CEPT_M.Arch_Rupture Suture | Lieux De Memoire_2020

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RUPTURE SUTURE | LIEUX DE MEMOIRE

Partition Museum of Bengal at Kolkata Himanshu Godara PG190385

Introduction

The partition of India in 1947 was most horrific event of the twentieth century. Much has been written about the Punjab and the creation of West Pakistan; by contrast, little is known about the partition of Bengal.

This project talks about divided Bengal to memorialize history beyond nationalism, and keep memories alive by developing site of memory or lieux de memoire as Piere Nora frames it, where lieux de memoire could be Spectacle of Memory, Performance of Memory, and Empathy and Memory.

Memorializing works as a mnemonic device by keeping alive memories particularly when two nations have been through the traumatic incident of patition.

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“People who don’t learn from the past are condemned to be repeated.”, Also the other side of equation says “People who don’t read from the past also don’t get chance to get repeated.”

It’s not that all things have gone wrong in the past but things have gone right, lessons can be learned from those too.

Christopher Capozzola,2014

WHY TO MEMORIALIZE ?

Memorialization gives presprective to our own time and allows us to understand where we are and where are we going.

Also, it makes us relize the issues we are facingand diffent ways of dealing with them. In many cases issues are same, so lot of them that we are facing today are not new; and hence it helps us to be aware of complexity of the society and cultural issues of citizenship and choices.

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“Lieux De Memoire are created by a play of memory and history, an interaction of two factors that results in their recifrocal overdetermination. To begin with, there must be a will to remember.”

-Pierre Nora, (Between Memory and History: Les Lieux de Memoire, 1989)

WHAT TO MEMORIALIZE ?

As an architect what are we doing to the history of the country and what are we memorializing ?

Are we only highlighting the accomplishments, or also expressing the incidents which made us feel ashamed?

If we want to construct ourselves into responsible human beings we need to express each and every part of history in an explicit way without tampering with the originality.

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“It is the exclusion of the event that defines the lieux de memoire. Memory attaches itself to site whereas history attaches itself to events”

-Pierre Nora, 1989

HOW TO MEMORIALIZE ?

Memorializing historical event through a tangible translatioin into architectural such that it provides an emotional stimulus by imbibing the Architectural strategies such as:- Placement - Lighting - Darkness - Colors - Matrials - Silence - Texture - Temprature - Scale and Proportion

-Zumthor,2006

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COLLAGE

The collage here highlight the events of migration which went on for nearly two decades after, the severe riots of “Direct Action Day” of Calcutta and Nohakahli in 1946.

The collage refers to In a Place and In a Land by Manik Bandyopadhyay which narrates the unheard story of families such as those of Narahari from Calcutta and Habib Mian from Noakhali who had a sense of attachment and belonging to their land,When most people of minority community started migrating to their respective dominant area due to their distrust on the other community.

GANGOPADHYAY, Narayan. 2008 BANDYOPADHYAY, Manik. 2008.

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An abstract model, made using white cement with rough texture on all surfaces, reflects the hard time and the rough events of partition India has been through.

The red wax represents the riots in which many famiies from both sides of borders suffered and lost many lives of their loving ones. Their loss has been shown in a metapherocial way by showing the accumulation of red wax on the other side of the model which leakes through the crack of the model.

EXPRESSING NARRATIVE 12 | Story Interpretation - Model Story Interpretation - Model |13

It is a material based exercise to embody rupture suture, in which i tried to create a spectacle and engage the user in performance to experience the empathy.

In this model usesof materials are such that they help suture and hold together a seemingly tricky and thin section of white cement which represents uneasy atmosphere and tough situtions that arise through voilent, yet somehow forgotten incidentsof partition.

Simultionasly, it also shows the progession of rupture which started when division of Bengal was initially announced in 1905.

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Bengal partition is like a septic wound erupting at intervals causing pain to innumerable people. There was communal hatred between two major communities, where one community tried to wipe out another.

Through my design I want to memorialize and highlight the events of migration which is shown in the collage The migration went on for nearly two decades after the severe riots of “Direct Action Day” of Calcutta and Nohakahli riots created an atmosphere of intimidation and violence resulting in falling-out between two major communities .During this period, most of the people from the minority community started migrating to their respective dominant area due to their distrust on another community; while some families, attached to their land, were determined to stay back. For example, families such as those of Narahari and Habib Mian who had sense of attachment and belonging to their land, opted to risk their lives and stayed back during the riots.

DESIGN
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BUILDING LAYERS

Explaining my design by Lieux de Memoire in which the specificity of partition memory emerges in design in terms of planning, where two courtyards are the geographical location of Calcutta and Noakhali which have been specified along the rupture which is the dividing borderline of the site comparable to th border between East Bengal and West Bengal . Hence, this creates the site of memory for the visitor. The site of memory is developed on the idea migration where the built form on either side of specific rupture, that has been created, represents the borderline of East Bengal and West Bengal.

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SKIN

The layer of brick columns placed in ascending order ascends towards the rupture created by digging out the land.

As we start approaching the rupture or the dividing borderline of Bengal, the space between brick columns starts decreasing which depicts the flux of migration near borderline which was much higher than other places.

BUILDING LAYERS
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COVER

The design presents a gradual terrain on ground floor which increases as someone approaches the borderline or rupture, aiming to make a visitor feel uncomfortable as he/ she walks around it; simultaneously, the space between giant columns of brick starts reducing to create an uneasy atmosphere for the visitor, where the texture of eroded brick on the column adds up to this experience.

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UNDERGROUND

A brick column here represents a unit house, left abandoned by its residents during migration, glass columns reflect the narrative of families who choose to stay back depicting their determination and attachment to their land.

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ASSEMBLY 26 | Design - Building Layers Design - Building Layers |27
SITE PLAN (1:2000) METRO STATION TRAM MUSEUM BUS DEPOT 28 | Design - Site Plan Design - Site Plan |29
SEMI-OPEN EHIBITION SPACE GALLERY AUDITORIUM ADMINISTRATION OFFICES TICKET COUNTER ENTERANCE SEMI-OPEN EHIBITION SPACE GALLERY BASEMENT FLOOR PLAN ATRIUM CONFERENCE ROOM RUPTURE GALLERY EXPOSED CORTEN STEEL FLATS 30 | Design - Plan Design - Plan |31

The rupture gallery depicts the partition of Bengal, where both the sides are still connected through common cultural values which is shown by the corten steel flats which are reinforced into the brick columns.

The rupture, or specific borderline,and the profile of brick column change along the rupture line and its form; and give it a meaning of separation with the other brick column. Yet it is connected with the corten steel flats which looks corroded and in a way. It sutures the rupture that happened based on religion in the way that they are still connected through their Bengali cultural values and the language they speak.

RUPTURE-SUTURE
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SECTION 34 | Design - Section Design - Section |35
ELEVATION 36 | Design - Elevation Design - Elevation |37

The Atrium of the building has the installation of three walls with rough surface express the progression of rupture of the partition, in which each wall is specific to an incident of partition, starting with the one in 1905 which involves the Radcliffe line to the partition of 1947. On the walls of atrium timeline of partition has been shown briefing the visitors about the partition of Bengal.

THE ATRIUM 38 | Design - View Design - View |39

The dark gallery directs visitor’s movement through track lights. This gallery talks about the families of East Bengal who were attached to their land and decided to stay back instead of migrating, the story “Honour” written by Narayan Gangopadhyay on the family of ‘Habib Mian’ in 1946 which narrates how, when riots had taken their toll in Calcutta, the minorities seemed to be under threat and were exploited by rich and mighty in the name of religion. In this pitch-dark area a focused skylight falls on the floor, which represents the courage and love of the resident for his land.

THE INDOOR GALLERY 40 | Design - View Design - View |41

The semi-open area of basement floor creates as an experiential space, with an open courtyard in the centre. It is developed as a space where all the columns from the ground floor reach the basement, including the glass columns which represent the families such as those of Habib Mian’s in the city of Calcutta.

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SEMI-OPEN EXHIBITION AREA

This design through its tangible trasnlation of the Bengal Partition stories tries to take the visitor on a journey of experiences by imbibing Calcutta and Noakhali as its two courtyards and a series of experiential spaces in and around a rupture, the dividing border, hence attempting to re-create the site of memory for the visitor

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

BANDYOPADHYAY, Manik. 2008. “In a Place and In a Land [Sthane O Stane].” In Bashabi Fraser [ed.] Bengal Partition Stories: An Unclosed Chapter. Translated by Sheila Sengupta. Anthem Press. 201-209.

GANGOPADHYAY, Narayan. 2008. “Honour [Ijjat].” In Bashabi Fraser [ed.] Bengal Partition Stories: An Unclosed Chapter. Translated by Jayati Gupta. Anthem Press. 189-200.

CAPOZZOLA, Christopher. 2014. In Why is history important? National WWI Museum and Memorial. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGEOfghzcw.

NORA, Pierre. 1989. “Between memory and history: Les Lieux de Memoire.” In Representations 26: 7-24.

ZUMTHOR, Peter. 2006. Atmospheres. Boston: Birkhauser.

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EPILOUGE

It’s been my honor to be part of this studio held by Prof.Sonal Mithal where I got to understand the importance of history and its specificity in architectural design. Studio of Lieux de Memoire|Rupture Suture made us think on basics of theorizing and incorporating that in our design with concrete logic; which I use to subconsciously ignore and never gave that importance.

Under the guidance of Prof. Sonal Mithal, I explored lots of new and untouched fields of architecture which made me more confidant towards narrating and helped me develop new skills and also the designing part.

Its been a great semester; I look forward to follow this approach of theorizing and designing in field of architecture in my future. which will be always lieux de memoire.

Thank You

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CEPT_M.Arch_Rupture Suture | Lieux De Memoire_2020 by Himanshu Godara - Issuu