SQUARE-ed
Inscribed between urbanity and history
(Activating the negative space between two important locations in the city of Ahmedabad, India)
As part of the ‘Living LAB Workshop’ , with Prof. Davide Fassi and Francesco Vergani, the exercise was to identify a site in the city and enhance its usability/ functionality/ experiential and spatial aspects with a ‘Tactical Urbanism’ temporary intervention.
The chosen site was located in the old city of Ahmedabad, and marked by two important landmarks:
- The Sidi Saiyyed mosque
- The Sardar baug (garden)
The primary anchor point of this area is The Sidi Saiyyed ni Jali, part of a mosque built in 1572 CE, which combines elements of Indo-Islamic and Indian architecture. The area is located in the immediate vicinity of the Nehru bridge, that connects the Western part of Ahmedabad with Relief road (the erstwhile business district) of Ahmedabad. The Lal Darwaja bus terminal is also located nearby, and is the central transport hub of the area, also leading to major vehicular movement. The house of MG, which is one of the city’s most popular heritage hotels, and sits across the road from the mosque. The Sardar baug public garden measuring around 10 acres, one of the oldest and largest gardens of Ahmedabad, sits towards the west of the traffic island created by Sidi Saiyyed mosque.
The site offers interesting yet challenging possibilities since it was marked that most users were familiar with the dexterity and craftsmanship of the mosque, but not the expanse of green in the middle of bustling urbanity right across. Thus it needed an intervention that could channelise the use of these spaces as a whole, for the community.
The first step to this was carrying out the spatial analysis of the site and its surrounding.
After this, the qualitative aspect of mapping i.e ethnographic analysis was carried out.
The prime inference of this ethnographic analysis was that a fair number of people had visited the mosque but not the Sardarbaug garden.
After this, a peer-to-peer discussion with Gabriella Mattei ensued, which led to identifying the strengths (historical site, with lot of movement, next to a big garden) and weaknesses (car traffic and vehicular movement) of the site.
Keeping all these points in mind, the final proposal was formulated. The idea was to create the notion of a space-the ‘in-between’, that held together these two landmarks and connected them. Two squares: the ‘Cultural square’ and the ‘History square’ were created. The in-between space was created as a ‘History walk’ that led you from one square to another, thereby creating a holistic spatial experience.
And a spatial journey map was created, which mapped the user interaction with the intervention, at every step.
Some views that capture the transformation of the space:
Providing a structure to the everyday market, with canopies and temporary structures, forming a central court. The fore-court is tucked towards the garden, with seating under the shade of the mature trees that dot the site, and connects axially with green that lies beyond.
The ‘History walk’, an exhibition of sorts about the Sidi Saiyyed jali, Bhadra fort and other important landmarks on that part of the town-along the wide sidewalk, with canopies on top, and water mist that gets sprayed periodically, to reduce the temperature during the scorching summer of Ahmedabad.
The sanctity of the precinct is respected and maintained. A layer of tall grasses that separate the chowk from the built is added. Benches for seating, at the periphery and a quintessential chabutro (bird-feeder); iconic to the pols and chowks of the old-city is added. A space for solitude and connecting with nature and history.
Thus, the tactical intervention(s) proposed, form a cohesive assimilation of the three separate entities and create a holistic spatial experience and journey from one to the other, through the ‘in-between’.
