saving of more than 50% as compared to the English bond thereby contributing to the reduction of green house gas in the environment.

Update of Nepal National Building Code 28 June 2009, Kathmandu

Preservation of the 18th-century Friday Palace Mosque in Bukhara, Uzbekistan; The Cultural Heritage Center supports the foreign affairs functions of the Department that relate to the preservation of cultural heritage. In addition to AFCP, the Center administers U.S. responsibilities relating to the 1970 UNESCO Convention to reduce pillage and illicit trafficking in cultural property.

Projects supported by the Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation in the last eight years in Nepal include: the restoration of Kal Bhairav (completed in 2005) and Kageshwor Temple (completed in 2006) in Kathmandu Durbar Square; rebuilding the Lakshmi Narayan and Mahadev Temples, both in Kathmandu Durbar Square (completed in 2007), Machali Pati in Teku (completed in 2007), Nag Bahal Hiti in Lalitpur (completed in 2008), Ancient Buddhist Chhortens in upper Mustang (under construction); and now, 17th Century Water Architecture in the Patan Durbar in Lalitpur. Over the past eight years, the U.S. Government has committed approximately $355,500 dollars to restore and preserve cultural sites in Nepal. This Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation grant underscores U.S. friendship for the Nepali people and its commitment to preserving Nepal's unique cultural heritage. spacesnepal.com

A draft of the Final Report on ‘Recommendation for Update of Nepal National Building Code’ was presented amid officials of the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works, Earthquake Risk Reduction Recovery Preparedness Programme for Nepal and other concerned professionals at a program in Kathmandu. The program included presentations of the study made by the Consultants, Mr. B.L. Nyachon, Dr. Prem Nath Maskey, Dr. Govinda Lamichane, Dr. Rekha Shrestha, Ar. D.N. Gongal, Er. Kul Deep Tuladhar and Er. Shamboo B. Shrestha, who spoke on their individual task assigned for the job.

The assignment of the preparation of recommendation report was entrusted to MULTI Disciplinary Consultants (P) Ltd., in association with KD Associates (P) Ltd. and Khwopa Engineering College through an agreement with Earthquake Risk Reduction Recovery Preparedness (UNDP/ ERRRP) Programme for Nepal. The ERRRP Programme for South Asian Region is supported by the Government of Japan under a grant assistance for disaster prevention and disaster reconstruction contributed through the UNDP. The objective of the assignment were to: a) review and recommend technical additions, alterations and modification to be made in the current code, b) study, analysis and justify for update for the code, c) review general practice of NNBC (implementation) in some municipalities (Kathmandu and Lalitpur), d) study the effectiveness of implementation of NNBC in construction.

The Nepal National Building Code (NNBC), prepared in 1994, is seen more as being presented as an amendment to the Indian Code and has hence lost its value since there is no need to refer to an incomplete code when the Indian Code is handy.

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NEWS AND HAPPENINGS

Panchakanya Group gets BS EN ISO 9001:2008 June, Kathmandu

According to a press statement, Panchakanya Steel Pvt. Ltd., Panchakanya Plastic Industries, Panchkanya Rotomold Pvt. Ltd. and Panchakanya Plast Pvt. Ltd. of the Panchakanya Group have recently been awarded with the BS EN ISO 9001:2008 by Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance Limited. While Panchakanya Steel Pvt. Ltd. received the award for its production of TMT reinforcement bars, HB Wire and Binding Wire, Panchkanya Plastics was awarded for its production of 16 to 110 mm Permanently Lubricated HDPE Pipe. Similarly, Panchakanya Rotomold Pvt. Ltd. was awarded for its production of 20 to 200 mm PVC pipe and Panchakanya Plast Pvt. Ltd. was awarded for its production of 50 to 160 mm PVC Injection Moulded Fitting, 20 to 110 PPR pipe and fitting. Panchakanya Group is the first in Nepal to receive such a certificate under Quality Management System.

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July-August 2009

ROYAL PALACE Durbar Marg

Kantipath

Lazimpath

KALINTA Nag Pokhari

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ART

The expression or articulation of one’s creative energy in visual and verbal forms is an art. It is a challenge with both personal and societal significance.

Art Students Find Their Voices KU’s 2009 BFA Graduates Sharareh Bajracharya

“Sound Less Sound” Laxman Karmacharya Major: Painting Nepal Art Council 31 May– 8 June, 2009 karmacharya.laxman@gmail.com

“Whatever”. “Innocent”. “Leave me Alone”. Young people’s badges share a soundless dialogue amidst their socializing buzz. In this series, Laxman Karmacharya joined this silent conversation. He collected his own set of badges and created visual forms for them on canvas. His work was to reflect the youth cultures he saw connected to the badges. He used flat colours, strong gradients, and mutable figures. What was ‘real’ could be manipulated.

Their skin colour was a cool blue. The quick drying acrylic paints mimicked their ‘fast and furious’ aesthetics.

The tension between a young woman and a young man were presented as cut and paste layers of feelings.

Laxman gave us a sense for the hybrid realities of this generation. He captured the playful, cynical, sensuous, rebellious, and technology savvy nature of this new generation.

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July-August 2009

spacesnepal.com

ART

T

he expression or articulation of one’s creative energy in visual and verbal forms is an art. It is a challenge with both personal and societal significance. This is the challenge the fourth year students at the Kathmandu University’s Center for Art and Design (KU Art) faced as they spent their final six months preparing for solo exhibitions and an exposition. Spanning the month of June, the 2009 BFA soon-to-be graduates exhibited their works to the public. The Painting and Sculpture exhibitions began on 31 May with Laxman Karmacharya and ended with Sunita Maharjan on 30 June. One South Asian Art, three Sculpture, and nine Painting exhibitions were held at the Nepal Art Council, Siddhartha Art Gallery, Hotel de l’Annapurna, and the Patan Museum Gallery. For the month of July, there is still more to come. The Graphic Design students—Shil Shova Shakya, Bikash Malakar, Atish Chitrakar, and Bikash Gwacha— are scheduled to hold a joint exposition on 11 July at the Patan Museum Gallery. They will hold presentations at 11 AM to showcase their designs along with their advertising strategies.

The works being displayed are the culminating climax of the students’ four years at KU Art. During their last semester each student created their own concept or theme and articulated a complete series of paintings, sculptures, or graphic designs. Both process and product were equally important. For six months, the process was essential—students worked independently while checking in regularly with their supervisors. At the same time, the final products were also emphasized. Each individual knew they were to face the ‘real world’: the contemporary art scene or the competitive world of ad agencies and design companies. The only restrictions were an awareness of aesthetic qualities, a demonstration of a sound academic art background, and the maintenance of the integrity of their creative voices.

The results were works high in quality, creativity, and individuality.

The 2009 BFA graduates have now entered the contemporary art scene. As they change, so will their voices, and consequently, their work. This is a beginning….

"Portraits from the Shadows" Sanjeev Maharjan Major: Painting Siddhartha Art Gallery 3 - 19 June, 2009 sanjeev_art2003@yahoo.com

Sanjeev Maharjan is a man of little words but spoke through his paintings. He had walked the city of Kathmandu from the eyes of the young people who live on its streets and decided to immortalize them in portraits. Figures were painted as they were. However, he limited his palette to the limitless shades of black and white to show his own sadness at seeing each child’s struggles. The backgrounds were either left in a solid shade of grey or filled with child-like drawings that were depictions of stories they told Sanjeev through their own words and drawings.

He stated, “I do not have all the answers to my questions, but simply listening, hearing and depicting the children and their stories has changed the way I see the children who dance, play, smoke, and fight on the streets, footpaths and alleys around Kathmandu. I do not sense the same fear [of ‘street kids’] anymore.”

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ART

"Transcendental Vibrations" Kabiraj Lama Major: Painting Hotel de l'Annapurna 5 - 18 June, 2009 unitedmissionart@hotmail.com

Kabiraj Lama’s canvases connected colour, music, and spirituality. He gave visual representations of his feelings as he entered monasteries around the Valley. His paintings created a full-ness in space. The vibrations filled the air as monks released their chants in regular pitches and tones. The expression on the faces of the monks were accompanied by the vibration of the colours. The abstract was grounded in the tangible.

“The Unforgettable Images: A Collection of Paintings” Devendra Kumar Kafle Major: South Asian Art Nepal Art Council 7 – 13 June, 2009 lalitmagazine@gmail.com

Devendra Kumar Kafle curated a group exhibition to showcase five contemporary Nepali artists known for their use of ‘native’ motifs. The artists were Karna Narasingh Rana, Dil Bahadur Chitrakar, Dr. Seema Sharma Shah Batsa Gopal Baidya, and Madan Chitrakar (seated from left to right, standing: Siddhartha Art Gallery curator and owner Sangeeta Thapa and Devendra). This exhibition was one of the components of his final project for his Major in South Asian Art. His final project will be an analysis of the types of ‘native’ motifs used in the paintings by these five artists which gave them a specifically “Nepali” identity.

“Silent Wishes” Sarita Maharjan Major: Painting Nepal Art Council 15 – 22 June, 2009 sarita.maharjan@hotmail.com

In thought, alone, Sarita Maharjan’s figures were surrounded by rays of colour, strong regular strokes, and converging flows. She was inspired by people she saw on the streets, around her home, and in the bustling busy-ness of the city. Yet, in thought, they maintained their solitude. They sat with what she saw as silent wishes. This was what she shared with her viewers. The mood covered her canvases and the concrete beauty of her figures grounded the thoughts.

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ART

“In Praise of Patterns” Gyanu Gurung Major: Painting Nepal Art Council 9 – 14 June, 2009 massinu@hotmail.com

Gyanu Gurung’s world has been clothed in intricate patterns of imported fabric from Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei. She stated, “I find the patterns so beautiful and decorative that it made me paint in praise of them”. Floral motifs and jewelry accompanied people during festivities and formal portraiture. Behind the patterns were blocks of flat colours varying from earth tones to bright spaces mimicking artificial, “modern” dyes. She omitted facial features, remaining true to her emphasis on the patterns.

Gyanu Gurung’s work was as contemporary as it was about the ethnic identity of Gurung communities. The patterns were accompanied by cultural landmarks—respect elders by bowing; long, braided hair as a symbol of womanhood. At the same time, she identified with a new generation that wished to let their hair blow freely in the wind. The light glitter on the heavy gold jewelry gave a taste of the glamour and jazz of the new generation—a mesh of old and new. She stated through her paintings: this is who we are. We are spaces where the foreign and the local meet. Our bodies are where we hold our identity.

“Rupantaran: The Transformation” Devendra Ram Rajaura Major: Sculpture Nepal Art Council 11– 20 June, 2009 diven200@gmail.com

Devendra Ram Rajaura’s work lay in the balance between the weightlessness of suspension and the pull of gravity— a balance which can transform pieces into harmonious beauty that can only be experienced. His choice of material was bamboo. He transformed long stalks of bamboo into finite sculptural pieces.

He cut and prepared a truckload of different sized bamboo shapes—round, long, hollow, stick-like. They then came together on the top floor of the Nepal Art Council. The location of the installation was essential. The walls were open allowing the noise of the city to flood the air. In contrast, the works simply and poetically held themselves, filling, occupying, and allowing the wind to gently turn, or flow through. The pieces claimed their space without having to utter a sound. spacesnepal.com

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ART

“Beyond the Meaning” Soni Shakya Major: Painting Nepal Art Council 12 – 20 June, 2009 Soncha.shakya1@gmail.com

Spray painted stenciled text taken from Soni Shakya’s diary filled monumentally sized canvases. “The Magic…Magnificence… of the Newly Born Red Sun in the Sky” were jumbled, separated, faded, and scattered across the surface. Soni experimented with bright hot red, warm striking yellow, baby blue, and neutralized deep colours. Her texts were entities on their own, filling vacant spaces as made sense to each letter and word, beyond just their meaning.

“Units” Sanjeep Maharjan Major: Sculpture Patan Museum Gallery 13 – 16 June, 2009 mj_sanhritt@hotmail.com

The ‘chaos’ of nature follows an undeniable consistency in its natural growth and multiplication. It is defined in the Fibonacci Ratio or the divine ratio of Phi: one results in another, results in two, three, five, eight, thirteen, twentyone ... This ratio which exists in nature has been identified since ancient times and mimicked in architectural and decorative work. It has been found in mystic patterns mimicking nature in Islamic culture, in the powerful symbol of Sri Yantra, in Egyptian pyramids, Greek Parthenon, and in the temples of Nepal. Inspired by these findings, Sanjeep Maharjan created miniature clay animal forms—8160—and allowed them to find their own logic and covered the whole floor space of the Patan Museum Gallery. Each existed as an individual or unit but were dependent on the whole to become a complete entity. They held the natural beauty which the repetition and variations in nature create. Sanjeep’s search for applying the ratio in his work continues.

“Image of an Image” Kiran Baniya Major: Painting Nepal Art Council 14 – 17 June, 2009 kdrbks@hotmail.com

What is the aesthetics of a sock? Its outline. Its shape. What happens when you repeat it? Add colour. Vary the rhythm of the paint, the strokes. Allow the red to hold a heavy off-center depth. The surprised upside down image of the image.

Kiran Baniya played and shared his search.

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ART

“Out of the Box Within the Box” Pukar Risal Major: Sculpture Nepal Art Council 17 – 23 June, 2009 pukarrisal@yahoo.com

How can one think ‘out of the box’ while remaining within the confines of the perfect right angles of a cube? Pukar Risal worked with the clarity of a cubical shape by adding the effects of organic lines, circular shapes, and empty space.

His sculptures are meticulously crafted pieces from ceramics, steel, plywood, and metal. The epitome of this series lay in the contrast of a perfect cube with the organic nature of clay and the unpredictability of cracks, flows, and lines from raku glazing.

“Color of the Horizon” Narayan Prasad Bohaju Major: Painting Nepal Art Council 18 – 23 June, 2009 prasad.narayan@yahoo.com

Narayan Prasad Bohaju’s paintings followed a narrative about his city Bhaktapur, its people, and the rest of Kathmandu. He saw people occupied and preoccupied, ignoring and moving away from the ‘green-ness’ that surrounds them. He believed, though, that no matter how much they separated themselves from the green, it was always there. People painted in black and white, each water pot holding a family’s place in line, and outlines of houses built on top of each other were all surrounded by green. The green was something that remained at the edge of each person’s and the entire city’s consciousness. It was the colour of the horizon.

“The Locus of Continuity” Sunita Maharjan Major: Painting Hotel de l’Annapurna 19 – 30 June, 2009 sunita_art@1986@yahoo.com

Is life a line or is line a life? The separation in this analogy melts away as Sunita Maharjan gave it visual form in her paintings. Continuity remained at the center. Her lines and colours gently shifted in thickness and rhythm. Lines moved in paths which looped, converged, then flowed.

The flexibility of the lines or perhaps life allowed for variations but what was inevitable was its continuity. Pieces varied in their emotions. Her choice of media evolved from painting with a brush to the flow of dripping techniques, pastel, and woven jute.

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ART

Book Illustration of the Legends of Kathmandu Valley Shil Shova Shakya Major: Graphic Communication Patan Museum Gallery 11 – 12 July, 2009 sriprava@hotmail.com

Shil Shova Shakya has brought illustration at the forefront of her children’s books.

With sparse texts where needed, Shil illustrates local folklore about the Kathmandu Valley. Her books are entitled, The Legend of Khasti:Monument of Dewdrops and Nepal Sambat. She is bringing a revolution to Nepali children’s books by the unique quality of her illustrations, her attention to child psychology, and her work in documenting our oral culture specifically for our children for generations to come.

Social Awareness Campaign: Save Existing Electricity Bikash Malakar Major: Graphic Communication Patan Museum Gallery 11– 12 July, 2009 bikash1984@hotmail.com

Bikash Malakar focuses on an issue that we all have experienced with such intensity this past winter: the shortage of electricity. He is on a campaign to bring awareness to save what little we have. He calls on everyday images to couple them with visual messages. He tells us to use C.F.L. bulbs, limit the use of unnecessary electrical appliances, and to remember to turn off our lights.

His medium of choice is photography. He shows its vast possibilities in using it for posters, hoarding boards, press ads, and sandwich boards.

Promoting the new album “Free Spirit 2”, by Ashesh and Nekhvam Atish Chitrakar Major: Graphic Communication Patan Museum Gallery 11– 12 July, 2009 verified_x@hotmail.com

Atish Chitrakar is working with the psychedelic blues band Ashesh and Nekhvam to promote their new album, “Free Spirit 2”. He has helped in creating the logo as well as the CD cover and visual theme. The nostalgic brown tones of the photo are contrasted with a line drawing of a fetus with headphones lost in the music. In addition to the visuals, he is focusing on advertising methods—visual methods for promoting. He envisions uplifting the musical bands of Nepal through these methods.

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ARCHITECTURE

Ganatantra SMARAK DESIGN COMPETITION The Government of Nepal has planned to establish a Republic Memorial inside the Narayanhiti premises to symbolize peoples' victory over the autocratic monarchy system in Nepal. For the same purpose a design competition was held in which John Sanday Associates bagged the winning spot.

JOHN SANDAY ASSOCIATES A NOT ARCHITECTURE AND ARCHITECTS AKRITI RIMAL AND ANUJ SHRESTHA BIJAY SINGH AND ANIL MAHARJAN SAROSH PRADHAN AND ASSOCIATES DESIGN REQUIREMENTS The design should reflect: • • •

Nepal's geographical beauty, national unity, equity, progress and diversified language and culture.

Various courageous political movements in different timeframes, peoples' movements and martyrs' contribution.

Peoples' republic system.

The design should incorporate: • • •

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300 capacity hall and necessary infrastructures and services.

Ticket house and sufficient parking.

Environment friendly appropriate landscape design.

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ARCHITECTURE

WINNER JOHN SANDAY ASSOCIATES

DESIGN CONCEPT

PROFILE

John Sanday Associates is a well-established multidisciplinary team of foreign and local professionals with many years of working experience in landscape design, interior design, architectural conservation, seismic engineering, and participatory planning techniques in Nepal and Asia.

Shekhar Dongol and Abhishek Mananda Bajracharya both graduated in architecture from Pulchowk Campus, Institute Of Engineering in 2005 and 2008 respectively.

Presently, both of them are associated with John Sanday Associates.

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• A design to memorialize the anonymous heroes of the country.

• To provide a place for family members and friends to reflect on the loss of their loved ones.

• The memorial is for those who have suffered, and for us to remember them.

• Architecture as a vessel for rememberance.

• Water, sky and light as indispensible architectural components of a memorial.

• Minimalist design.

DESIGN APPROACH Memorial Plaza

• the memorial appears as a rift in the earth, A long polished, gray concrete wall, emerging from and receding into the earth.

• circuambulation of the memorial is meant to evoke many different memories.

• the plaza is approached through the ramp.

• consists of a memorial floor with an elliptical space with a granite map of nepal.

• consists of a stambha at four directions, connected together with an elliptical steel band through a hollow steel pipe which reads "you will never be forgotten". spacesnepal.com

ARCHITECTURE

The site: Approximate area of 5194.3 sq.m.

(Ten ropanis and three annas)

• each of the stambha is dedicated to: stambha 1- the ones who were lost stambha 2- the ones who lost their lives stambha 3- the ones who were abducted stambha 4- the ones who were handicapped • each of the stambha has niches for names.

• the main concept is to light up the map through the reflection of light rays installed in the circular pipe which strike the circular belt.

• the main concept of the plaza was to convey the interpretation that the sacrifices have helped the country to move in a positive and bright direction.

• a special care has been given for not to overshadow the grand palace musuem.

View of the Stambhas with Niches

Auditorium

•

• •

• •

300-seat auditorium is located in the center of the site following the symmetrical approach of the other built structures within the vicinity of the site. is enhanced by large courts which also assist as an approach to fire safety. consists of a gallery space with photographs, important events and time being carved on the walls. barrier free environment with ramp. can be used as a major route to the palace musuem.

Top view of the Auditorium

Building Materials

• concrete, glass, steel, stone have been used as major building materials.

• flagstones, granite, pebbles are used in the landscaped areas. spacesnepal.com

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ARCHITECTURE

CONSOLATION A-NOT ARCHITECTURE AND ARCHITECTS DESIGN CONCEPT • Memorial Tower higher than the Narayanhiti Building symbolizing peoples' victory over the monarchy system.

• Memorial giving the context of remembering the past, engaging the present and aspiring to the future.

• Memorial designed as a moving composition as we move in and out of it; accessible to all.

• Ticket counter only for thematic galleries and museum.

• Separate entry for hall.

Recognize...Remember... Respect...Celebrate...

DESIGN APPROACH Design Elements: Wall of Names • Reflective wall of granite imprinted with the names of martyrs at the entrance of the memorial complex.

• The reflection of the visitors falls on the name of the martyrs, thereby creating a dialogue between the dead and the alive Wall of Unsung Heroes • The wall adjacent to the ramp leading to the main memorial plaza.

• Dedicated to those unrecorded martyrs who sacrificed their lives for republic Nepal.

• Symbolized by stars seemingly infinite in number Wall of National Anthem • The outer wall of thematic galleries can be immediately seen as one leads down the main memorial plaza through the ramp.

• National Anthem imprinted on the wall symbolizing national unity behind geographical, racial and cultural diversities.

• Sunken circular area on which the main memorial tower stands.

• Size and grandness of the plaza symbolizing freedom • Free to feel, free to aim, free to progress, free to reach, accessible to all, NEW NEPAL, REPUBLIC NEPAL. Memorial Tower • The vertical tower is in three tiers with a total height higher than the Narayanhiti palace.

• Three tiers represent three great political movements in Nepal 2007 B.S, 2046 B.S and 2063 B.S. • Memorial within the tower has an eternal flame representing hope, strength and courage.

• Water representing sorrow for death as a tragic event.

Thematic Galleries and Museum • Defined as a journey of political revolution from the past to the present through predefined path.

• Three Galleries - Gallery of Victory, Gallery of Struggle and Gallery of Beginning, displaying photographs of three different phases of political movements in Nepal.

Amphitheatre • Embracing the whole plaza, a terraced space that can be used as multipurpose venue for major events and celebrations.

Garden of Contemplation • A sunken court, Garden of Contemplation lies along the path of thematic galleries and museum.

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•

Massive rock at the garden is the affirmation of the fact that freedom is victorious.

Hall of 300 capacity • 300 capacity hall with separate entry and required supplementary facilities like spill out court and VIP Lounge.

• Treated as a separate entity from rest of the memorial.

Context • The existing Narayanhiti Building, a National museum and a building with bitter history does not demand a huge structure in front of it; rather an open space. So, the memorial is sunken to the underground level. The main memorial tower is given the height which is more than the Narayanhiti building to give it a dominant and important character.

Axis • The visual axis of the proposed design is through the Durbarmarg main road so that this symbol of victory over can be viewed easily from outside.

Landscape • The whole memorial is treated as a landscape.

• Engagement and involvement of people at different times and for different purposes is possible in the design.

Form • The plan form is acquired by the intersection of two circles of equal radius but with different centers.

• One of the circle and the site are concentric whereas the other circle has the center at the main visual axis.

PROFILE

A-not was established on 2063 BS by a group of four architects. The services of A-not covers a wide range of activities comprising of architecture design, urban design and planning, urban conservation and heritage preservation, landscape design and planning, interior design etc.

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ARCHITECTURE

AKRITI RIMAL AND ANUJ SHRESTHA DESIGN CONCEPT • Conveying a conceptual space composed with divergent thought in the form of landscape, monument, and historical marker.

• Embracing meanings in the design to foster understanding amongst the members of a community that they represent.

• The memorial recalls the oppression under the kingship, the celebration of liberation, and the efforts of all Nepalese in making this liberation possible.

The day people of my country became free from autocrats, The day people got their rights, The day people achieved victory, In the memory of hundreds of sacrifices, to begin a new era.

A token of memory in remembrance of our brothers and sisters for their eternal deed....

DESIGN APPROACH • The very origin of the design begins with the overlaying of proper visual axis along the cardinal direction • From each end of design axis, a point of entrance leads to the descending steps ending to the underground gallery and the meeting hall which is 5m below the existing ground level to instigate a visual freedom to the surroundings.

• The provision of ramp circumscribing the meeting hall is an alternative path for physically disabled visitors to the gallery below.

• The gallery space, which is well lit by natural skylight, is basically designed to act as a display area of events in the process of achieving this freedom.

It also acts as a spill out area for the meeting hall.

• On the surface, each quadrant area of the circular region is developed as a combination of soft and hard landscape.

• Green lawns, water bodies, trees and shrubs comprise the soft landscape while the paving stones and monuments in individual quadrant comprise the hard landscape.

• Each sector represents a stage of action from struggle against the suppression, leading to friction between thoughts and generation of impulse, a long trail of rage and creating a momentum of breakdown of any forces that oppresses.

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PROFILE Akriti Rimal graduated in architecture from Khwopa Engineering College, Bhaktapur in 2007. She is currently working at DUDBC, Kathmandu. akriti.rimal@gmail.com Anuj Shrestha, graduated in Architecture from Pulchowk Campus,Institute of Engineering (2008).He is a freelance architect intending to explore another dimension of form and space in architecture. He acknowledges the valuable support of ADF Nepal Pvt. Ltd. in his career.

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ARCHITECTURE

BIJAY SINGH AND ANIL MAHARJAN

DESIGN CONCEPT Journey • The curvilinear pathways and the footprints • The journey of the movement for the republic nation Form The Linear Pyramid Form has been used throughout the history to commemorate significant events and people, generally by having the monolithic stone pillar, with the statue of the person who had built it, on the top.

Light as a material • Hope appears as the light in the darkness.

It has been a moment of time to stop and look at ourselves and our past to find the events that have influenced us. We cannot know what the future holds. We can only imagine this... republic memorial for the future….

DESIGN APPROACH The search for the Monumental Character • The pyramid structure resembles the mountain. It stands for the stability and has strong influence to the overall surrounding.

• The tilted structure adds the dynamism to the whole monument.

The tower as a beacon • The tower stands at the centre of this monumental site.

• Tower represents a transition from the past to the future.

The Concept of the World below- The Central Mourning Hall • Underground space created as a sacred and holy space which also allows for an open space right above it.

• Glimpses of the light stimulate a sense of divinity.

• The central mourning space is lit by the light from above in the dark hall.

• The interiors reveals the pathways above it .

• The skylight and the flooring is also in accordance with the landscape above.

• The artificial lights are also in accordance to the curvilinear pathways.

PROFILE

Anil Maharjan graduated in architecture from IOE, Pulchowk Campus in 2008. He is currently involved with Shasheesh Prasad Design Studio, Darjeeling, West Bengal, India as a project architect.

Bijay Singh is an assistant lecturer of Thapathali Campus and a project architect in Creative Circle Consultants. He received his Bachelor's Degree in Architecture from IOE, Pulchowk Campus in 2008.

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ARCHITECTURE

SAROSH PRADHAN AND ASSOCIATES DESIGN CONCEPT Reflective . Humble . United Terraced Landscaped , Diverse Garden Identity - Nepalese Flag, history.

The Country, with beauty and natural resources…this is where the people need to focus with peace.

The Landscape, the terraced lands of Nepal - is our inspiration to transform this formal garden into a garden landscape for the people, where her citizens wander…and search for their identity, their kingdom, their New Nepal - an exploration that opens the mind.

Meandering into the garden - let it be a reflective inner experience.

As a journey from the terai - traversing the hills….arriving at the summit of an identity.

The Flag which unites, instead of being planted in the Palace building….a deeper meaning would be if it grows in the garden.

Standing proud, shifting the centre of gravity from the Palace - into the garden of the people.

As I walked around the Palace - I felt the emptiness of Space.

There was history made and remade and there was history destroyed.

There was a sense of loss as well as the feeling….….am I really walking the steps of the Palace ?

This would perhaps be the feeling for many who would tread these steps.

Democracy, Republic, Federation…Sovereign A monument to mark all these ?

A blank empty space - stared back at me.

From the steps….looking down, there was a flattened garden space.

It felt like the Colosseum in Rome, Where the Kings looked down at gladiator contests.

I searched the definition of 'Gladiator' and this is what I found….

"Father of a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife and I shall have my vengeance in this life or the next.

What We Do In Life Echoes In Eternity. A Hero Will Rise.

PROFILE

The Gladiator Who Defied An Empire. A general who became a slave.

A slave who became a gladiator. A gladiator who defied an emperor."

This seems to have some coherence to the space that stared back.

The royal massacre…the rise of the revolution, the fall of the Monarchy.

Democracy, Republic, Federation….New Nepal.

An artist turned architect Sarosh Pradhan heads the design firm Sarosh Pradhan & Associates in Nepal and India along with his wife Rajshree. In the past 15 years the firm has worked on a diverse range of projects. A graduate from Delhi School of Planning and Architecture - Sarosh was the winner of the South Asian - 'Young Architect of the Year' Award in Bangalore, in May 2005. His firm has won several National Design Competitions such as Tewa, Sainbu Community Centre and the Memorial Sculpture inside the new US Embassy.

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There is no end to the mysteries of history…But let us look forward to make the New Nepal not only sound right but 'is right'.

No more gladiators, no more violence, no more destruction…. only prosperity with peace.

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ARCHITECTURE

IN PERFECT

HARMONY

Ar. Prabal Thapa

On a trek some time ago around the Manasalu area, something (obviously architectural) caught my attention.

Š AAF

Š PT

Nestled into the landscape and in perfect harmony with the surroundings

SITE PLAN

The Manasalu circuit trek starts at Arughat near Gorkha, follows the Budhigandaki River, and heads north.

This is yet another area of Nepal where stone architecture is predominant and abundant. The local houses, paths and resting places showcase indigenous stone craftsmanship executed to perfection. I am always spellbound by the simplicity, the instinct, and the ingenuity of these anonymous artisans. Especially the village of Jagat is still fresh in my mind.

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ARCHITECTURE

© PT

Nestled into the landscape and perfectly in harmony with the surrounding village of Philim, the Shree Buddha Madhyamik Vidhyalaya, Sirdibas, is a perfect combination of indigenous skill and modern utilitarian architecture.

Unfortunately, though, even this remote area is not free of eyesores. Along the path there are already a number of typical concrete 'pillar system' buildings to be seen. Absolutely out of proportion, and in no relation to the surroundings, these out of context alien atrocities stand there waiting to take-over the virgin countryside. Most of these are schools built with funds from 'outside'. The journey continues, lamenting about the loss of our identity and how distant we have become from our hereditary skills and architectural roots.

Probably many of you share the conviction that Nepal will some time end up as a junkyard of 'pillar systems' and 'shutter facades'. Our 'national architecture', this archetype will be dominant in Birgunj and Beshisahar, and even upto Beding.

The local houses, paths and resting places in this area of Nepal showcase indigenous stone craftsmanship executed to perfection.

The school complex consists of two near-concentric circular single storey segments placed on three different levels. The upper level contains the offices, the library, and staff rooms, the second level is the playground, and the third level contains the classrooms. Winding porches and split levels give the school a youthful and informal character.

© PT

It was not until the third day on the ascent from the Budhigandaki to Philim (once the capital of northern Gorkha), that I saw this glimmer of hope in front of me … finally some modern architecture in rural Nepal that was sensitive and tasteful!

Not only the selection of materials - which in this case are fair faced stone walls, timber roof structures and slate roofing - but also the carefully broken-up volumes of the buildings successfully prevent the complex from looking alien.

One views it as a cluster of numerous buildings and does not get the impression of one massive set-up. The scale of the buildings and their placement in the landscape help the school blend perfectly into the surrounding environment.

The minimal use of cement definitely adds to the charm of the project.

The selection of materials and the carefully broken-up volumes of the buildings successfully prevent the complex from looking alien.

Also interesting is how the generously-sized and relatively classy- outfitted classrooms get light primarily from windows placed high up on the rear wall.

© AAF

Section trough the classroom . The alignment allows to deliver daylight into the classroom.

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ARCHITECTURE

Built on 7 ropanis of land provided by the local VDC, the tenclassroom school took two years to construct and was completed in BS 2060 at a cost of Rs 1 crore. The majority of construction workers hailed from the area.

and to get the finishing to an acceptable standard. Credit should also go to the supervisors, who must have been challenged by the level of technical skills of the workers and had limited access to tools and mechanical help during construction.

The architect, Asian Architecture Friendship (AAF) Director, Kenzo Akao, is the designer of this interesting example which shows us alternatives and the potential for planning and building in rural Nepal. A hint of Japanese playful formality in contrast to the irregular village structure provides added spice to the whole surrounding. Hopefully this project will be an inspiration to planners taking up similar assignments.

My gratitude goes to the English teacher Mr. Ranjan Sapkota who showed me around and provided the information given here.

Š AAF

In April 2003, a small village in Nepal called Philim celebrated the opening of a new school established by a support from Japan.

Š AAF

Having built in similar rural settings myself, I think it is a notable achievement to implement such a project as designed on paper

The second phase of the project, consisting of a boarding house and canteen in the nearby land, is under construction.

Asian Architecture Friendship Japan, is a non-governmental organization, mainly consisting of volunteers from the Building Design Section of Takenaka Corporation, and aims at supporting people of Asian developing countries through constructing facilities such as a school.

Buddha Primary and Secondary School Project is completed by donations from many Japanese as well as the fund through the Grant Assistance for the Grass Root Project scheme of Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Japan.

Now a hundred and sixty students from the area including surrounding villages are attending although the maximum capacity stands at three hundred and thirty.

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ANALYSIS

Anthropology provides unique insights into urban change missing from disciplines that have traditionally studied the city

ANTHROPOLOGY

the & City Text & Images: Andrew Nelson

In the past twenty years, urban Kathmandu Valley has undergone a radical transformation. While the Valley’s population continues to grow, the boundaries of its cities expand and incorporate peripheral villages and towns. In the following three-part series of articles, I aim to challenge several assumptions regarding the study of the Kathmandu’s peripheral growth. In the first article (published here), I argue that anthropology provides unique insights into urban change missing from disciplines that have traditionally studied the city. In the second article, I address the question of a Nepali architecture, arguing that the notion of a Kathmandu ‘modern house’, despite claims of being imitative, is grounded in Nepali-specific notions of modernity and development. In the third and final piece, I challenge the claim that urban dwellers only care about their house’s façade while disregarding its interior designs.

Part One: Anthropology, The City, and Kathmandu.

Although in existence for over a century, anthropology is relatively new to the study of the city. Historically, anthropologists studied in villages where they met the non-western ‘other’ and constructed kinship charts, analyzed rituals, and studied nonmonetary forms of exchange. However, as increasing amounts of the world’s people live in cities, the city as an analytical category can no longer be ignored by any social science.

Specifically, I argue that the participant-observation methodology (not just interviews, but also living amongst informants) and cultural themes of anthropology offer unique insights for urban studies.

Although the statistical data of sociological surveys or the cadastral maps of planners provide top-down images of urban

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change, they give us little understanding of the cultural particularities of Nepali urbanization. For example, according to the National Living Survey, the majority of migrants move to Kathmandu because of ‘family’. Unfortunately, this finding produces more questions than answers. Does ‘family’ include one’s nuclear family, extended family or the non-related ‘dai’ next door? Does one move to the city to live with family or to earn money to send back to their family in the village? Does one move for employment opportunities, child’s education, grandparent’s medical treatment, or some combination of all three? An anthropological approach encourages us to look beyond reductionist claims of ‘why’ and ask such questions as ‘what does the move to the city mean for migrants?’; ‘what strategies of adjustment do they employ in moving?’

Anthropology and Urban Theory

Urban theory has tended to rely on metaphors to describe the city. For instance, the medieval town was likened to a body. In the case of the post-enlightenment urban planning of European capitals, main boulevards were imagined as arteries, and parks as lungs. The city was seen as one organism, united in form and function. The industrial city, meanwhile, was imagined as a ‘factory’, which reflected planners’ desires for urban efficiency as well as for control of the urban population. Later, in the language of such modernists as Le Corbusier, the city was modeled as a tree, split into binary oppositions with segregated functions. The Brazilian capital of Brasilia or the Indian city of Chandigarh best represent the production of the modernist city.

Planned for the easy flow of automobiles, these cities were emptied of organic spaces for public and informal congregation.

While the above theories tended to describe cities only in terms of Eurocentric functional rationality, anthropologists, such as Clifford Geertz, Robert Redfield, and Paul Wheatley, established theories relating to pre-industrial and non-European cities driven by ‘ceremonial centers’ and ‘moral orders’.1 Inspired by such work, Robert Levy describes Bhaktapur as a ritually based symbolic order that mediates between the individual and the cosmos.2 Along with Levy, many scholars have documented the mandalic structure of the Newar city: a ‘sacred center’ of concentrated ritual and political power in the palace and temple; ‘concentric circles’ of caste-based residential patterns; and finally, ‘symbolic boundaries’ that mark not only the edge of the city, but also of morality.

The problem with stopping our analysis at the mandala is that it refers to an ideal rather than to the lived city. Just as grammarians tend to study the ‘proper meaning’ of language, urbanists and architects (or kings and priests) imagine the city ‘how it ought to be’.3 It is thus necessary to study the city at the spoken level – how it is lived through everyday practices, spacesnepal.com

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movements, and conceptions. While it is important to know how the planners and bureaucrats idealize the city, we must also measure that ideal against its underbelly, what Foucault would call its ‘other spaces’ of unwanted cracks, unplanned margins, and illegible movements.

For most residents living in contemporary urban Kathmandu Valley, the sacred designs of the Mallas have little to no relevance. Subsequent rulers have made even less of a difference. While the Shahs and Ranas mostly ignored the urban population while building palaces on the city’s periphery, the post-1950 governments of the Panchayat and parties have failed to control urban growth. In the absence of the state, land brokers, construction contractors, and brick factories have built the city plot-by-plot to meet the needs of incoming rural migrants and aspiring middle class families. More recently, real estate and housing companies have dictated the terms of the so-called ‘housing boom’ through housing colonies, apartments, and plotting. It is necessary to move beyond the plans of companies to ask how people are converting new apartment complexes, malls, housing colonies, and other private spaces into lived spaces.

Mark Liechty’s study of Kathmandu’s emergent middle class provides an interesting argument for how Kathmandu’s new public spaces are lived.4 He maintains that consumerist displays and narratives of material and social privilege increasingly challenge the traditional order of caste, ethnicity and kinship.

While his study tells us much about public spaces in the urban center, we are left with many questions regarding Kathmandu’s inexplicable growth at its periphery: What’s the role of kinship and ethnicity in rural-urban migration? How has class practices transformed local and residential spaces? How have the past twenty years of democratization and ten-year Maoist insurgency affected the city? I suggest the following ethnographic approaches for investigating some of the questions related to Kathmandu’s changes: the role of (1) social organization and kinship in migration, (2) ritual and symbolism in house construction, and (3) class and democracy in housing colonies.

Chandigarh: Motor Vehicle Utopia or Pedestrian Nightmare?

Although no longer a political center, Bhaktapur's Durbar Square remains an important ritual center.

Watching the City grow outside of Ring Road one house at a time.

I. City of Migrants

Numerous studies have documented how push factors (Maoist insurgency and Tarai insecurity; lack of rural educational and health facilities) and pull factors (educational and employment opportunities, facilities in the capital) have motivated Nepali villagers to relocate to the capital. However, none of these studies have addressed the processes and conceptualizations of relocation.

From my currently on-going research in a Kathmandu naya basti (‘new settlement’) situated on the city’s western edge, it is clear spacesnepal.com

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that we cannot reduce migration to any one factor. Rather, a complex set of rationales dictate how and to where jilla basi (‘district people’) resettle in the capital. For those who can afford land, there appears to be two sets of criteria – one related to community factors and one not. The former refers to being (a) near kin - in the same compound or on the same street; (b) near Thar or ethnicity specific spaces, such as ‘Pokharel Tol’ in Maligaon; or (c) near religious spaces, such as Boudha or Swayambu for Buddhists. The latter refers to other criteria, such as the desire to be (a) outside the city in a cleaner environment; (b) near an educational institution (as is the case in Tyangalaphant for TU students and professors) or workplace; (c) near the highway for those who often return to their village; or (d) near cheaper land.

None of these reasons, however, ever tell the full story and thus, must be contextualized. We need to ask whether communitybased rationale reflects a conscious shift towards communal identities and enclaves. I have found that although rarely is the motivation to form enclaves, the result is often just that. As the proverb ghiu kaha pokcha khancha (‘wherever the butter spills, its eaten’) illustrates, individuals follow family members and other aphno manche (‘own person’) into the city or buy land from brokers from the same district and caste, and thus, end up moving into what becomes an enclave. In the post-Maoist insurgency era of claims to ethnic federalism and rights, neighborhoods based along caste, regional, or religious lines could easily transform into political statements.

Whether settlers have followed their own people or not, certain strategies of relocation render the move more permanent or temporary. On the one hand, settlers might view their transition to the city as temporary by continuing to vote and celebrate Dashain and Tihar in the village and planning to return to the village after retirement. On the other hand, they might make the move more permanent by relocating their kul deuta (‘lineage deity’) to the city, hiring a new purohit (‘house priest’) in the city, and establishing or joining a local social organization aimed at the social and physical betterment of the locality.5 II. City of ‘Householders’

Before organizing groups to better the locality, however, newcomers aim to build something even more permanent – a house. In a study of a Bahun-Chhetri village in south Kathmandu Valley, John Gray argues that it is the house (as opposed to the city in Levy’s account of Bhaktapur) that mediates between the individual and cosmos.6 Building on Gray, I argue that for those who have relocated to the urban periphery, their house serves as a prominent spatial anchor. Not only does it carry cosmological significance, it also symbolizes entry into the modernity, unfamiliarity, and anonymity of the city.

The importance of the house is revealed in the preference to build a house rather than to purchase a house someone else built. Despite the considerable time investment (observing construction and guarding materials), rising cost of materials and labor, and tedious administrative requirements of building a house, the overwhelming majority of urban residents prefer it to buying. After all, one cannot trust the quality of a house built by a stranger. However, it is in what Gray calls the ideology of grihastha (‘householder’), that the house-building process gains its central cultural position. The second and arguably most important of the four Hindu life-stages, the householder needs a house to pass on to offspring, perform life-cycle rituals, and protect him and his family from the physical and metaphysical threats of the outside. His house becomes a ‘temple’ organized by vastu principles (to be discussed further in part 3) and consecrated and ritually protected through rituals such as jag puja and griha prabesh puja.

Beyond the Hindu-specific ideologies of grihastha dharma, we cannot underestimate the central role of the house in modern Nepali cosmologies. Particularly, I suggest that the construction of one’s Kathmandu house represents one’s entry into the urban.

While anthropologists have shown that the house can mirror a human life (that is conceived, born, able to grow and eventually die) or symbolize a human body, I suggest a different theoretical direction for the study of Kathmandu houses. Instead of representing a human life or body, houses represent a microcosm of expectations for urban life. First, the modernity and individuality of a uniquely designed Kathmandu ‘pakki house’ (to be discussed further in part 2) marks a departure from the traditional houses of villages and an entry into the modern facilities of the city.

Second, the common presence of unfamiliar tenants (often of a different caste, region, or linguistic group) signifies the unknown of the city. Finally, the privacy of the urban house’s compound walls and private rooms signals a separation from the gossip of the village towards the anonymity of city.

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A man performs Jag Puja

Housing Colonies: Does architectural homogeneity produce social homogeneity?

As a result of the emphasis on building one’s own house, however, we are left with little concern for the greater community.

To the dismay of many an urban planner, settlers tend to establish a house first and then worry about services and infrastructure later. Moreover, settlers tend to express little regard for blending in with the design of neighbor’s houses.

III. City of Enclaves

The growth of Kathmandu’s middle class has precipitated a relocation of another kind: not from village to city, but from the urban interior to the peripheral ‘suburbs’ outside of Ring Road.

Particularly for those seeking to escape the declining law and order, noise and air pollution, and water/power shortages of the city, the 24-hour security, grid pattern roads, seclusion, and consistent water supply of housing colonies hold a strong appeal.

This marks an interesting shift for those who can afford it to separate themselves from lower classes and the inconsistent ‘public goods’ provided by the state. Instead of the state, they place their reliance on the private housing company. However, since housing is less than ten years old in Nepal, laws have not yet been established to define the relationship between the company and the residents.7 I contend that residents reproduce narratives of democracy and class distinction as strategies to clarify ambiguities of authority and justify the exclusion of the colony.

The uncertainty of legality and authority becomes even more apparent after the company ‘hands-over’ control of the colony to the residents. In this unique arrangement, residents ultimately depend not on the state nor on the private company, but on each other to meet their basic needs. To this end, they elect 11 member ‘management committees’ to oversee colony services, public spaces, and social events. As opposed to the corruption in

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The makings of an Ethnic Enclave? A street-sign in Pokharel Tol.

Kathmandu-style politics, committee members claim to be practicing a more ‘real’ democracy that supports free exchange, equal representation, and transparent decision-making.

However, when it is one’s neighbors - rather than some thirdparty outside authority - that establishes and collects fees, settles disputes, and maintains properties, it is not surprising that allegations of corruption and impropriety surface.

While the expensive price of colony houses guarantees a certain income level of newcomer, residents cannot choose who moves into the colony. Hence, expressions of social division, profitminded house sellers/renters, and uncooperative neighbors serve as potential threats to colony stability. From interviews and observations in three colonies, I have found that much like the homogenous yet ‘refined’ architecture of the colonies, residents promote a sense of shared class distinction. In the words of one resident, colony people are kura bujhne manche (‘people who understand things’) who are ‘educated’ and above differences of caste and politics. One person goes so far to claim that the colony represents a possible ‘future of Nepal’ where people treat each other equally regardless of background. Thus, while colonies represent an explicit form of class enclaves, residents justify this exclusion through practices of democracy and inclusive sociality.

Conclusion Whether moving from the village to the city, or inner city to the periphery, much of Kathmandu is in transition. Due to a booming real estate and housing industry, the city’s rapid growth and development promises to continue. In order to understand the city’s transformation, we need new conceptual frameworks.

Anthropology’s unique methodology and themes offer one alternative framework to inspect how individuals interpret the changing city and employ tactics to adjust to it.

See Geertz, C. 1980. Negara: The Theater State in Nineteenth-Century Bali. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press; Redfield, R. 1953. The Primitive World and its Transformations. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press; Wheatley, P. 1971. The Pivot of the Four Quarters. Chicago: Aldine.

Levy, R. (with K.R. Rajopadhyaya) 1991. Mesocosm: Hinduism and the Organization of a Traditional Newar City in Nepal. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers.

De Certeau, M. 1984. The Practice of Everyday Life. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 100.

Liechty, M. 2003. Suitably Modern: Making Middle-Class Culture in a New Consumer Society. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press.

Inspired by Newar guthis, these groups are named ‘club’ (usually for local youths), ‘samiti’, ‘samaj sewa’ or in the case of housing colonies, ‘management committee’ or ‘welfare society’. Although such organizations aim to recreate village-like cooperation between neighbors, I have found that they often reproduce the rural prejudices of caste exclusion or political party-based disunity.

See Gray, J. 1995. The Householder’s World: Purity, Power and Dominance in a Nepali Village. New Delhi: Oxford University Press; and 2007. Domestic Mandala: Architectural of Life-Worlds in Nepal. Ampshire: Ashgate Publishing Co. Although the Joint Housing Act of 2054 (1998) does set some guidelines for the selling and purchasing of apartments and colonies, it does not define the responsibilities of the company to provide services and maintenance to residents.

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Harnessing the

Wind AN UNCONVENTIONAL ROUTE TOWARDS DEVELOPMENT Sweta Pokharel

Introduction

Background

A wind turbine to generate electricity is wonderfully a new concept for a country hit hard by load shedding and Amrit Thapa and four of his co – partners have made us proud by developing the three wooden blade HAWT machine, a first of its kind in Nepal. This machine can generate up to 800W of electricity. It can be installed anywhere without hassle and the best part is that it is inexpensive and is within reach of the layman too. These innovative and aspiring lads are all students of Kathmandu Engineering College and are keen to conserve the environment and save the country from further degradation.

The first wind turbine ever made was in the Northern European Countries in the 1180’s and many still exist in the Netherlands.

In the case of Nepal, the first significant extraction of wind energy was made by Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) in 1989 in Kagbeni of Mustang District. Unfortunately, this demonstration project of 20kW capacity was a failure owing to poor design and structural failure. The high installation cost thus did not justify further development.

The wind Turbine converts the kinetic energy inherent in the wind to mechanical energy and consequently converts it into electricity - one of the most convenient and equally consumable and dependable amenities. Thus infrastructure, as expensive as light or heat in the form of power, is visible to the eye whole heartedly, be it in the urban sunshine or the rural picturesque since the wind is available everywhere. spacesnepal.com

At present Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC) has set up two wind turbine generators in Pyuthan district and each generates 400 watts of electricity. Two more units are under construction at the same place. Practical Action Nepal has installed more than 13 small wind power plants (100W & 200W) in 7 different locations of Nepal (sample model by Peru & Srilanka).

According to AEPC there are various hilly regions including Kathmandu, Makwanpur, Kagbeni, Ramechhap, Thini, Palpa, Mustang, Manang, Pyuthan, Phakhel, Okhaldhunga, Myagdi, July-August 2009

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Kaski & Nagarkot which could be possible sites for generating wind energy in Nepal.

“According to a recent study, 3,000 MW of wind energy can be generated in Nepal,” says Dr. Govind Raj Pokharel, Former Executive Director of Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC) which falls under MoST. “A study has shown that around 70 MW of electricity can be generated through wind power around Kathmandu valley alone,” says Bharat Poudel, an engineer at AEPC. While around 126,334 GWH of power has been generated through wind energy technology in the world, 94,000 MW of electricity has been The initial successful testing at Phakhel stipulated the wind velocity at 3.6 m/sec with generated through wind power. Of this, 22,000 a rotating startup measure of 300 rpm MW wind power has been generated by Germany alone, while India has produced 8,000 MW wind energy. was due to the wind velocity available and a ground wind velocity Similarly, 19 percent of total electricity supplied in Denmark is of 3.5 m/sec. The three wooden locally manufactured blades generated from wind power while wind energy is still one of the of saal species stood just 7 feet high, and took 15 days to carve least harnessed energy sources in Nepal. it to its desired shape. The battery dependent generator, the mechanical parts and the tower took another 15 days, but in The Government of Nepal has targeted to generate 20MW power Hetauda, due to the plight of load shedding in Kathmandu. While through wind energy within this year. According to the outgoing the rotor and its mechanical parts were manufactured by the Minister for Environment Science and Technology (MoST) Ganesh team, the inverter, battery and the stand was provided by the Sah, the government has allocated some money to begin work college. The actual set is yet incomplete due to a missing but in this regard. The former Finance Minister Dr. important part called the controller. The Baburam Bhattarai, in this year’s budget, had permanent magnet with a grading of N35, one According to proposed to mark the current fiscal year as the of the world’s strongest magnets, was a recent study, ‘Year of Alternative Energy’. “Twenty megawatt purchased from India. of electricity will be generated through wind 3,000 MW of energy around Kathmandu valley through The Phakel testing stipulated the wind velocity wind energy public-private-partnership model,” reveals the can be generated at 3.6 m/sec with a rotating startup measure of budget. However, the Renewable Energy 300 rpm (run per minute). According to Thapa, in Nepal Database for Nepal reads that there is no strong the turbine can generate 1 KW when the general description on wind mapping and the maximum speed of the blades is 300 rpm. In technology of installation of wind turbine units range very low. contrast to such turbines of the past, this turbine has a possibility Until and unless there is enough data on wind velocity, it is difficult of producing a variable yield and a startup blade can rotate at to estimate the wind energy potential. This reveals that today, in a very low but profitable velocity of 0.5m/sec – one of the most such a phase of crisis, implementation is the only possible measure difficult task of the project. The generation of electricity from as to produce possible estimates. low as 150 rpm as compared to other inefficient wind turbines of the past requiring as much as 1000 rpm, is another major accomplishment of this design.

The successful use and implementation of the small wind turbines in the European countries five to eight years ago sewed a new hope for Amrit and without further delay the first of their technology installation started on December 2008. The idea evolved, initially through data collected from The team assembling the turbine parts websites and through emails to a guide named Danfink, a top designer of small wind turbines from the UK.

“Power thus generated can meet energy requirement of at least nine households,” says Thapa. “This method is also costThe installed 1.5 KW capacity wind turbine on the roof of the six storey KEC building

The initial successful real testing was conducted on 31st of December 2008 at Phakhel, 25 kms away from Balkhu, situated in the airy Makwanpur District. The choice for Phakhel

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© Amrit

The Project

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effective.” According to him, around Rs 100,000 is needed to set up their kind of windmill. “The government needs to tap energy to mitigate the energy crisis. The wind turbines are more reliable than other sources of power and can generate electricity 99 percent of the time in comparison to other sources,” says Thapa.

Hands on An exemplary achievement was the installation of their wind turbine on the roof of the college at Kalimati on 2nd March 2009. The installed turbine stands at a height of 25 meters on the top of the six storey building. With an average wind speed of 3.5m/s at this area, 350 W is generated at an average 10 ampere current to the battery charge. The design has a maximum capacity of 1.5 KW at high wind speed of 13m/s. As wind speeds at Kalimati at such a heights and when the sky is clear are quite high, a wind speed of 7 m/s generated a peaking output of 800 W. This data reveals that wind turbines can be installed at hills and at locations of high altitude and are most feasible for regions having a constant wind speed.

This demonstrates the fact that a wind turbine can gain validity and the prudent step is to install it. Installations can be adjusted even on the roof of a two storey house and bring electricity to every individual without much hassle.

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The Team The team, consisting of Lalit Singh Rawal, Pawan Paudel, Suraj Rai, Amrit Abhamani Dhakal and Amrit Singh Thapa (seen here from left), is currently running the ‘Energy Study Centre of Kathmandu Engineering College’, to gain a detailed perspective into this field and prosper accordingly. They plan to install their improved model (1KW) at Phakhel of Makwanpur District. This designed wind turbine will work in terms of the wind velocity which will trigger in the making of variable capacities of the turbines. This wind turbine will be lighter in weight and further research based aerodynamic HAWT profile with high power (3 to 5 KW) performance. They also aspire to efficiently investigate the 10 KW wind turbine of Kagbeni.

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HERITAGE The architectural style of the Jagat Narayan Temple, called ‘Granthakuta’, consists of the central Shikhara surrounded by subsidiary porticos on its four cardinal sides.

Jagat Narayan

Temple Rupesh Shrestha

Introduction The impulse and achievement which culminated into construction of grand temples were accomplished during the Malla and Licchavi period. Nevertheless, the establishment of the Jagat Narayan temple, dating back to 1855 A.D., tends to indicate of such grandeur during the Rana period also. During this era, a magnificent temple was constructed which was majestic both in its planning and aesthetic beauty than other temples of that time. This temple was constructed by Jagat Sumshere, the brother of Janga Bahadur Rana (the then Prime minister of Nepal). Toponymal considerations also suggest the above facts as the temple name is composed from two words - Jagat and Narayan. A building art of such virile character, the temple complex flourished under the Rana rule with addition of sattals and other small temples around the principal Shikhara style temple. According to the priest of the temple, the intention of Jagat Sumshere in constructing this affluent cultural object was to preserve the Hindu religion till Chandra and Surya (the moon and sun), existed in this universe. spacesnepal.com spacesnepal.com

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H E R I TAG E

Jagat Narayan temple complex located in Shankhamul of Lalitpur is on the banks of river Bagmati. The complex consists of two courtyards - one having several smaller Shiva temples (also called Jagadiswor Mandir) and the other, which is the main courtyard, consisting of the Jagat Narayan temple. To the casual observer, the multi-roofed temples inside the Kathmandu Valley settlement may seem to posses a broad uniformity of structure, style and form. But the Jagat Narayan temple on the other hand, is a Nepali adaptation of the North Indian Shikhara temple. And although the Shikhara temple is less frequently of bricks, the elaborate use of bricks here, creates a ponderous impression of brick masonry. During the reign of Janga Bahadur Rana, the ‘Rajput’ style temples were preferred as opposed to the tiered style or the Shikhara style. However, unlike his brother's taste, the architectural style of Jagat Narayan temple indicates Jagat Janga as being more inclined towards a Nepalese architectural style.

A building art of such virile character, it flourished under the Rana rule.

This architectural style, called ‘Granthakuta’, consists of the central Shikhara and is surrounded by subsidiary porticos on four cardinal sides with Gajurs (pinnacles) added to the subsequent porticos (some Newari manuscripts relate it to ‘Garakuta’).

Granthakuta follows a conceptual relevance to the upper level, or ‘Agam’ of Buddhist architecture. The Granthakuta is sometimes accessible from the inner chamber and tantrik rituals are performed here by the priests. Jagat Narayan complies with this scheme echoing a strong sense of regional identity. It presents an architectural combination of astonishing richness.

The Main Gate The main gate of the temple complex located at the eastern side of the temple complex stands resolutely, giving the onlooker an essence of Mogul style work. The alteration of the surfaces of its façade by means of turrets produces striking contrast of light and shade and these surfaces are enriched by a certain amount of ornamentation by the use of statues of Ganesh and Hanuman.

Decorative niches consisting of arches are also judiciously distributed.

The main gate of the temple complex with white lime plastered walls reminiscent of the Rana period.

Stone steps guarded by two stone lions lead to the main door of the temple housing a stone statue of Lord Vishnu

The temples in the secondary courtyard with Ghanta Kriti style roof.

On entering the main gate, the secondary courtyard consists of a massive East oriented temple standing on a telia brick multiple plinth.

The ‘Sapta Ratha’ sikhara stands on ‘Jagati’ which is also intricately decorated, representing a fine combination of art and craftsmanship. The walls of the garbha griha are not covered with any plaster work but its upper level is in sharp contrast from rest of the temple as it is covered with stucco-plaster work also known as Vajra plaster in the Newari language. The roof takes the form of a bell called Ghanta Kriti. The gajur here is a combination of both bricks and metal.

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The detailing with richly molded surfaces gradually ascending is executed by craftsmen whose technical versatility is undeniable.

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Porches on the four sides of the main temple stand on stone pillars

Facing the main entry door are three statues of Ganesh, Hanuman and Garuda – relentlessly worshiping the deity inside the temple. Another Garuda sits atop the stone pillar.

The Jagat Narayan Temple

The exorbitant and profuse use of pattern brick cornices and figures presents an ornamental significance to the temple.

Sadly, some figures have been stolen.

The front elevation consists of stone steps reaching the main door which is ornate with embossed metal sheet work, eventually leading to Garbhagriha. Porches on the four sides with gold plated gajurs are attached to the shikhara and stand on stone pillars. These porches are not interconnected via steps which thus prevents circumambulation from the immediate exterior of Garbhagriha. On the exterior walls of the portico are enshrined stone images of Lord Vishnu in niches. It thus seems as a combination of five embodiment Vishnu. According to Dr. Jagadish Chandra Regmi (the author of Shahakalin Kala Ra Vastukala), considering the Vaisnav sect, it can be assumed that Garakuta contains four images of Vishnu and the statues inside the Garbhagriha can be accepted to be of Vasudev, Sankarshan, Pradhumna, Anirudh and Narayan. Opposite to the main door of the Narayan temple, there exists a tall stone pillar, on top of which is an artistic and impressive metal statue of Garuda presented as a devotee. The Garuda statue in stone as well as metal represents the creators taste for both the elements. Also opposite of the door there are statues of Ganesh and Hanuman in worshiping pose.

The exorbitant and profuse use of pattern brick cornices presents an ornamental significance to the temple. The substantial cornices are highly decorated with compositions of an animated nature, but it is the design and execution of the string that the sculptor/mason has exercised with greatest ingenuity and artistic skill. It shows plastic embellishment, and are intricate and extensive, representing unsurpassed brick architecture.

Brick architecture has the advantage of being composed of small units, thereby providing more flexibility in design and construction possibilities.

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Various types of ornamental bricks have been used in the temples. Temples with Ghanta Kriti gajur have exposed bricks and have different figures. The serpents body (nag pasa) cornice around the temple’s outer wall with a human head gives it a different and special identity. Brick architecture here borrows spacesnepal.com

HERITAGE

The statue of Hanuman atop a stone hexagonal structure at the western corner of the temple courtyard, is believed to have been brought from Lucknow in India during the political turmoil between Hindus and Muslims.

The temple is surrounded on its three sides by sattals consisting of beautifully carved wooden windows (Ga Jya).

its precedence from Malla period temple traditions. Other reason for using burnt clay bricks could be due to its easy availability during that period. Brick architecture flourished principally in the great alluvial plains where good clay was easily available.

Besides, brick architecture has the advantage of being composed of small units, the flexibility of which gives it greater design and construction possibilities. The detailing of the surface with richly molded surfaces gradually ascending is executed by craftsmen whose technical versatility is undeniable.

Dr. Rohit K. Ranjitkar, Nepal Program Director of Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust (KVPT) expresses his concern over the temple. He is of the opinion that although the temple complex is in a comparatively better condition than other such structures, primary focus on the temple’s maintenance should be made for the prolongation of its architectural aesthetics. The illegal occupants of the Sattal should also convinced on the importance of the complex’s preservation. At the same time, Dr. Rohit stresses that the main cause of deterioration of such structures are water seepage and blockage of water outlets hence counter measures should be taken for its prevention.

Sattal and Courtyard The Jagat Narayan Temple lies in the center of the courtyard and is surrounded by Sattals on three sides with the northern one housing a Ram Mandir and its ground floor being used as a pati (open gathering space). The Sattal is two storied with pitched roof and the upper level consists of Ga Jhya which is found on all the sides facing the main courtyard. These show pieces of the building (Ga Jhya) are found on the axis of the façade beneath the roof. The fourth side consists of a low wall with a gate leading to the lower level courtyard. The Sattals also consist of some of the most ornate wood work.

On the western corner of the Narayan temple courtyard is a Hanuman statue atop an interesting stone structure. According to a legend as elucidated by the priest of the temple, the statue was brought from Lucknow of India during a state of political turmoil when Muslims were desecrating the Hindu religious centers.

Conclusion The Jagat Narayan Temple complex is a splendid example of brick architecture. Nepalese craftsmen had achieved a great degree of proficiency which eventually led to formation of this wonderful place. Further more, its relevance to the community is immense and would contribute to a larger perspective to Nepalese Architecture.

Acknowledgement Prof. Dr. Sudarshan Raj Tiwari, Institute of Engineering, Kathmandu Dr. Rohit K. Ranjitkar, KVPT, Lalitpur Mr. Shree Hari Thapa, Lecturer, Institute of Engineering, Kathmandu Ar. Punya Sagar Marahatta, Lecturer, Institute of Engineering, Kathmandu Priest Kamal Kumar, Jagat Narayan Temple

Restoration and Conservation Although the temple complex of Jagat Narayan has evolved into a center for social, religious and cultural activities, it is however in a deteriorating state. The reduction in the maintenance budget allocated from its guthi (society which looks after the temple complex’s upkeep), the loss of land which generated revenue, and the decrease in devotees coming to worship at the temple, have all contributed to its degradation.

Some of the finest works of bricks have already been stolen. In addition, the illicit occupation of the Sattal by unauthorized persons also pose a hindrance towards its maintenance. spacesnepal.com

References Regmi, Dr. Jagadish Chandra: Shahakalin Kala Ra Vastukala. Kathmandu: Sajha Prakashan Slusser, Mary Shephard: Nepal Mandala. New Jersey: Princeton University, 1998 Dangol, Purusottam: Elements of Nepalese Temple Architecture, New Delhi: Adroit Publishers, 2007 Korn, Wolfgang: The Traditional Architecture of Kathmandu Valley. Nepal: Bibliotheca Himalayica, 1976

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PROFILE

An Emotional Involvement Richa Bhattarai

“Anyone can construct a building,” says architect Indra Bahadur Shrestha in the course of our conversation. “But only putting together bricks and cement can never make anyone an architect.

A true architect is one who devotes time, has interest in his work and infuses his feelings and emotions into every creation.

Architecture is a creative art that requires emotional involvement.”

And it is this conviction of Shrestha that sets him apart from existing architects into a league of his own.

Born in the capital almost fifty-seven years ago, Shrestha travelled far and wide before settling down in his career at the Department of Urban Development & Building Construction (DUDBC); where he is now appointed as the Director General.

Recounting his experiences, he tells us of the time when he knew nothing about architecture but the fact that it dealt with buildings. “An uncle was into science, so I opted for the same after my S.L.C.,” he explains. After scraping through his Intermediate in Science from Patan Campus, he suddenly felt that he had to do better in studies. With that ambition in mind, he applied for admission in Bachelor of Architecture in University of Roorkee in India. That course not only earned him a distinction but had him hooked to architecture forever.

“Even the paths leading to each house are were so well planned that they are separate for each of them - for humans, Gods and corpses.” He assumes that religion links it all beautifully, “If you notice, the houses are built at the same level, with even equal door heights. There used to be a hole in each house in the same place through which one could see the burning lamp in the faroff temple.”

Asserting on the ingenuity of our ancestors, he continues, “Each place in the Valley that we regard as separate - Kathmandu, Bhakatapur, Lalitpur, Tokha and so on - are thus differentiated because they had water-filled moats around them in the earlier era. There was a gate at the entrance and even the population of the city had been planned beforehand to ensure accommodation.” He revealed further, “In fact, the aerial view of the valley suggests that Kathmandu was built in the shape of a khadga (dagger), Bhaktapur a shankha (conch) and Patan a chakra (spiral wheel).”

Upon his return to Nepal, he began working as an architect in the design section of Department of Housing, Building and Physical Planning. “The earliest building design of my life was the first block of Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology (NBSM),” he reminisces. From then on, he added numerous laurels to his achievement. “We did the colour scheme of the Palace and the Supreme Court, as well as complete layout of Nijamati Kitabkhana, the Zonal office of Attorney General, and the Ram Janaki Bibaha Mandap of Janakpur,” he tells us. After that, he even went into private practice and designed a few hotels in Thamel before leaving for New Delhi for his Masters Degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the School of Planning and Architecture.

His thesis, ‘Planning Imperatives for Inner City of Kathmandu’, which was a fitting tribute for his love for the unique architecture of the city, earned him a gold medal awarded by the Institute of Town Planners, India. “Very few countries in the world has this kind of urban planning. While all others follow linear planning, ours is in the grid iron pattern, ” he explains. “Since the Licchavi period, we have had a very systematic and scientific architectural structure.”

He emphasises on his point with a simple example, spacesnepal.com spacesnepal.com

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PROFILE

Shrestha seems nostalgic towards this distant past as he says, in mind.” Such chaotic growth leads not only to congestion but “The limitation of a building to three-and-a-half floors, the sanjhya also to environmental hazards, evident in the filth that is flowing (protruding window), the open spaces that surrounded a group through the capital’s rivers. Fortunately, Shrestha confides in us of houses (chowk and baha), the use of vertical form to save a plan to combat this, “The World Bank has proposed a master plan to reduce and prevent further water space, were all part of an ancient pollution of the capital. According to this, architecture. Even the temples are in the slum dwellers on the banks of the the pyramid shape, which is a selfOur problem is that only rivers, will be identified and rehabilated standing form. Knowingly or not, our about fifty percent of the in compact houses twenty metres away ancestors dabbled in earthquake-safe buildings own the legal from the water edge, and then sewage structures. When I presented a paper permit. Lack of proper and water treatment plants will be about our ancient architecture in application and monitoring launched on the rivers.”

Belgium, they were amazed.” He does accept that lack of these traditional of the building rules are The project might sound difficult, but building materials and technology another hassle, for the Shrestha seems to take it as a challenge. have made them gradually unfit for department has little or no One such challenge that he undertook was modern use, but he is all for their power for enforcement. the restoration of Singha Durbar’s main preservation and reconstruction. In building, which had remained closed for fact, he has worked to build a park nearly fifteen years due to safety reasons.” complete with traditional stone water He remembers another such project, “Making the Rashtrapati Bhawan spouts around the famous Dankshinkali temple as well. fit for residence within three days was no small feat either.” Earlier He stresses the significance of flexible government policies on on, he had also worked to better the Narayan Hiti Royal Palace (now the development of architecture. “Take Bhaktapur for example,” a museum), though he does not seem too enthusiastic about its he says, “If someone wishes to build a house there, the architecture. “It is neither here nor there - I personally think the palaces municipality helps them right from conception. Likewise, of ex-kings of India have more beautiful features.” committees can be formed in other parts of the country which guide individuals correctly for their constructions.” He is sceptical When we lead him back to the other tasks he has accomplished, about the donors, who“visit our country for a few years, show us he lists some of them, “We built the landfill at Nayabazar, impossible dreams and then disappear after making a profit. To broadened Dhulikhel’s roads and managed the drainage avoid this, we need to be self-sufficient. We are quite equipped system of Kathmandu.” Having participated in a number of for that.” To stretch his point further, he adds, “The hills of Nepal ecological trainings, he is aware of the need of eco-friendly construction, “While we were building the Paropakar school, have the best natural landfill sites of the world.” we used the idea of a ramp for storing the building materials so He even has plans to mobilize such natural and cultural heritages. that the surroundings would not be polluted. We began the trend “A whole city can be treated as a museum,” he says excitedly, of the door-to-door solid waste collection. We also built parks “There is a typical village in Indonesia that is a major tourist and toilets around Bishnumati as a measure of controlling attraction. The same can be done in Nepal; and the profits can pollution, though it is proving difficult to maintain the same.” be used for the maintenance and uplift of the village.”

In spite of the frustrations he has to encounter at times, he is Though he is positive about such planned growth, he becomes quite in love with his work. He also genuinely respects some pessimistic once reminded of the haphazard and unplanned other architects and designers such as Shankarnath Rimal and growth of urbanity, which he terms as cancer. “This cancer, which Gangadhar Bhatta Halabe-the former for his devotion to the has germinated due to the ill-intentions of individuals offering work and the latter for commanding so much respect through his bribes or even threats in return for approval of their illegal designs, ingenuity. Amongst the architectural veterans of the international is spreading-mainly because the sector that approves of the arena, he appreciates Frank. L. Wright for his ingenuity to designs and the designs that control them are different,” he informs harmonize his designs with nature and the surroundings. He us, “The design is first checked and approved by the Nagar Bikas also appreciates L.I.Kahn’s designs for the boldness they yield.

Samiti under the DUDBC, which has a branch in each district of Nepal. These branches determine whether the prerequisites of After commenting on his idols, he elaborates on his dream project, the building have been fulfilled. After that, it should be authorized “I wish to design an old-age housing community, so that elderly by municipality. Then it needs to be periodically checked by the people can enjoy comfort, health care and companionship. I wish Division Office. Our problem is that only about fifty percent of the to create a simple and integrative environment where elders of buildings own the legal permit. Lack of proper application and diverse strata and ethnicity can assimilate together joyously.” monitoring of the building rules are another hassle, for the Pulled back to the harsh world after his flight of fancy, he has department has little or no power for enforcement.” some parting words, “Nepal is a nation of immense potential but He is sensitive to this case and points out its negative there is a lack of proper mobilization. Political and professional consequences, “Compliance with security and other official commitment to work, patience and long-term planning can make measures are essential as we have the best interests of clients it at par with world architecture.”

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INTERNATIONAL

THE NEW CAMPUS OF SPA, INDIA

International Open Urban Design Competition Ar. Jinisha Jain

An Urban Design Competition for an Architectural Campus would sound like an ideal opportunity for the aspirants, the avant-garde and the veterans of the profession.

A premier design institute in the sub-continent and one with its history rooted in the pre-partition period - The School of Planning & Architecture (SPA), New Delhi - recently held an International Open Urban Design Competition for its new 20 acre campus site at Vasant Kunj. The competition received a whooping 130 entries, which came not only from different parts of India but from countries far and wide. Not surprisingly, there was an entry from Nepal also, as the school prides itself in being the alma mater of many talented Nepalese architects.

The competition site offered unique constraints and opportunities, being on the edge of the undulating Ridge Zone of the city (though excluded from the "Notified Forest" designation), it sits in a highly sensitive ecological corridor with an interesting neighbouring ensemble of the five star Grand Hotel on the east, high end plotted spacesnepal.com

developments to the south, institutional buildings and the bio-diversity park to the north-northwest.

The entries for the campus development were required to provide: An Urban Design Strategy including System Design of all constituent parts covering each aspect of built and open environments.

The relationship between the campus and its surroundings as also with the larger city network.

A comprehensive set of development guidelines and controls for the architectural projects.

Innovation in technology and communication.

Sustainability in the built environment.

A program for 27,500 sq.m. of academic builtup, 16,300 sq.m. of residential built-up and 1,900 sq.m. of recreational, netting up to a total gross built-up area of 45,700 sq.m.

The Board of Assessors consisted of prominent Indian architects including: Prof. Ranjit Mitra, Director, SPA, Prof. Charles Correa, Prof Ranjit Sabhiki, Prof. M. Shaheer and Mr. Harvinder Singh.

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DADA & PARTNERS

FIRST

Gurgaon, India

The vision is to create a memorable physical setting that reflects SPA’s standing as a flagship institution in the country and supports the ideals of the larger design profession. The scheme proposes to create a blueprint for an urban campus for the ‘design economy’ of the 21st century by rendering it a physical framework that embraces design’s social, ethical, and global cause. The campus master plan is based on three principles: connection with the city and beyond; ecological sensitivity towards the site; and creation of an inclusive learning environment.

At a regional level the campus sits on a “keystone location” on the ridge - the confluence of three ridge zones of Delhi. The site allows for a significant opportunity to physically weave the South Central Ridge (JNU and beyond) with the Southern Ridge system. Being situated on higher ground offers views of the Qutub Minar to the east and the Moradabad Pahari Masjid towards north.

Ecologically, the master plan recognizes and respects the ridge lines and valleys on the site and ties it back to the larger geo-morphological grain of the ridge landform. The spectacular canyon roughly in the centre of the site becomes a primary organizing element. The master plan seeks to go beyond the conventional campus paradigms of insular learning environments by treating itself as an extension of the city.

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PLANNING Taking advantage of the ‘fold’ in landform, west of the canyon, the campus has been organized as an assembly of two distinct campus districts - the Lower and Upper Campus the Lower Campus being more public in nature, while the Upper Campus defining the core of the academic campus.

Moving away from proto-typical campus front doors, the master plan proposes an accretive assembly of object-like buildings along the Lower Campus. This part of the campus has a soft, porous, and city-like threshold that invites the larger community while the N-S campus spine (along the ‘fold’) defines the beginning of the academic core of the Upper Campus. A highly accessible E-W armature along with the peripheral campus drive links these two districts.

This coupled system is lined with public-oriented programming such as an art gallery, administration building, auditorium, media library commons, e-café, outreach centres for P.G. studies, and finally leads to the canyon preserve and housing/hostel district.

The undergraduate and postgraduate buildings are lined along the central green that forms the core of the Upper Campus. This well defined and shaded open space is lined with the most active programs such as department libraries, lobbies, crit rooms, etc., and with its location as the metaphorical crossroads, will be the intellectual and social hub. This green steps down into a generous amphitheatre as it nears the canyon preserve. A bridge, aligned with the Qutub axis, is proposed to span across the canyon to the hostel district to the east.

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INTERNATIONAL

A VISION FOR TRANS-DISCIPLINARY LEARNING The campus plan is hinged on the concept of trans-disciplinary learning in addition to inter-disciplinary nature of the existing campus. This implies the integration or interrelation of disciplinary and non-disciplinary generated knowledge and their application to complex problems and issues. In defining an environment that encourages this, the master plan looks to provide opportunities to promote an intense, well-connected and engaging learning environment for the students of SPA in its spaces (both indoors and outdoors). The organization and layout reflects the fluid nature of learning today and a desire to create “non territorial workplaces”. Further, in context of the changing needs of institutions, all buildings and future phasing has been designed for tectonic flexibility.

PROFILE

LANDSCAPE AND SUSTAINABILITY

DADA and Partners is a multi-disciplinary design practice based in Gurgaon offering services in architecture, urban design, and planning. The four partners - Aditi Gupta Arora, Mukul Arora, Parul Mittal and Sumit Arora, each bring specific expertise. The team aspires to create enduring places of the highest quality. In the image are seen standing (left to right), Sumit Arora, Jaivindra Singh, Parul Mittal and sitting (left to right), Debleena Saha, Aditi Gupta Arora, Mukul Arora. (contact@dadapartners.com)

Closely linked with the knowledge economy is the need to attend to the depleting environmental resources and health. The site analysis ensued by subtracting the most sensitive areas to extract the ‘build-able’ and ‘sensitive build-able’ areas. In parallel, the existing water flows, drainage, and significant vegetation zones were examined and retained to arrive at a sustainable landscape strategy. Besides preserving the existing topography and biodiversity, the planning and design approach incorporated optimum building siting and orientation, high performance infrastructure, alternate energy, green roofs, stormwater management, pollution control, and public transit and walk-ability primary modes of movement within and around the campus.

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The canyon preserve acts as a critical north/ south open space and bio-habitat corridor connecting the bio-diversity park with the green belt to the south. A physical connection to the canyon is established by taking a trail down from the amphitheatre edge to a cascading ecoterrace plaza on the south western edge. The northern part of the canyon has restricted access. A multi-use trail extends to the southern and western edge of the site to become a ‘woodland’ trail adjoining the existing wetlands.

The water drainage way is designed to run along this woodland trail.

FUTURE GROWTH To provide room for growth, phasing for new educational facilities has been incorporated in the master plan. The West Campus is envisioned to be programmed as an ‘Innovation Campus’ with curriculum dedicated towards collaborations with allied disciplines, design incubation and entrepreneurship, and economically generative research. Smaller building sites have been allocated close to the Phase-I buildings to allow for incremental expansion of the existing U.G. and P.G. departments. Over the long term the plan shall accommodate over 80,000 sq. m. of built up area with a FAR of 105.

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SECOND

S. Ghosh & Associates Delhi, India

Three basic design attitudes concerning the geology, the history and the city, have shaped the proposal that desires to create a realm of ‘places’ than the abstract geometrical configurations.

The gorge, an outcome of now illegal quarrying on the ridge, becomes the soul of the campus. As designers, S. Ghosh & Associates, much like the historic cavemen, continue a longstanding tradition of building in spaces offered and residued by nature.

their large sky-lit studios onto the banks of the gorge, which is fondly christened as ‘Kahn ka khan’ and streamed by a water edge with colorful plumerias and laburnums. The deck connecting the library, the cascading terrace café and the extended terraces of the workshops are the other spectators to this natural and designed revelry of a lyrical urbanity.

PLANNING The scheme has been conceived around two axes - the axis of reverie, which is the ravine, a prominent geological feature of the site and the axis of unity, the one that binds the proposed development with the existing spatial parameters of the site and with the larger city fabric and network.

PROFILE

The gorge becomes the primary organising element and has been used as a central court around which the academic campus rises. The students and the faculty have a direct access to the preserved and landscaped canyon from their studios, workshops, cafes and the students centre, turning it into a space for a pleasant and stimulating experience.

A site level difference towards the west, paves the way for the Hostels to be zoned there in concurrence with the presence of the residential neighbourhood of Vasant Kunj. The auditorium and the more public areas of the exhibition galleries and the administrative offices are planned close to the Nelson Mandela Road end. A large pedestrian entrance plaza and the convocation lawns open out towards the more institutional edge of the plot that faces the National Book Trust and Teri University.

A LYRICAL URBANITY The axis of reverie is conceived as a trail that defines the lyrical urbanity that the architects dream and create in the scheme. A fancy sketch conjures up vibrant students scampering down spacesnepal.com

The firm established in 1975, initially began with residential commissions and has now expanded to institutional, commercial as well as interior architecture. The partners Sumit Ghosh and Suchitra Ghosh, have been on the architectural advisory boards of semi-government organizations such as EPCO and HUDCO and have also been active in teaching. The firm has won a number of architectural competitions and have several published projects to its credit. (info@sghosh.com)

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PHASE-2 BLOCK student centre gymnasium cafeteria

PHASE-2 TOWERS (parking below)

basketball & badminton courts CONVOCATION LAWNS

UG HOSTELS

LIBRARY RESOURCE CENTRE computer rooms PG HOSTELS formal drop off point for visitors COURT OF ORIGINS

SUBSTATION power backup rooms fire tanks pump rooms below

Dept. of Architecture (UG) administrative & faculty rooms

PEDESTRIAN PLAZA

workshop below AUDITORIUM, amphitheatre above PG DEPARTMENTS OFFICES DOCTOR’S CANTEEN LAYOUT PLAN

DELHI POLYTECHNIC AT MADRASA ROAD

JHABU’S GREEN

ANNIE GIVES IT THOSE ONES

FIROZESHAH ‘TJ’ MINAR

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KAHN KA KHAN

MADRASA CHOWK (COURT OF ORIGINS)

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INTERNATIONAL

RECREATING SPATIAL HISTORY AND MEMORIES The scheme further identifies the loss associated with shifting the campus from its present location and from its original site at Kashmere Gate earlier. It endeavours to answer the important query of how urban design can deal with the loss of spatial history and lived memories. The scheme thus begins its morphological advancements with the placement of a trapezoidal court of the same geometrical configuration as the court of the first campus at Kashmere Gate. Naming of places in the campus brings back old associations and memories keeping SPA’s link with its own past vivid. One may find places with names as “Ferozeshah ‘TJ’ Minar”, “Jhabu’s Court” or “Doctor’s Canteen” blending the experience of the new campus with the nostalgia of its glorious past.

WAYFINDING Large pedestrian zones are afforded by an efficient loop road and one can effectively traverse the entire academic campus without crossing a single road and approach the hostel over the vehicular road by utilizing the site levels effectively.

SUSTAINABILITY Concerns of climate and sustainable systems, not as an imposed layer but as a sieve for other concepts, inform the final design so that the microclimate of the gorge cools the spaces of the studios through natural ventilating ducts and chimneys, and building blocks orient themselves away from the glaring sun to channel monsoon winds through the campus.

Suggested typologies for the studios indicate a clever double layered north lighting system and large upper ground pilotis.

GORGE WITH WATER AND DENSER VEGETATION HAS A COOLER MICROCLIMATE CHIMNEYS DRAW COOL AIR THROUGH TUNNELS FROM GORGE INTO STUDIOS AND CLASSROOMS

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NATURAL FLOW OF RAINWATER INTO GORGE

SHADED INTERNAL COURTS AND STREETS

RAINWATER HARVESTED FROM ROOFTOPS BUILDING ORIENTED TO NORTH-SOUTH

ROOT ZONE TREATMENT SYSTEM PROPOSED IN AREA UNDER HT LINE FOR OPEN SEWERS PRESENTLY DISCHARGED INTO SITE RAINWATER HARVESTING POINT

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THIRD

Vishva Priya / Chelsea West Architects,

SPA campus site is situated on the Delhi Ridge, ‘the green lung of the capital’. The new developments in this landscape require a new paradigm for planning and design that projects a seamless integration of the natural forms and processes in the built environment. The goal is to create sustainable patterns of development that are responsive to the ecological, cultural and historic resources of the site.

New York, U.S.A. streets, the ‘Circle’ also exemplifies the idea of ‘interior urban design.’ The ‘Circle’ connects all schools and disciplines of the campus and also extends out to go around the Canyon Green.

Campus Ensemble: The Common facilities are anchored to the south end of the Canyon with the academic wings spreading out to embrace the Canyon. The woodland mediates between residential buildings and the Academia.

PLANNING Green Ridge: The Green Ridge is a harmonious merging of the natural and the built environment, focusing on the conservation, restoration and enhancement of the site’s natural habitats.

Landscape Arboretum: Complementing the adjacent Bio-Diversity Park, the campus is developed as a Landscape Arboretum - an ecological outdoor museum and laboratory of the native and adapted flora and fauna of the Delhi Ridge. As a center and model of ecological restoration and bio-diversity research and demonstration projects, the Landscape Arboretum becomes a destination for educators, professionals, students, and the public at large as a place for relaxation, recreation and education.

The Academic Circle: The Academic Circle symbolizes the idea of holistic and interdisciplinary learning and the unity of the natural and the built. Designed as meandering

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INTERNATIONAL

CAMPUS DESTINATIONS Postgraduate School: The P.G. School consisting of 3 towers is connected with two and a half storey high base that forms the west wing of the academic building. This lower level block is punctuated with voids, ramps and display wall connected with the Academic Circle. The departmental identity is created by form of each unit separated by levels, blocks, internal streets and courtyards. The upper levels house the Planning Departments opening directly onto sloped green roofs facing east and the Canyon.

The Commons: Centered on the Amphitheater, this group of common facilities includes the Auditorium, Cafeteria, Gymnasium, Student Center and Lecture Halls. The auditorium, the stage and double height foyer open directly into the Canyon Green with forest views. The subterranean library opens to the Canyon like a rock cut cave architecture with outdoor sunken courtyards.

WATER HARVESTING

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PROFILE

Chelsea West Architects, with offices in New York and New Delhi, has achieved wide recognition.

Vishva Priya, the founding principal, opened the firm after a successful tenure as a senior designer at Johnson Burgee Architects, New York and Kanvinde and Rai, New Delhi. After an 18 year partnership at Ahuja Priya Architects, New York and with several award winning projects, CWA was formed with a dedicated mission of integrating art, architecture, planning and sustainable design. (vpriya@cwany.com)

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WAY FINDING There are two main points of entry: the Woodland Entrance serves as the main arrival point, bringing visitors to the Administration building and the Postgraduate School, and the Ridge Entrance forming the upper entrance, which weaves through the rocky hummocks and leads to an arrival court for the Undergraduate School building. The two entrances are connected to form a sunken loop road providing access to the arrival courts and the parking. Sunken arrival courtyards lead to two-level garages located below the building’s footprint.

ECOLOGICAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND SUSTAINABILITY Greenways: The Green Ridge greenways system is comprised of the Canyon Green, the Landscape Arboretum, the Woodlands, Bio-diversity Park and other natural features such as the ridgeline and wetlands. The goal of the greenways is twofold: to protect the native ecosystems and also to serve educational and recreational purposes.

The Undergraduate School of Architecture: The U.G. School is also distributed in three inter-connected towers with two storey high base, which forms the East wing of the academic cluster. This lower level block is interrupted with voids, stairs, open theater and display wall connected with the Academic Circle. Green terraces form the upper levels of the buildings and spill down to create a physical and visual connection to the Canyon Green.

Art Quad: Located east of the P.G. School, the Art Quad is oriented to the Canyon Green, the heart of the campus.

Students and faculty descend from their classrooms and enter a market-like setting, where people gather in outdoors and exchange ideas developed in the built environment.

Arch Court: This area is a physical and visual extension of the U.G. School. This terraced court rising from the rocky outcrops opens the upper levels of the school directly into the Canyon Green.

Residential Courts: Residential blocks are arranged to form a variety of enclosed and open courtyards as outdoor rooms as communal spaces for the students.

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Canyon Green: Canyon Green (canyon and the surrounding areas) is at the heart of the new campus. Oriented to the BioDiversity Park and embraced by the academic towers, it forms a campus quad with framed views of the surrounding landscape.

The forested canyon is a natural refuge and reservoir that collects water.

Water Harvesting: The goals for rain water harvesting is to restore the natural hydrological cycle to the extent possible, minimizing runoff and erosion, and creating ecological, aesthetic, educational and recreational amenity.

Solar Energy / Bio-Screens: It is proposed to install photovoltaic (PV) roof system and a photovoltaic shading system over the plaza. The openings in the south and west facade have bio screens as external shading using plants which creates a soothing microclimate.

FUTURE GROWTH Each department location and internal relationship shall be established in consultation with SPA. The urban design plan allows for future growth and flexibility.

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INTERNATIONAL

SPECIAL MENTIONS Verendra Wakhloo (and team), Delhi, India

PROFILE

A group of '08 graduates from School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi- Ashish Gupta, Bhavna Muttreja, Kavery Singh Manki, Meenakshi Chauhan and Swati Sharma (from top to bottom) are promising young architects, presently working in esteemed architectural firms. Verendra Wakhloo, Managing Partner & Principal Architect of Matra Architects & Rurban Planners, established since 1990, has 23 years of extensive experience in architecture, town planning & campus. (mail@matrarchitecture.org)

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The Bodhi Tree, Bangalore, India

PROFILE Incepted in 2002, the firm has created a niche for itself as consultants in the field of architecture, planning and interior design. 'the bodhi tree' includes under its crown a noteworthy repertoire of projects- emphasizing a symphony of sensitive spaces orchestrated together ingeniously to enlighten the user; enlightenment of sight, of touch and of space. The Team for the SPA competition involved Vishvesh Kandolkar, Sankalpa, Ravi Ankaiah and the principal- Arun Balan. (thebodhitree@gmail.com)

INTERNATIONAL

Samyak Architects, Pune, India PROFILE

Started as a partnership firm of 3 like-minded professionals in a small office in 1992, Samyak today is a well managed firm in Pune, growing fluently under the able guidance of DirectorsGaneshkumar Wable, Sandeep Bamb, Subhash Takale and Ramakant Bhutada. The envelope of works ranges from tiny interiors to mega townships. (info@samyak-c2.com)

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Archiplan Pvt. Ltd, Kathmandu

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Prajwal Hada and Associates

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SLTD( Shelter and local technology development centre)

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SPADECO (Spatial Design Company Pvt .Ltd)

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87

OPINION

Odyssey of Ganatantra Smarak Prof. Bharat Sharma

I

have ventured to pen some of my feelings regarding what I call ‘ODYSSEY OF GANATANTRA SMARAK’. Though I have tried my level best to be objective in my remarks, they may sound to be too subjective for some and may not subscribe to my views.

I do not question the validity of the Republic Memorial but I do disagree with the Modus Operandi of the so called competition to select the best. I do not question the good intention of Department of Urban Development and Building Construction (DUDBC), but only intention is not good enough to materialize if the very process is ill conceived. The TOR drawn by the above stated department was rather ad-hoc and looked like a preconceived biased start, without having a comprehensive professional in-depth thought. It looked very much like a dictated notion by political high muscle which was blindly followed by the department regarding the selection

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of site of the Smarak. It was an extremely wrong start. Even the requirements of the Smarak complex-to quote some: the big congregation hall, parking lot seems ludicrous. It seems the erroneous notion of “Big is beautiful” prevailed. To be candid and straight, even the architects involved in the competition seem to have swallowed as given instead of educating the client about site selection.

Ritual parts were more or less fully followed but the very “Heart and Soul” of the Smarak concept and its compatibility was somewhat not given deeper thought barring a few like Sarosh Pradhan who perceived it in a simple but dignified way. It is not my intention to undermine the others who are good too. Though I have congratulations to the winners and all those who participated in the design competition, I have my strong reservation on adhoc-ism of the process.

At the same time, I do congratulate SPACES who organized a programme in DUDBC, which was a post award presentation. I was also present there, but I feel that our comments were like inviting the doctor after death to brief the status.

Let the concerned agency make a fresh start in a more comprehensive way, encompassing a wider cross section of people for this very prestigious national monument. A more dignified culture of competition with established practice elsewhere should be adhered to.

Hence soul searching on the parts

of architects in general is pretty essential. A trend setter is the call of the hour. Regarding the first prize winner and others, all I could say is that my “kudos” for the winner, but it would have been more gratifying to themselves too if the results were the outcome of a right process. No reflection is cast on members of Jury as they may have had constraints.

Prof. Bharat Sharma was the Deputy Director General of DUDBC and is currently associated with Nepal Engineering College at Kathmandu. (dhabauli@yahoo.com)

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IMPRINT July-August 2009

89

OPINION

A

rchitects’ contribution sought to erect a monument to commemorate the historic change in today’s Nepal by the rulers of this country is commendable. The designs proposed were good as an architectural project. Any architectural institution would be delighted and proud to have such works produced in its studio. The job was born from a political problem that sought an architectural solution.

The audience and the owner of the ‘monument’ in this case therefore, are the Nepalese people and those who are interested in history.

With all plausibility, there was no reason to limit the exploration to find the solution within a construction criterion only.

Moreover, at such a crucial juncture of history when everybody is dreaming and creating a vision for tomorrow’s Nepal, the designs produced epitomized delusion rather than perception. Why should the architects be devoid of the coherency with the mass in general?

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Fly Beyond the Horizon Reflections on the designs of Gantantra Smarak Ar. Devendra Nath Gongal The result was the product of the orthodoxly way of interpretation and thinking, that could not venture to break the boundary of regimental architecture. The designs (most of them) reminded me of mausoleum, museum, valentine’s park, or monument to the fallen heroes but not ‘Gantantra Smarak’. They could not arrest the subtle and sublime spirit of the revolution that made the country a ‘Republic’ and emancipated its people. Comprehension of that particular moment of history, and its political essence that could recapture the revolution of 2006 is the cognitive road to understand the aspiration of the people. This approach then could romanticize ‘Gantantra’, which I think, is the necessary element of the ‘Gantantra Smarak’. Architectural solutions through this approach

can establish communication with the mass, making it a part of their lives. This is possible only if the architects become a part of ‘Gantantra’ rather than its interpreter.

This is one side of the ‘Gantantra Smarak’. The other side is its spatial placement. Most of the time, the space around an architectural object becomes more important than the object itself. Synergy of these two creates architectural wonders.

The presented designs have treated the site in a conformist way. ‘Site’ is ‘location’ and not square metre of land with boundary lines. The given site is one of the most important landmarks of Kathmandu.

Designers underestimated the impact of their proposals on the urbanscape of

the capital. Their approach towards the site was passive and could not expropriate the golden quality of the location. The location here was more important than the site, and treatment to the site (location) could have helped in romanticizing the concept, arresting the moment of history and transferring the whole complex into a pièce de résistance of Kathmandu. The opportunity to contribute to the landscape of Kathmandu was miserably missed. Fear of not winning the contest could have prompted the designers not attempting to break the boundary chain.

This is the appropriate moment in our history for new, big ideas, and flights of fantasy. Let us not hesitate to break the leitmotif in architecture. If we do not do it now, we will lament for ever.

Ar. Devendra Nath Gongal is Past Chairman of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation of Architects.

SAARCH. (devendra@multinepal.com.np)

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