UD_SU21_104

SELECTED STUDIES Venkat Anirudh Bodempudi Graduation Portfolio M.S. Architecture & Urban Design Columbia GSAPP

CONTENTS

FALL 2020

SPRING 2021

Studio Project 1

Recombinant Urbanism

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Studio Project 2

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SUMMER 2021 Summer Workshop

Studio Project 3

Kinne Award

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Archi Citta

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Cine Citta

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Tele Citta

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Mega City

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Conceptualizing a ‘Department of Care’ for New York City Pushing past 2020: Looking for Equitable Solutions to Post Covid New York City Summer Workshop 2021 Prof.Victor Body Lawson 37

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WILLIAM KINNE TRAVELLING FELLOWSHIP AWARD 2021

Dhanushkodi The Aesthetics of Dereliction.

Proposal for the William Kinne Travel Fellowship 2021 Columbia GSAPP

Nupur RoyChaudhury & Venkat Anirudh Bodempudi MS.Architecture & Urban Design - 2021

Photograph by @ashwin / Instagram

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INDIA bay of bengal palk strait

jaffna

palk bay

delft island

pamban bridge rameshwaram island

dhanushkodi

adam’s / ram’s bridge

er

Index io

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bo

rd

Abstract / 3

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Objectives & End Products / 4 gulf of mannar

Proposed Itinerary / 5 Budget, Contacts & Bibliography / 6 Left: The ‘ghost town’ of Dhanushkodi is located on the Rameshwaram Island that was once a direct land link to Sri Lanka from India.

Today, more than half of it is underwater following a super cylonic storm in the 60s.

SRI LANKA

The Aesthetics of Dereliction / 2

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This innundated sliver of land is called Adam’s Bridge but known by Indian’s as Lord Ram’s Bridge.

Sri Lanka

India

palk bay

national highway 87

area of study

~2

0k

krusadai island

m

shri ram sethu view point

pamban bridge

rameshwaram temple town

dhanushkodi beach

59 The Aesthetics of Dereliction / 6

Abstract Following a devastating cyclone in 1964, the town of Dhanushkodi was declared ‘uninhabitable’ by the state government of Tamil Nadu, India.

With a significant portion of the landform submerged in the Palk Strait and more than half the population lost; essential services such as electricity, sanitation and water supply were ostensibly rationally withdrawn from the island. The remains of the settlement were gradually aggregated into the off-beat tourist attraction that it is today. Under the curious label of ‘ghost town’, the state Tourism Board has invested heavily in curating a unique tourist experience that is entwined with the ecological and geographic splendor of this island as well as the region’s religious mythology.

The most recent of these investments is that of the National Highway 87 which was inaugurated in 2017. It links the tip of the island - believed by Hindus to be the point where Lord Ram crossed over to Sri Lanka to mainland India. It is hailed by pilgrims and tourists as a regional transit infrastructure boon of sorts. However, as one drives down this picturesque roadway to the Shri Ram Sethu View Point, it is impossible to miss the coconut-leaf shanties and small groups of battered fishing boats that are tethered to the edge of the beach. It quickly becomes apparent that among the highly publicized ruins of the local church, the school and the post office; is a settlement of the survivors of that fateful super cyclonic storm.

The fisherfolk of Dhanushkodi exist as a subaltern in their own home.

Living as the ghosts of this ghost town, these approximately four hundred people are completely bypassed by the experiential economy that has sprung up around them. Neglected by their government and their fellow countrymen, these climate refugees are forced to live impermanent lives in their historically permanent homes. Their categorical delegitimization by the state via the purportedly exotic narrative of ‘damage beyond repair’ has perpetrated and perpetuated their covert impoverished existence for the last fifty-seven years.

Left: Our proposed area of study is what is known today as Dhanushkodi Beach. The fishing community is scattered in the ruins across this 20 kilometer stretch.

It is in this context that we would like to question and delaminate the aesthetics of dereliction. Beyond the optics of what is ‘ruined’ and the economics of fixing it or allowing it to deteriorate, we want to understand the spatial histories, local power dynamics and the consequent social trajectories that dictate the fate of these communities. By traveling to this constellation of hamlets in the stretch that is known today as Dhanushkodi Beach, we want to flip the ‘ghost town’ narrative imposed on this area by the outsider and instead pass the mic to the local fisherfolk.

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