Garden of Reconciliation: Kashmir- Conflict and the Architectural Practice | Architecture Thesis on Urban Regeneration

Information

Project Name: Garden of Reconciliation: Kashmir- Conflict and the Architectural Practice
Student Name: Jay Shah
Awards: Gold medal for Thesis, Kamla Raheja Vidhyanidhi Institute for Architecture and Environmental Studies (KRVIA) Design Colloquium, 2018-19 | KRVIA Excellence in Overall Thesis Performance in Final year B.Arch, 2018-19 | Nomination Top 20 Worldwide, Archiprix International Award, Santiago, Chile | National Award for Best Thesis, NIASA COA Award for best graduation project, 2018-19 | Zonal Award for Best Thesis, NIASA COA Award for best graduation project, 2018-19 | Winner Jury Citation, Scholarchs Thesis 2018, Gold Medal, 2018. Organized by Vowels | Citation, Uni’ATA 2018, Best Graduation Project 2018-19 | Second Runner Up, Institution Category, Design Whack Competition, 2018-19
Softwares/Plugins: AutoCAD , Adobe Photoshop , Rhinoceros 3d , Adobe Indesign

Year: 2018
Discipline: Architecture
Level: Bachelors Design Thesis
Institute: Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute of Architecture and Environmental Studies (KRVIA)
University: University of Mumbai
Location: Mumbai
Country: India

Excerpt: ‘Garden of Reconciliation: Kashmir- Conflict and the Architectural Practice’ is an architecture thesis by Jay Shah from the ‘Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute of Architecture and Environmental Studies (KRVIA)’ that examines the cultural practices and stances of Kashmiris in the conflicted region, aiming to determine the most appropriate architectural practice. It seeks to initiate dialogue between Kashmiris and the state by examining social gathering, expression, and architecture.

Introduction: This architecture thesis looks at the conflicted area of Kashmir. The thesis analyses different cultural “practices” and the stances they adopt in this unstable region in order to determine which position is most appropriate for an architectural “practice.” The aim is to initiate a dialogue between the Kashmiris and the power (the State or individuals identifying with the State) by taking a ground-up approach to ideas of social gathering, expression, and architecture. This dialogue will not only challenge the notion that the State is the exclusive source of power, but will also challenge the notion that architecture is merely an instrumental art form, thereby opening up new avenues for exploration.

The legitimacy of a cultural “practice” is sought after by the state or the stakeholders it is being carried out for. When it comes to architectural “practice,” the client or the governing body that authorises construction provides this legitimacy. However, the very existence and legitimacy of the “practice” are disputed in a conflict zone. If the practitioner is not a resident of the conflict area, does he still have the right to intervene there?

It is crucial to understand, however, that practising architecture entails a certain amount of power and a set of values that the individual practitioner brings with them. It is impossible to ignore these values or to deny their existence. The practice would not spread throughout the area if power and ethics were imposed on people who were already being oppressed by the State, turning the practitioner into an even more powerful oppressor. To establish their practice within the given context, a practitioner must first win the trust and faith of the people living in a conflict-ridden state, where they have formed an exclusive community and regard everyone else as an outsider.

The Kashmir Valley conflict is one such conflict that this architecture thesis seeks to explore. The thesis looks at the conflict-ridden Kashmir Valley, including its history, present situation, the subtleties of living there, its rich cultural heritage, and its architecture—all of which are poorly understood. The thesis is a documentation of various practices that have developed in the area and the civil societies that have pushed for peace in this disputed territory. In order to comprehend the nature of these social spaces and the reasons that the people of Kashmir value them so highly, the thesis further analyses a variety of places of consent and dissent. The ideal location for an architectural practice in the area will then be determined using this understanding.

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Site Context

There are already areas in the city of Srinagar that, by their very nature, allow people to express their opinions without fear. The spaces of Dissent and Consent are dispersed throughout Srinagar. Since the majority of these are places of worship or congregation, they naturally offer a platform and sufficient numbers of people to initiate a protest. Several of them are intersections and streets that, because of their location within the city, are essential to the populace.

Places in the city have gained political significance for the people due to certain events. This site analysis section of the study examines every one of these spaces in Srinagar in order to map their attributes and relationships to the local population and city to apply the knowledge gained to the selection of a programme and site.

The Eidgah Ground, a significant landmark that runs the entire length of the city north-south and holds religious and political significance, has been selected as the site for the intervention. Eidgah is frequently used for protest and prayer in the centre of the city. The Eidgah features a graveyard on the east and a small shrine on the north.

Design Process

The design adopts a bottom-up approach. The process includes understanding the lives of people in the heart of this conflict and what it requires for a dialogue to even begin between the uncoordinated actors of this conflict. The “Building Stories” tool serves as the inspiration for the process. It envisions and depicts numerous scenarios and narratives that could occur in a space, along with the implications of the space’s design that would enable those events to occur. The architecture is conceptualised through the telling of this story, and there is a lovely blending of the imagined body with the architecture.

Final Outcome

The Garden of Encounters is imagined as a public park with activities that are developed from a comprehensive matrix of amenities and programmes that the people of Kashmir have expressed is necessary. The programmes serve the entire population of Srinagar as well as the nearby villages.

The programmes include a school, a library, a market, a mental health centre, a memorial, and several pavilions that park visitors may take over. The memorial serves as the new entrance to the Martyrs Graveyard, while the school and library provide the backdrop for the highway that runs alongside the Eidgah Ground. While the market channels activity from the rest of the ground into the garden, mental health is pushed inside the park for a tranquil setting.

1- Mental Health Centre: The Mental Health Centre envisaged as an opportunity for introducing a new stakeholder into the Eidgah Ground is primarily a centre for women. The centre, one of its kind in the state, would deal with the otherwise taboo social issues of mental illnesses and mental trauma. The social reality in Kashmir has led to many women and children suffering from mental illnesses either because of the sudden loss of their family or assaults on them by various agencies.

The building is imagined almost as a cultural centre where women will not only have the much needed freedom to talk about their sufferings but find cures to them through a variety of programs designed for the complex. The building has facilities for providing vocational training, gardening, theatre, music, physical activity that not only make these women confident to return to normalcy but the space becomes a haven for such women to interact with others suffering through something similar. The courtyard building is hence imagined as a place of healing.

2- School Building: A variety of madrasas exist around the Eidgah which provide primary education to the kids from the area. Once these kids grow up they are compelled to travel to other parts of the city like Dal Gate or Lal Chowk. What happens on the way is not known to many. The journey of travelling from home to school is so traumatic that kids often prefer dropping out of school after the madrasas. Hence the School as a program has been introduced within the garden.

A small institution imagines the space for freedom of act, thought and expression. Cutting down the trees of distant travelling to seek education, the school works in shifts to accommodate a variety of age groups through the day. The form of two wings with a street in the centre allows for an interface of interactions unlike the very protective nature of a school since the social reality in the context is different from the rest of the country.

3- Library Building: Library is a very important city function that hasn’t found ground in the city of Kashmir yet. The library is designed as a space for not only acquiring information but also archiving all the available information in the region. The space is this sort of a repository of what the land and people have gone through for over a century now. This information can then be made available on a public domain to start a dialogue between the civilians and authorities. All important institutions in Kashmir are adorned with a pyramidal roof. The library being a large city function is hence an exaggeration of this roof that towers above other programs making it visible from a distance.

4- Memorial and Market Street: The Memorial is seen as another opportunity of introducing women as a new stake holder into the ground. Since Eidgah is primarily a prayer and burial ground, both of which don’t allow women entry according to Islam the Ground as a space is male dominant. The memorial, almost like a columbarium, bears the memory of the innumerable lost sons, husbands, fathers and loved ones. While the memorial is seen as a ceremonial entry into the Martyrs graveyard, the edge of the graveyard is domesticated by the market street.

The Garden of Reconciliation is a design intervention that explores the potential that architecture has for changing social realities such as those found in Kashmir. The garden, which takes its shape from a traditional charbagh, is home to a number of initiatives that help the people, government (the seat of power), security forces, and liberation fronts in Kashmir communicate with one another more easily. This project seeks to accomplish much more than merely solve issues through construction by providing necessities like healthcare and education, which are vital during times of conflict. The goal is to initiate a dialogue that will lead to reconciliation through interactions.

Conclusion: The thesis serves as an example of how architecture can be used as a tool to revitalise city dwellers’ associations with the place while also fostering new relationships within the space. Through providing architectural interventions that are vital during times of conflict, it seeks to initiate a dialogue between Kashmiris and the power.

[This Academic Project has been published with text submitted by the student]