The Cosmology of a Palimpsest. Memories of Ahmedabad. Design Report - MArch 2 - ESALA

The cosmology of a Palimpsest Memories of Ahmedabad

Silvia Maria Gioia Puddu S13461413 Design Report Integrated Path 2019-2021

1

Table of Contents

Introduction - The Thesis

4

The Cosmology of a Palimpsest

17

Part One

34

Part Two

48

Part Three

78

Palimpsest of Memories

89

Mill Owners' Association Building and Rani no Hajiro

91

Kalpur Darwaja

98

Baba Lului's Mosque

103

Khan Jahan's Mosque and design site

107

Conclusions

117

Appendix 1

118

Appendix 2

120

Notes

121

Bibliography

121

Sitography

121

Credits

122

Visual References

123

Introduction - The Thesis

The thesis evokes the Palimpsest that constitutes Ahmedabad as a multi-stratification of times and cultures, that are expressed both in presence of absences and in absence of presences.

The focus of the thesis, like a primary cell of the complex cosmology of the city itself, is an area in the south east riverbank of Ahmedabad, at a critical point that marks the end of the historic city.

The “Palimpsest” is a writing that has been superimposed on effaced earlier writings. It is a situation of multiple writings and multiple simultaneous readings.

In the old wall times and spaces collide. In the new walls times and spaces collide.

The methodology studied here deals with extrapolating different elements (material, immaterial, natural...) from the site and making them become new “spaces” that will be described in a specific time chosen from an infinite number of possible times. This echoes the title of the studio: “Ahmedabad: Past, Present and Possible.”

The results are a cosmogeny of elements and an incomplete cosmology of “immaterial” materials, like a shore that collects and connects to give a new sense to once disparate drifting material fragments, fecundating them with greater life as the Sabarmati wetness does to the Gujurat dryness.

4

Historic map of Ahmedabad and site, Murray, 1901

Recent pictures of the southern area of the site near the Khan Jahan’s Mosque showing the enclosing concrete wall and slums.

5

The city of Ahmedabad is composed and nourished by a multitude of realities that coexist in the chaotic metropolitan city in constant evolution.

Monuments of the Mugal era coexist with the traces of a landscape of abandoned mills and urban beautification projects; stone monuments and modernist architecture.

The site is therefore in the middle of this multiplicity, shaped by a methodology that mixes a present of ruins of a non-existent past with the mysterious stratifications of the old wall.

To evoke the methodology of the Palimpsest, the architecture is expressed with different materials. Steel, corten, aluminum, concrete, bricks, wood and climbing plants.

The site is enclosed by a southern lower level which ends with a concrete wall about 4 meters high (as shown in the second picture) and changes towards the north following the curved lines of the road and the Sabarmati river in a northerly direction until it reaches the other focal point, that of the building embedded in the old wall, which best symbolizes the “Palimpsest”.

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Views of the site

The old wall: from The Kahn Jahn’s Mosque to the “Palimpsest Building”

7

Clouds and dust: the materiality of the immaterial and the immateriality of the material

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1.Old Wall 2.Palimpsest Building 3."New Wall" on the Riverfront 4.Road 5.Sabarmati River 6.Slums 7.Khan Jahan Gate 8.Khan Jahan's Mosque 9. Hindu Temple 10. Raised level

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2 22 1 6

21

11.Administrative Building 12.Main Theater 13.Restaurant 14."House of Projections" or multimedia room 15."House of light and sand" or creative laboratories 16. Stepped Water collector 17.Restrooms 18.Panoramic Study space

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8 12

19

10 11 13

16 24

14

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19.Raised passages 20.Underground passage 21.Houses of "green" 22.Main Canal 23.System of canals 1 24.System of canals 2 25.System of canals 3 26.Floating platforms

4

17 15 18 25

3

26

5

Final Project Proposal. Roof plan

9

Other suggestions from the city: Amritvarshini Vav

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External suggestions: stepwell in rajasthan

11

Second semester view

12

Axonometric view of the final riverfront project

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Second semester view

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Axonometric view of the administrative building and main theater behind the road

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The Cosmology of a Palimpsest

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The project culminates in semester 4 with the introduction of a parallelism with a card game, in which each hand represents an incomplete cosmology in a deck of infinite cosmological possibilities.

The site is illustrated as if there was a cosmogenic principle of assembly between the parts, an incomplete cosmology with a cosmogenic principle that follows a chronology of development which is the one through which I developed the architecture. Parts of the “old” are also part of the cosmology, as if to mean that the new design has the task of bringing a forgotten past to life.

The table becomes a cosmological device, like a horrery, a machinery that realizes the cosmological rules of invention to establish the orders and relationships among the parts.

The following pages show in the superimposition of different sections (A total of 56 longitudinal sections all through the site), that the architectures are part of an incomplete cosmological system, a hand extrapolated from an infinite deck or infinite layers of Palimpsest.

While the Roman numerals follow the cosmogeny shown in the video, to describe the “cosmology” of the project, three major groups that deal with elements of a different nature have been identified.

Presences and absences between hand and deck.

Example of a Symbolic Cosmology.

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Cosmogeny of a Cosmolgy (video 1)

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INDEX I The Triangle II The Palimpsest Building III The Old Wall IV The House of Projections V The House of Light and Sand VI The Water Holder VII The Canal Connection 1 VIII The Canal Connection 2 IX The Mnemo-aquatecture X The Loti XI The Step-Wall 1 XII The Water Carriers XIII The Step-Wall 2 XIV The Administrative Building XV The Hypogeum Theater XVI The More Hypogeum Restaurant XVII The Water Carrier XVIII The Houses of Green XIX The Oasis XX The Hybrid Mandala

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Orbit One

Orbit Two

Orbit Three 22

Methodologies The site was studied as a Palimpsest with a series of sections through three directions.

The first one, was the vertical direction.

The 1:500 site plan, describing the SET (Series of Enzymatic Territories) scale has been studied in all of its 7 levels, comprehending two underground levels reached by the Theater and Restaurant building.

The second one is the main 1:500 series of sections and the derived 1:200 (building scale) that goes from East to West, facing the old wall.

The clarifying importance of that was found in both the sovraposition and the seriality of all the 56 1:500 sections (for the series, see Appendix 1), detailing all the different courses and slopes of ground, canals, road, walls, ceilings.

Whereas the larger scale, studied later in this document, enlightens the multilayered materiality of each building.

The last direction, through the South/West axis, is more fragmented, but nonetheless, effective to represent the various elements.

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Level 4

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Level 3

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Level 2

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Level 1

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Level 0

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Level -1

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Level -2

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Roof Plan and the totality of the East-West sections

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Overlap of East-West sections.

(See Appendix 1 for the series.)

video 2

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ORBIT ONE I The Triangle II The Palimpsest Building IX The Mnemo-aquatecture X The Loti XVIII The Houses of Green

II

XVIII I

IX

X

34

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The elements that belong to this group are the simplest cells and most symbolic parts from which more complex elements derive.

The building called "triangle" is treated here in its generative singularity.

It's described in the Body and Building scale, being the building chosen in semester 3 for a more detailed study, a microuniverse in its own right with its own ecological rules transposed then to the smaller scale.

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I 0 10 20 30 40 50 m

Plan of level 0 of the "Triangle"

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I 1 steel truss system with 3 layers of mesh 2 entrance 3 office room in the corten box 4 tank for rainwater collection 5 canals across the ground floor 6 concrete footbridge 7 maintanance spaces for the system of fertilization and ducts system connected to the river

1 1

2 3

6

3

7

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION

5 4

Longitudinal Section 1:150

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I

Cross Section 1:150

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I

1

3

2 Sloping system

Structural cable system External Corten steel plating

vapour barrier

Stainless steel support

waterproof sheet

Mineral wool insulation batts 80mm

Mineral wool insulation batts 80 mm

3 layers beam glass glued together 30 mm Double glazed opened skylight Operable Countertop with steel structure

Corrugated metal sheet Steel structure

Internal Corten steel plating

Truss system

3 2

4

5

4

Stainless steel support

4 5

Opening panels

1 PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION

4

6

6

Canals irrigation system 3 layers of aluminium mesh

7

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION

Steel Joint between footbridge and boxes Joint between beam and cable

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION

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7

8

Corrugated metal sheet Floating floor Mineral wool insulation (thermal and acoustic) batts 100 mm Hanging truss system

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION

Longitudinal Section 1:60

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I

Upper load-bearing truss system

Upper cover of the boxes with glass openings

Lower cover (countertop) of the boxes with operable openigns

Corrugated metal sheet (secondary beam system)

Primary truss system

Hanging corten boxes

Corrugated metal sheet (secondary beam system)

Primary hanging truss system

Aluminium footbridge

Exploded axonometric view showing the Triangle structure

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I

The chosen climbing plants, have “technological” specifications that guarantee maximum seasonal functionality. with some precautions it is possible to choose the most suitable design areas for a specific type of plant.

3

Cat’s-claw vine scrambles across the ground until it finds something to climb on and it’s winter hardy.

Cat’s claw plant care is easy, they will root without rooting hormone or special treatment. The vines tend to prefer moist and well-drained soil, but they’ll do well in virtually anything as long as it’s not soggy. They like full to partial sun.

It is drought-tolerant but grows quickly with regular irrigation and likes sandy or clay soil that is well-draining.

2

Wisteria loves to grow in loose, loamy soil that has plenty of nutrients and proper aeration. The soil must drain well, as wisteria does not enjoy having “wet feet.” You can choose a planting site in your yard that gets full sun throughout the day, as wisteria enjoys the direct sunlight for optimal growth.

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Wisteria

The Climbing Hydrangeas bloom during the early summer. By autumn, the leaves turn a vibrant yellow.

Climbing hydrangeas love rich soil and do well in full sun, partial shade, and even deep shade.

Their enthusiasm to grow knows no bounds.

3

2

1

Internal Mesh

1

2

3

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Cat’s Claw

The Boston Ivy vines not only lend greenery through the summer, but they also provide fall color.

Boston ivy is a true climber, attaching to masonry and wooden surfaces using holdfasts (aerial roots). Alternatively, you can let it spread out horizontally to function as ground covers.

It will tolerate full shade.

In areas that have hotter summers, Boston ivy plants might do best on walls facing east or north.

Boston ivy does best in well-drained, loamy soil, but it will tolerate many different soil conditions, as well as urban pollution.

Climbing Hydrangeas

Boston ivy

XVIII

vertical mesh

The houses of green, spread through the axis NorthSouth behind the road, were the first inspiration and pure example of the metallic mesh that can be found all around the site, named the “immaterial” material, that takes the shapes of the materials with which it lives.

Its main feature is that of allowing the climbing vegetation to become a further cladding material with the important important task of oxygenating, shielding from the sun, absorbing humidity, cooling down all the material spaces.

horizontal mesh

The houses of green are composed of many layers of this material. Some of them mark the passage between the parts of the site divided by the road, Some of them hold some element of urban design, such as seats or, as the road is higher than their level, stairs.

They follow the progress of the the “Water Carrier” (XVII) that can potentially continue indefinitely all through the riverfront.

furniture

passages

Exploded axonometric view of the "Houses of Green"

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Front elevation of the "Palimpsest Building"

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II

0

10

20

30

40

longitudinal section of the riverfront showing the sectioned Palimpsest Building on the Left

50 m

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IX X

The symbolism of water is a constant in the project. The Lotus (latin plural "Loti") is a symbol of purity, enlightenment, self-regeneration and rebirth. Its characteristics are in analogy with the human condition: even when its roots are in the dirtiest waters, the Lotus produces the most beautiful flower.

The floating platforms in lotus shape as well as the canals, the references to the Step-wells of Ahmedabad, act as a memorandum of the need of the architecture to relive and be purified through the agency of the natural forces.

From the very first design attempt the focus was in the research for evocative forms that could give a new, positive meaning to the concept of ruins covered by the passage of time, and therefore, redeem the nature from that idea of negative force that will impetuosly take back its spaces.

The "Mnemo-Aquatecture" and the "Loti"

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ORBIT TWO III The Old Wall IV The House of Projections V The House of Light and Sand VI The Water Holder XIV The Administrative Building XV The Hypogeum Theater XVI The More Hypogeum Restaurant XIX The Oasis XX The Hybrid Mandala

III

VI

XIV XVI XV

XIX IV

V

XX

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The elements that belong to this group are, essentially, the different buildings studied in their own materiality.

As we note in the plan, there are two main zones.

One is that of the Riverfront (IV, V, XIX, XX), with materialities and shapes derived from the Old Wall (III); The other one is behind the road, with the Administrative Building (XIV) and the two Hypogeum structures, Theater and Restaurant (XV, XVI).

For the spatial closeness of the two groups, the first one and the second one were studied together in plan, section and axonometry.

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III

Front elevation of the "Old wall" showing the Kahn Jahn's mosque and gate

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III IV

x

V XIX XX

w

Plan of the riverfront and cross sections

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w

x

VI XIX

0

10

20

30

40

50 m

Cross section WW

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IV V XIX XX

0

10

20

30

40

50 m

Cross section XX

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III

22

IV V

19

18

VI XIX XX

24

29

9 22 11 12 20

A

9

A

27

1 21

10

10 9

10

21 13 7

B

17 27

B

2

23 26

21 8

27 21 7

21 3

4

C

C

27

28

D

25

21

14 22

7

6

7

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1.Study Space 2.Restrooms 3.Stepped Water System 4."House of Light and Sand" 5."House of Projections" 6.Mnemo-aquatecture 7.Rain collection 8."Houses of Green" 9. Suspended Aluminium footbridges 10. Steel pillars 11. Concrete pillars¹ 12.Concrete vaulted sloped structure 13.Aluminium mesh boxes 14.Underground passage 15.Internal sliding wooden panels and seats 16.Internal Operable Louver system 17."Loti" or floating platforms 18.Sabarmati River 19.Main underground canal 20.Concrete footbridge 21.Entrance 22.Entrance to the Riverfront site 23.Road 24.Main canal 25.Canal system to bring purified water to the rest of the riverfront 26. Canal system 27. Discharge of extra water 28."Palimpsest" building 29. Old wall

D

7 16

21

5

E

E

15

21

27 16

Level 2 Plan of the Riverfront

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XX

0

56

10

20

30

40

longitudinal section AA. The Hybrid Mandala or study space

50 m

XIX

0

10

20

30

longitudinal section BB The Oasis or private restrooms

40

50 m

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III V VI XIX XX

0

10

20

30

40

longitudinal section CC "The Mnemo-aquatecture"

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50 m

V VI

0

10

20

30

40

longitudinal section DD The House of Light and Sand or creative laboratories and the Water Holder as a stepped water system.

50 m

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IV

0

60

10

20

30

40

longitudinal section EE The House of Projections or multimedia room

50 m

IV V

Second Semester athmospheric views of the "House of light and Send" and of the "House of Projections"

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IV V VI XIX XX

62

furniture

horizontal mesh

vertical mesh

structure

passages

contact with the ground

sequence of concrete arches with levelled water systems

internal load bearing walls

IV

concrete retaining walls and arched ceiling in bricks

V VI

external shaded spaces with mesh

XIX XX

external aluminium arched roof

corten hanging box

lightweight concrete arched roof and brick main walls

internal aluminium arched mesh

framed truss structure concrete upper roof concrete lower roof and load bearing walls

concrete pillars¹

structural truss system

movable internal wooden panels

arched coverage in bricks

internal box of aluminium mesh and concrete enclosing walls

various levels of raised aluminium footbridges and load-bearing waterproof steel pillars

63

64

XIV XV XVI

y

y

z

z

Overlap of floor plans and longitudinal sections

65

XV XVI

0

10

20

30

40

Longitudinal section YY

66

50 m

XIV XV XVI

0

10

20

30

40

50 m

Longitudinal section ZZ

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XV 0

XVI

10 20 30 40 50 m

1.Stage 2.Changing rooms 3.Restrooms 4.Technical room 5.Restaurant 6.Lower level of circular canals 7.Lower levels of aluminium footbridge 8.Operable corten louver system 9.Hanging Aluminium footbridges 10.System of ducts 1 11.System of ducts 2 12.System of ducts for discharge 13.Tank for rainwater 14.Ducts for excess of rainwater and connections to the rest of the area

13

5 8

4 6

1

7

3

9

2 13 14

11

10

12

-2 Floor Plan

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XV 0 10 20 30 40

H

H 50 m

3

G

G 9

F

7

4

8

10

2

F

15

1 16 11

6 5

1.Stage 2.Seats 3.Main Entrance 4.Reception 5.Entance to the seats 6.Hanging aluminium footbridges 7.Second level of cantilevered aluminium footbridges 8.Second level of cantilevered round canals 9.Second level of horizontal aluminium mesh (coverage) 10. Higher entrance to the Restaurant 11.Concrete foodbridge, connection Administrative Building-Theater 12.Underground canal 1 and technical spaces for fertilization system 13.Underground canal 2 14.Underground canal 3 15.Opened system of canals 16.Higher ground level

15

13

12

14

-1 Floor Plan and longitudinal sections

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XIV 0 10 20 30 40 50 m

1.Offices 2.Waiting room 3.Restrooms 4.Storage room 5.Cantilevered aluminium footbridge 6.Hanging aluminium Footbridge 7.Double height patio 8.Concrete footbridge 9.Entrance 10.Corten partially hanging box 11.Corten box on the ground 12.Corten hanging box 13.Corten hanging roof 14.Fourth level of cantilevered aluminium footbridge 15.Fourth level of cantilevered circular canal 16.Fourth level of aluminium mesh as coverage 17.Downpipe for rainwater collection 18.Main canal to the rest of the site 19.Higher ground level 20.Road 21.Sabarmati River

14

18

15

19

16

10

9 19

13

17

11 1 12

1

5

1 3

2

4

6

9 7

4 8

9

20

21

70

0 Floor Plan and cross sections

XIV XV XVI

0

10

20

30

40

50 m

Longitudinal sections FF, GG, HH

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XIV XV XVI

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Sovraposition of Cross Sections.

See Appendix 2 for the series

video 3

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XV XVI

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XIV XV

0

XVI

1

2

3

4

5

upper truss system

horizontal mesh

furniture

passages

corten hanging boxes

vertical mesh

structural system

contact with the ground 75

XIV XV

upper horizontal aluminium mesh

XVI vertical mesh

steel structure

upper load bearing truss system

cables hanging corten roof hanging corten box partially hanging corten box grounded corten box

vertical mesh

internal steel structure external steel structure upper load bearing truss system and cable

5 layers of hanging horizontal mesh (roof) corten finishes and rotating louver system

76

aluminium footbridges and cables

hanging corten boxes

steel structural system

horizontal meshes

concrete double wall

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ORBIT THREE VII The Canal Connection 1 VIII The Canal Connection 2 XI The Step-Wall 1 XII The Water Carriers XIII The Step-Wall 2 XVII The Water Carrier

VII

XVII

VIII XI XII CVI

XVI

XIII

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VII

80

XVII

VIII VII

XII

VIII

XII

XI XVII XI

VII

XVIIVI

VIII XIII

XI XIII VI

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The elements that belong to this group are those that have to do with the functionality of the water system spread all through the site.

In particular, the two “Step-walls” that enclose both of the two parts of the site, are an important feature with very important taks: they connect different levels of the site they bring the naturally cleaned water from the Sabarmati river to the buildings, they function as an acoustic barrier against the chaotic road, in particular thanks to double concrete wall.

Also, they allow to hide but make accessible for the maintenance equipements such as the water filtering system or the compost toilet with the fertilization system.

82

The water system works in

conjunction to the vegetation system.

bulrushes

The water from the Sabarmati river flows into the project through underground ducts and is allowed in a first filtered level through the concrete wall, in which the water is stored, filtered through Bulrushes (Scirpus spp.) and Golden Cannas.

Bulrushes in particular are excellent water purifiers. They remove excess nutrients from the water as well as oil and bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella. They also eliminate heavy metals such as copper, nickel and zinc.² Golden Cannas are drought resistant. This species can tolerate drought conditions once the plant is fully adapted to its micro-climate.

It is as a marginal plant and can tolerate periods of being submerged.³ As shown in the following diagrams, the water enters gradually into the system of visible canals.

There are three independent systems to allow the fertilization and the expulsion of extra water to happen.

golden cannas

The second level of filtration is done by the combination of water from the river and rain water stored undergound with a very gradual release in order to cover the dry season.

The third level of filtration happens in the opened canals that spread through the project.

Water lilies (Nymphaea spp.) and water poppies (Hydrocleys nymphoides) help to purify the water by absorbing nutrients. Hardy lilies are dependable and easy to plant and can grow in 20 cm of water. The water temperature should be about 70 degrees.

water lilies

83

VII VIII XI XII XVII

water from the river

water from the river rain collection to irrigate the site

rain collection

pool rain collection to irrigate the site

rain collection empty tank valves

valves

water from the river

rain water irrigation without fertilization and one swimming pool

84

pool

riverfront irrigation without fertilization and two swimming pools

water from the river

rain collection rain collection

valves rain collection

water from the river

water from the river

fertilization

riverfront and rain water irrigation with fertilization and one swimming pool

Three different configurations of the system of the sloped canals

85

XIII XVII

Sabarmati river

collection of rain

first filtration

86

second filtration

Sabarmati river

2

fertilization system

1

0

third filtration

release of extra water to the river and to the rest of the site

-1

-2

Three filtration levels

five levels of canals

87

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Palimpsest of Memories

1. Mill Owners’ Association Building 2. Rani No Hajiro 3. Kalupur Darwaja 4.Baba Lului’s Mosque 5. Khan Jahan’s Mosque and design site

Sovraposition of the Vashtu Purusta Mandala to the planimetry of Ahmedabad

89

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1. Mill Owners’ Association Building 2. Rani No Hajiro

The following collection of images, geometric manipulations and diagrams represent the way in which I interfaced with some of the various possible “Situations” that characterize the city of Ahmedabad.

The study started with two places.

The first one was the Rani no Hajiro, a place suspended within the life of the market, that is parasitically intertwined with the monument, and the dead world within its chore, consisting of a cemetery dedicated to the queens of Ahmedabad.

The second one was the Mill Owners’ Association’s building, a temple of modernism signed Le Corbusier, home of the association of cotton manufacturers.

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92

Mill Owners’ Association Building and Rani No Hajiro. Comparison of their entrances.

Mill Owner’s Association Building

Route to a imaginary memory Shadow of two worlds

93

Two situations and their fragments

Two situations and their fragments

Relics of a non-existent world Relics of a non-existent world

94

Rani No Hajiro / Ahmed Shah’s Tomb Geometrical patterns and chaotic paths Rani No Hajiro and Ahmed Shah’s Tomb.

Geometrical patterns and chaotic paths

95

ection 96

Rani no Hajiro - perspective and patterns of the Jaali windows

Perspective synthesis of the Mill Association Building Perspective synthesis ofOwners’ the Mill Owner Association Building

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3. Kalpur Darwaja

The 15th century Gate was the site assigned to me for the survey of Ahmedabad’s Old Wall during the field trip.

The place, in the center of the old city, was a jumble of busy streets and small shops.

The survey was carried out by me and two other students (Jack Parmar and Kevin Lee), but all the drawings presented in the following pages are done by me.

As in the Rani No Hajiro, and as we saw, in many other places in Ahmedabad, the sacred is not entirely distinguishable from the profane.

In an extremely fascinating way there are places of worship or small sepulchres, like spaces of silence in the midst of deafening everyday life.

Right next to the shops and the gate there was in fact, enclosed in a semi-hidden ravine, what we have named the “Tomb house”.

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PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION

100

Longitudinal section of the Gate.

1:100

Plan of the Tomb House 1:100

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4. Baba Lului’s Mosque

The researh carried out on the first semester lead me to study two other sites just outside the historic walls and close to the “new wall” on the south-east bank of the Sabarmati river.

The first site was the Baba Lului’s Mosque, part of the borders of a large forlorn area called Calico Mills.

Here, as it was clarified during the Field Trip,there exist many contradictions that concern Ahmedabad, such as neglected heritages, large slums and bad management of spaces.

Its fragmentation make it a right place for testing architecture.

103

Riverfront

Baba Lului’s Mosque

Chawls

Calico Mills Land

Chawls

Road

Residence

Bukhari Kabristan

Planimetry and section of the Calico Mills Planimetry and section of the Calico Mills

104

105

Baba Lului’s Mosque. East elevation and detail of a Minaret

106

5. Khan Jahan’s Mosque and design site

Since the first semester, it became clear that the site needed an architecture that would promote the selfreflection of the site itself, trapped in a moltitude of forgotten times and covered by dust, washed away by wetness before being discovered and becoming a memory.

Therefore the theme of of “Mnemothechnics”, became important as well as that of the Palimpsest, as a device that gives the power to the architecture to evoke something forgotten, a not lived and documented enough time. A device that gives life to the Palimpsest and makes it a place of “here” and “now”.

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108

Khan Jahan’s Mosque. South West Elevation and details of the Old Gate

109

The concept of Mandala became a reinterpreted symbol of the city, from a still image, a dynamic reality.

As Glauco Gresleri pointed out: “when the man moves he completes a real shift and, in the case of a more complex spatiality involving the third dimension, a crossing. This event in primitive cultures, where the sense of anchoring to the site expressed ancestral value bacause life and place were more closely connected, had a founding meaning. Mandala in the oriental culture is the sign of the passage and with the same sound indicates both the act of crossing and the punctual site in which - and through which - it takes place.” (...)

“How architecture has been able to grasp the value of the “passing” moment is demonstrated by the whole history of man’s constructive creation. From the igloo tunnel, from the fall curtain of the redskin hut, to the arched portal in the enclosure of the Nordic settlements to protect the churches, but also of the flocks, to the monumental spurs decorated with figures of saints in scaled progression of the entrances in the Gothic cathedrals, the space-time moment of the “passage” receives an emblematic connotation”.

The Vashtu Purusta m The Vashtu Purusta Mandala

110

Deconstruction of the human mandala Deconstruction of the Human Mandala

111

3.1 Application of The Vashtu Purusta mandala to the city of Ahmedabad

112

Application of the Vashtu Purusta Mandala to the city of Ahmedabad

Reconstruction attempts

Methodologies in development I

113

Methodologies in development Methodologies in development II 114

North Elevation

North Elevation

East elevation

East elevation

Roof PLan

Roof plan First semester design proposal

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Conclusions

The purpose of the thesis and of the preliminary geometric studies carried out on the city and on the various situations was to find a syntax that could potentially be used in different locations of the city. The chosen configuration is an example of the architectural methodology in which a series of spaces developed horizontally is preferred to a singular building, to recapture the human dimension and make the communities participate in a place in which to stay, live, create, experience.

Like in a memory theater each of the parts occupies a precise space that speaks for itself, has its own cosmogenicity that is evoked in its own shapes, but at the same time, as part of a totality which is more than the sum of the parts, it could not be separated from its cosmological position.

During the field trip we were able to witness how strong the communitarian dimension of sharing, communicating and narrating is. This, lead many people to occupy the city in the most disparate and often non predictable meeting places.

I feel like India is less linked than the western world to the private dimension of the home.

With this in mind, and, moreover, because of the tragic reality that India is currently experiencing, that keeps people apart and damages an already precarious system, I thought that it could be a good general approach to offer managed meeting places to the local communities, with rules, times and distances to be respected.

In my thesis, this concrete idea has its roots on an architectural "dream" of a place of possible timeless suggestions, a cosmology of invention, a Pantheon without gods.

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Appendix 1

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Appendix 2

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Notes 1) The structural system of the two vaults was inspired by Eladio Dieste's Gaviota. (https://www.researchgate.net/figure/La-Gaviota-by-Eladio-Dieste_fig1_326711550) 2) https://homeguides.sfgate.com/aquatic-plants-purify-water-43531.htm 3) https://candidegardening.com/GB/plants/eaabf98455d9bdfef9c454fdb2d7a368

Bibliography Geddes, Patrick, 'Notes on Ahmedabad', (1915) Irigary, Luce and Madder, Michael, 'Through Vegetal Being' [Two Philosophical Perspectives], (New York, Columbia University Press, 2016) Madder, Michael, 'Irigary’s Water Lily, in The Philosopher’s Plant, An Intellectual Herbarium', (New York: Columbia University Press, 2014) pp. 213 – 229.

Shah, Amrita, 'Ahmedabad, A City in The World', (London/Delhi: Bloomsbury, 2015)

Sitography Semsester 3 https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/special/xeriscape/growing-drought-tolerant-vines.htm https://divisare.com/projects/297809-a21studio-saigon-house https://homeguides.sfgate.com/aquatic-plants-purify-water-43531.html https://banduksmithstudio.in/activity/architecture https://greenpassivesolar.com/2011/07/watershed-solar-water-harvesting-home/ index.php (ctbuh.org) Climate of India - Geo-Jaydeep Mehta (google.com) Manual-on-Sustainable-Building-for-Hot-and-Arid-Areas.pdf (hamk.fi) Average Weather in Ahmedabad, India, Year Round - Weather Spark Stack effect - Designing Buildings Wiki (PDF) Use of vegetation and natural management of rainwater and grey water resources in the external space of the building (researchgate.net) Glenn Murcutt: Houses, Architecture & Design Philosophy | Habitus Living Understanding and Analysing Trusses - YouTube Composting toilet - Wikipedia Tectonique 5.5 / Glissement / Soulèvement - Oberflex

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Semester 4 https://www.architectural-review.com/today/roberto-burle-marx-ibirapuera-park https://monochrome-watches.com/christiaan-van-der-klaauw-planetarium-eise-eisinga-limited-edition-price/ http://migrandtour.blogspot.com/2010/04/creo-en-dieste-arquitecto-ingeniero.html https://sabarmatiriverfront.com/ http://www.tschumi.com/projects/3/# http://socks-studio.com/2014/12/29/the-combinatorial-models-of-the-folies/

Credits Jonathan Narro as structural engineer Andrew Leiper as echological engineer

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Visual references semester 3

From Left: Bathgate Partnership Centre Ciriani - Antiquities museum Roma Tiburtina Railway station https://banduksmithstudio.in/activity/architecture Tadao Ando - Theater of the Water MIA Design - Naman Pure Spa A21 Studio - Saigon House Raderschallpartner - The North Zurich Parkscape https://www.raderschall.ch/ RCR architects - Soulage Museum SO-IL - Kukje Galerie https://www.archdaily.com/office/so-il?ad_name=project-specs&ad_medium=single Edoardo Tresoldi

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Visual rferences semester 4

Bernard Tschumi, Parc de la Villette Bernard Tschumi, Parc de la Villette schemes Robert Fludd The Theater of Memory Orrery Christiaan van der Klaauw Planetarium Historic map of Ahmedabad, Murray, 1901 All the other images in the document are Authour's own work.

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