What we need to question is bricks, concrete, glass, our table manners, our utensils, our tools, the way we spend our time, our rhythms. We live, true, we breathe, true; we walk, we open doors, we go down staircases, we sit at a table in order to eat, we lie down in bed in order to sleep. How? Where? When? Why?
It matters a lot to me that they should seem trivial and futile: that’s exactly what makes them just as essential, if not more so than all other questions.
Georges Perec, Approaches to What? (1973)
City Market
City Market is a sensory explosion. Produce and bodies mingle, weaving in and out of every space in innumerable ways. Near the toilets on the west side, there lies garbage and coriander—a heady mix confronting your brain, one that you don’t know how to react to—repulsion at the garbage-sewage or gratitude that the dhaniya masked it, somewhat. You come away from City Market feeling like it was all too much—either wondrously all too much, or overwhelmingly too much. And you are right. There’s garbage, sewage, hawkers, carts, fresh fruits, vegetables, flowers, paper, plastic recycling, implement shops, vendors, buyers, middlemen, stray dogs, cows in basements, and even history. Newer visitors to the market and its surrounding areas may find it hard to realize that here lies the origin of Bengaluru. The Pete first began as a two criss-crossing streets that expanded under various rulers, and was not only the commercial engine of the nascent town of Bangalore but also of military importance to its rulers. The Market sits on a battle site—a liminal space, and point of war between the British and Tipu (in his fort). To a large degree, the shape of the Pete can be traced still. It has expanded and diversified since then, although many of its traditions and communities remain behind, having evolved their occupations to suit more modern needs. 
Now, K R market is surrounded by important transport hubs, and you need go no further than the image below to see how close it is to many important Bangalore landmarks. 
The Market itself is unevenly occupied—overcrowded on the lower levels and barely occupied in the upper two floors. Hawkers and garbage claim spaces that are left over, and they are not entirely to be blamed.
The Market as it stands today doesn’t address the needs of its occupants and visitors, nor should it be expected to given the last renovation took place over a decade ago. Bangalore has changed immensely since then, and with it, the number and kinds of people who go to the Market. What we need now are new visions for our City Market. Visions that not only address its present, but also make space for a different future than we can imagine now, constrained as we are by memories of garbage and cobwebs.
City Market after all could one day look like this:
Or this:
Or all of these:
All we’ve done is re-align traffic, clean up the thoroughfares, designate spaces for hawkers, and bolster the older buildings. We have some ideas about how we’d like the Market to shape up in the future–but let’s not look at them just yet. We’re still waiting for yours.
Neighbourhood Improvement Plan: Shanthinagar
SHANTHINAGAR AND THE HOCKEY STADIUM
The Hockey Stadium area is an interesting and important locus; home to a variety of establishments—it is part of the Central Business District that extends from M. G. Road and Richmond Town, but also includes a hockey stadium arena, private and public schools, a hospital, an old-age home, an open sports ground, a park, posh residential areas, interspersed by middle-income houses and slums (impermanent dwellings) many religious institutions, large and small enterprises that fuel the formal and informal economies of this neighbourhood.
Its location between some of the busiest roads (such as Hosur Road, Richmond Road, Double Road and Residency Road),means it is also highly liminal space that is used by many people as a conduit to other areas of Bangalore
Diverse groups congregate along its fringes interacting with it in variegated ways: whether it is to eat snacks during work breaks (there are many informal and formal eating establishments on all major roads), or to talk to other parents while waiting for school to let out (O’ Shaughnessy Road) or even exercising at various points of the day (Richmond Park is filled with adults who exercise and walk along its pathways in the mornings and evenings, while the Mud Tank and Hockey Stadium are populated by children and young adults who play organized sports throughout the day). It is our goal to enhance these interactions by bolstering the mixed-use nature of these spaces, and by pedestrianizing the area as much as possible in order to link these areas to one another. Currently, there are clusters of people that gather around specific nodes, that tends to limit the flow of pedestrian and automobile traffic, in addition to isolating groups instead of encouraging a smooth flow and intermingling of different people.
Additionally, the diversity of institutions, spaces, and individuals in this neighbourhood make it an ideal site and model for exploring the idea of neighbourhood improvement in a responsive and proactive fashion in order to make communities of Bangalore more livable.
CONTEXT
The Hockey Stadium area is composed of many arterial and minor roads that intersect in an unplanned/non-grid-like fashion, have poor storm-water drainage, open sewers, and uneven or no pedestrian pathways, that increase the possibility of unsafe pedestrian and automobile interactions. The conditions of the roads in some segments forces motorists to meander in and out of lanes in a haphazard fashion, increasing the likelihood of accidents, in addition to slowing down the flow of the traffic, that is further exacerbated by unregulated parking. Open Sewers, poor storm water-drainage, public urination and indiscriminate garbage dumping on pavements makes this an equally un-navigable space for pedestrians, and is particularly egregious for a neighbourhood that houses a hospital and many schools. Informal establishments that dot this area like chai kaddes, snack carts, cigarette vendors spill over onto the pavement that result in clusters of people and two-wheelers, further aggravating traffic and pedestrian movements.
Our initial response will be centered around improving traffic and pedestrian flows by optimizing the geometry of the existent streets, and also involve creating amenities such as public toilets, garbage allocation areas, public seating spaces and expanding its sports offerings.
This is a first step towards making this neighbourhood safe, visually attractive, suited to diverse populations with diverse needs in a move to create a space that is open, stimulating, and sustainable by building upon the assets that it already has. Ideally, we would like to create a public space or community with areas for people to socialize, rest, interact and move about freely to create new experiences and relations with the hockey stadium area.
Neev School
Individuality and Institution
Children learn in a variety of places and in a variety of ways. NEEV School is designed to take into account the multiplicity of interactions children have with their learning spaces and the actors within such spaces–be it teachers, classmates, staff, seniors and juniors.
From secluded viharas to “connected” classrooms
“Again and again one finds oneself addressing paradoxes that can be resolved primarily through spatial means, such as how to enable young people to focus on just one thing, while at the same stimulating their curiosity by drawing attention to the richness of their surroundings.”
– Herman Hertzberger, Schools of Herman hertzberger, Abram de swaan
“There is only one method by which to attain knowledge, that which is called concentration.”
– Swami Vivekananda
Spaces for human relationships
A large part of childhood development is learning to navigate socially. Schools are formative sites for interactions that are both formal and informal, one-on-one or in groups, each as educationally rewarding and necessary as the other. Classrooms that open into large common spaces, help facilitate different kinds of interactions between students, teachers, schoolmates, staff and visitors that are integral to learning. The built environment supplements this open and fluid space by providing furniture and play equipment that can be oriented in multiple ways to suit different needs. These spaces encourage students to actively engage with the fabric of their school, and activates kinaesthetic and spatial learning. In addition to enabling different kinds of learning, the school itself lends itself as a structure that could be played with, consciously used and changed and ultimately, learned from.
FKCCI Centenary Pavillion
Pavilions provided the transition between rooftop spaces, sky and the landscape at times they were also part of the royal terraces.They also provided a sense of relief in dense urban neighborhoods, a space for multiple events and a symbolic identity.
Pavilion inside the fort madura built by Tirumala nayak, the print was painted and produced by Thomas and William Daniell’s in 1798 as part of their collection ‘Oriental Scenery’.
SECRET VILLAGE
Tree of Life
The Tree of Life alludes to the inter connectedness of all life on our planet and serves as a metaphor for common decent in the evolutionary sense invoking a balance in the cycle of life.
The perfect balance
Physical illustrations of balance (equal air pressure) on the inside as well as the outside.
Self Similarity
A self-similar object is exactly or approximately similar to a part of itself i.e. the whole has the same / similar shape as one or more of the parts.
Self Similarity in Nature
Because no element can be coerced to follow a certain path, no large number of elements in nature will display the exact same pattern as another group. Patterns caused by large numbers of elements are alike but never the same.
ORIENT HORIZON RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBOURHOOD
Aesthetics of incomplete has often been celebrated throughout Asian subcontinent at times through meditative approaches of Wabi-Sabi and at times through comprehensive list of expressions defined by Rasas . Conceptually it was an exercise in finding contemporary expression for time tested and celebrated spaces that responded not only to the cities and immediate context but also to absence and wilderness within manicured morphologies. Structures like Pavilions and Jarokhas have been long part of building traditions and often acted as a window to the city.
The main question we asked was when we are building tall structures can we reconstitute the way they respond to the city.
The Earth – the imperfect
Without a speck of dust being raised,
the mountains tower up,
without a single drop falling,
the streams plunge into the valley.
– An Ode to the Dry Landscape by Muso Soseki (1275-1351)
The Sky – the impermanence
- Cluster plan
- Schematics
- Cluster plan
- Typical floor plan
DESTINATION MALL
Through the ages transition spaces and market spaces have been symbiotic and inseparable in nature
The ideal mix
Space planning should cater to diverse needs. To be seen as destination for all, it will have to have an ideal mix of activities.
How you showcase your brand is one of the most crucial parts of retail design. There has been considerable evolution since the days of glazed arcades and crowded bazaars.
“On an average 60-70% of the space in retail stores is a sales floor and 20-30% is storage and services. Approximately, 7% of store area goes in front display.”
Design Factors
o The entrance ways
o The car parks
o The flow of people
o The places where people stop and congregate
o The larger anchor tenants: type and location
o Standards of signage
o Lighting internally
o Transport to and from the property
o The tenants that seem more successful than others
o The tenants that seem to feed customers off each other
o The amount of time that people spend at the shopping centre
o The busier days for customer shopping
Suchitra Cinema and Cultural Academy
In all Indian languages, the word for pilgrimage contains the root for “to go”, “to move” – yatra
To move is to transform
In our design process, we tried to explore this idea of movement/journey: both the physical path of the spectator within the site and also the intangible experience/journey through spectating.
On a more technical front, we’ve taken into consideration environmental context–studied the incidence of solar radiation, temperature and rainfall data, and particularly the tree-rich site’s role in providing succor/relief from a building-dense residential neighbourhood.
“The act of pilgrimage/Journey serves as a bridge between the known realm of the earth, nature, society, and the unknown world of divine beings, from the ephemeral and illusory to reality and eternity.”
Richard Lannoy
It is these journeys where the real theatre unfolds, beyond familiarity in to the maze of abstract relationships
From Natyashastra to poetics the ideal performance space has been ever-changing at times changing with the art of storytelling and at times changing the art of story telling theatre studies.
Suchitra Cultural academy proposes a film school, offering programs spanning major aspects of film making. It includes specialized spaces for production such as edit suites, sound studio, animation studio, drama studio and so on. In future the Academy would also act as a platform for inter-disciplinary dialogue between various creative fields to support emerging talents and collaborations.
Keeping all this in mind the proposed program consists of a comprehensive outline of space requirements.
LIGHTHOUSE AT RHENIUS STREET
Why Lighthouse?
Cities icon to showcase Artistic excellence
A place for alternate viewpoints
Space to perform & promote
To create an “Alternate Star”
La Rue Kétanou
“C’est pas nous qui sommes à la rue, c’est la rue qui est à nous”
This literally means, We don’t belong to the street, it’s the street that belongs to us – figuratively. We are not merely a reflection of our environment, rather environment is the reflection of us.
Lighthouse illuminates – symbolizes moving forward
In historical context – “तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय” – Tamaso ma jyotirgamaya – “from darkness to Light” – Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upanishad
Lighthouse is for?
A performance platform for varied activities
A reference hub
A startup destination
A place for business in creative fields
A place to showcase
VALMIKA OFFICE TOWER
Ants never cease to amaze us.
They navigate the world with internal pedometers.
They can build a life raft in 100 seconds flat.
And, further demonstrating the remarkable powers of de-centralized intelligence.
They are capable to tunnel into the earth and produce sprawling underground colonies, structures equivalent to humans building the Great Wall of China.
TEA HOUSE – SKF HEADQUARTERS
The idea is to create a green futurustic space incorporating fabric like skin tying up all the spaces
Tea culture as inspiration
The SKF Headquarters takes inspiration from a traditional tea house– where nature and built environments harmonize and reinforce each other to create space that is meditative, quiet, layered and fluid, like the practice and experience of drinking tea.
The Art, Science and Trade of Tea
“Tea tempers the spirit and harmonizes the mind; dispels lassitude and relieves fatigue, awakens thought and prevents drowsiness”
Lu Yu, The Sage of the Tea
“The first bowl sleekly moistened throat and lips,
The second banished all my loneliness
The third expelled the dullness from my mind,
Sharpening inspiration gained
from all the books I’ve read.
The fourth brought forth light perspiration,
Dispersing a lifetime’s troubles through my pores.
The fifth bowl cleansed ev’ry atom of my being.
The sixth has made me kin to the Immortals.
This seventh…
I can take no more.”
– Lu Tung, Chinese Poet
EXPERIENCE BANGALORE
Experience Bengaluru is a dynamic space which focuses on the visions and realities of cities.
Concentrating Bengaluru, it will create an evolving repository of various urban practices around the world that will inform the shaping of Bengaluru in a better way.
How does one experience a city,and how does another? what does one want a city to be, and what does another?
“If an image is to have value for orientation in the living space, it must have several qualities. It must be sufficient, true in a pragmatic sense, allowing the individual to operate within his environment to the extent desired. The map, whether exact or not, must be good enough to get one home.”
Kevin Lynch
Image of the city
The city as a whole
“If we consider these globally networked spaces of centrality as platforms for global operations of firms and markets, we might ask what components of these platforms are contained within a given city-region. Finally, it is noteworthy that these platforms cut across national boundaries. They are amalgamations of specific sub-national geographic spaces but also transnational electronic spaces.”
Saskia Sassen
Urban India understanding the maximum city
WHAT makes a METROCITY ?
The city is not a singular entity,it is a complex chemistry of many aspirations and actions. The mapping of a city should be
able to reflect this complexity in its most explicit nature and therefore aN open ended model is essential to represent the city.
Yantra
Yantra is an exhibit mapping Bengaluru through various lenses and scales creating a composite guide to
experience the city. It will be made of various models, screens, objects and dioramas.
Layered City
“The space in which we live, which draws us out of ourselves, in which the erosion of our lives. our time and our history occurs, the space that claws and gnaws at us, is also, in itself, a heterogeneous space. In other words, we do not live in a kind of void, inside of which we could place individuals and things. We do not live inside a void that could be colored with diverse shades of light, we live inside a set of relations that delineates sites which are irreducible to one another and absolutely not superimposable on one another.”
Michel Foucault. Of Other Spaces (1967), Heterotopias.
- Experience Bangalore