Thesis 2020

FOR the locals Of Tirupati

To propose an architectural intervention creating an environment that fosters community engagement and hence strengthens the ties and vision of the locals of Tirupati.

The thesis majorly focuses on: • •

How Architecture can foster civic engagement in growing cities.

To explore spaces that inspire action and creativity, leading to selfgrowth at an individual and community level.

Meghana Roy | THESIS 2020 | 1RW16AT061 | RVCA

Third space:

In community building, the third place is the social surroundings separate from the two usual social environments of home (first place) and the workplace (second place).

Third spaces are important for civil society, democracy, civic engagement, and establishing feelings of a sense of place.

Intent:

To propose an architectural intervention creating an environment that fosters community engagement and hence strengthens the ties and vision of the locals of two-tier cities.

Proposal:

A community center that inspires action and creativity, leading to self growth at an individual and community level.

To strike a balance between aspirations of the locals and the neighborhood they are familiar with.

The Tirumala temple existed since 5thC.AD

1100’s

Govindaraja swami temple was consecrated in 1130.

In 11th C. the region became a Vaishnava centre of Andhra Desa.

The temple survived muslim invasions in 13oo’s.

Tirupati

A city in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh; ‘Spiritual Capital of Andhra Pradesh’ The foothills region developed into a settlement, kotturu.

1800’s

The settlement near the foothills moved to surroundings of Govindaraja swami temple.

Smart city program

Under the smart city program, rapid urbanization and infrastructure development is in progress.

Sadly, even these programs are not in the interests of the locals as no notable breathing spaces, recreational or creative spaces at community or neighborhood level are implemented.

All the resources are concentrated towards the beautification of the city.

INFERENCE:

The communities are reserved due to lack of interactive spaces. This also effects the mindsets of people psychologically. (the idea of togetherness is quite often missing).

Some locals identify the need for these civic spaces, but the awareness on how to achieve this is missing.

Under TTD act 1932, all major temples around were handed to the TTD trust from govt.

1950’s

The now formed Tirupati grew around this temple.

Through time, the nearby villages merged into Tirupati to form a town

EVOLUTION OF TIRUPATI

City study

who are the locals?

The people who settled around the Govindaraja swami temple back in 1800’s owned the lands around the foothills. These lands were sold to the government in the 50’s and 60’s.

The plots were catered to various activities like health and education which increased migration.

Soon, the temple trust TTD joined hands with the authorities in developing the whole region.

Landmarks and nodes Mapping of: • Government buildings • Healthcare buildings • Educational institutions

Among the migrants who come to Tirupati, 60% of them choose to stay while the 40% leave after their need.

Demographics: post 1950’s

Occupation trends through decades:

1960-

1990-

City area:

27.44 km2 (10.59 SqM)

Density:

11,000/SqKM (28,000/SqM)

Population:

3 lakh+

Languages:

Telugu, Tamil

Religion:

Hindu, Muslim, Christianity

Inference:

• The government buildings sprawl all over the city, based on the wards each area falls under. The buildings under the urban municipality have been identified around the city and site.

• There are around 14 major universities among other smaller ones. Another 25+ private institutions apart from schools are also present. A large number of youth from all over the state study a variety of courses and graduate from these universities and institutions.

• There are numerous medical and health care facilities already in Tirupati. So, a community health facility can be out ruled from the Centre itself.

CURRENT-

Landmarks and nodes Mapping of various public building typologies

Landmarks and nodes Mapping of pilgrim inflow hotspots

Inference:

• There are only 2 main libraries which are open to the public, one belonging to SV university and another government library.

• Around 5 spaces for sports have been identified. The SV sports complex is the largest in the city, catering to most sports. But it is limited to one section of the city. Smaller grounds and courts are spread all over the city, catering mostly to badminton and tennis.

Empty grounds are used for cricket and inter district competitions of other sports.

• Two indoor auditoriums are present; a TTD auditorium and another that is owned by the SV university.

• There are quite a few public parks and gardens which are currently used for exhibitions and events when necessary.

Inference:

• The pilgrim inflow into the city is majorly from bus stand and railway station. The hotspots of these areas have been identified w.r.t the tourist places in and around the city.

• Site selection can be avoided in these areas to restrict the pilgrims flow into the community centre.

Based on ward map Of urban Tirupati

Meghana Roy | THESIS 2020 | 1RW16AT061 | RVCA

Area statement

Meghana Roy | THESIS 2020 | 1RW16AT061 | RVCA

Issues and concerns From SITE AND CONTEXT:

• Site connectivity • Site, harsher climate (foot hills) compared to rest of the city.

• Site might attract pilgrims (proximity of Iskon temple) • The privacy of residential layout should be maintained while catering to increased footfall that the design intervention might bring in.

Inference From PEOPLE AND PROGRAM:

• visible contrast in people's way of living (economic conditions) • The needs of users are very different and distinct. So, the resulted program is diverse catering to these varied users requirement.

• There is a dependency between performance and learning component while the recreation component is independent from the program.

Site context Activity mapping (500m radius)

Meghana Roy | THESIS 2020 | 1RW16AT061 | RVCA

CONCEPT statement

b. Kit of parts

c. A neutral space

There are many layers to a city.

A city is essentially a complex network of circulation and building usage In this network, some standout as markers either visually or through it function.

From the precinct analysis and the its inference, it is clear that the needs are very different and distinct for the users of this precinct.

Hence, the resulted program is also diverse and got compartmentalised into three larger heads.

For the users to experience the availability of choice in activities in each parts, a neutral space is required.

In a similar way, the idea is to create a network of circulation and building usage to evoke the precinct within a precinct on site, So that a neighbourhood feel can be bought into the community centre.

So, these diverse heads can be perceived as parts coming together to form a kit.

Each part is as important as the whole.

a. A mini neighbourhood.

Users enter into this common ground, feels like he arrived into a neighbourhood and then can choose the activity they want to be a part of.

The tire-two cities need an image of their own Through these neighbourhood community centres, the localness of the city can be evoked.

This precinct in particular can become the marker at neighbourhood and at city level.

At a larger scale, these community centres can be initiated at a global level too, retaining the local feel.

This Glocal identity can be achieved architecturally through: • Building form • Materials • Open vs built • Type of construction etc.

This neutral space can become a third space that can either get its own identity as and when needed or have a predefined identity to it, based on the functions taking place here.

This common ground area can be: • Built component • Semi open space • Open Plaza

To evoke the precinct within a precinct feel, these parts are perceived through different

hierarchy of volumes and circulation that

are grouped together to form the whole.

Each precinct group thus forms an urban plan at the scale of a building.

In this way, the part to whole can keep referring to each other.

All volumes, entrances and circulation routes are oriented towards a central open area, to create a visual relationship between each volume.

A physical connection between each volumes (based on the program) can be established at higher levels.

Meghana Roy | THESIS 2020 | 1RW16AT061 | RVCA

Concept section

Space explorations

Idea collage Meghana Roy | THESIS 2020 | 1RW16AT061 | RVCA