People’s Media- An Alternate Media Network through the Postal Infrastructure | Architecture Thesis

Site Context

The postal network is essentially a structured prototype that offers the same services across various administrative levels. These were studied with the intent of designing a network intervention responding to all scales. The Thane Region was selected due to its diverse population, varied geographic conditions, and range of settlement types, from metropolitan to tribal. 

The head post office, located at the district level, is ranked highest in hierarchy, followed by the sub post office, located at the Taluka level. The branch post office located at the panchayat level is the lowest point in the chain. The sites chosen were a metropolitan setting in Thane, a temple town in Vajreshwari, and a rural setting in Dabhad for the three levels.

Design Process

The primary program is a parallel media network designed for alternate media organizations, citizen journalists, students, scientists, researchers, freelancers, sociologists, etc. It provides two main programs: the digital publication, which comprises workspaces for both individuals and organizations, and the digital archive, which includes interactive areas and displays of all the material generated, including more. Secondary programmes have been created in accordance with the context. The project explores a state-to-people partnership in which already-existing public institutions tear down their barriers to foster greater participation and flexibility, which in turn helps them reclaim their roles and reach.

A hybrid design that included both static and mobile components was the larger intervention strategy.

1- Static: The redesigned post offices serve as the static, to which mobile systems can be added to provide better accessibility and coverage. They are intended to serve as the motherships from which the mobile components spread out.

2- Mobile: Modules for the mobile component were created that could be assembled on-site after being transported as a kit. The project takes a complete package of programs, technologies, ways of harnessing energies to places.

Final Outcome

Mobile Interventions

In order to provide wider coverage, assembled modules can be mounted onto vehicles, or the mobile components can be packaged and transported to sites as needed, as seen in the first case. The structure can be assembled and installed by the public, and in a town with hills, it could be placed in a nature park. 

There are already community plinths in smaller villages where people can record their traditional songs and add information about native agricultural systems, among other things, to the project’s digital archive. They can obtain information about the soil characteristics, building materials, worker conditions, etc., in the vicinity of mines. 

The cubes function in two ways: they can be used as a portal to access data from around the world and as a receptor for local data. Because of its universality, the cube can be assembled to fit any location’s climate requirements. 

Static Interventions

Larger strategies that work on all three of these scales were developed as a result of the study. For example, at Head Post, the existing one can be enhanced. At Sub Post level, a postal land can be taken up where an independent structure is made with provision for alternate programs. While at Branch Post, a collaborative infrastructure can be created between state bodies.

1. Thane – Head Post

The site is an existing post office and the land behind it. Keeping this notion of a parallel institution in mind, the design started by expanding the edges and adding extensions. Since the site is dense, the larger media functions are underground, freeing up public space and facilitating traffic flow. As a result of the extension, the highlighted infill walls with minimal openings will be removed, allowing much more natural light and ventilation into the existing building.

Programmes at the organisational level occupy the extension and underground areas, which are separated from community-level activities by public areas. Individual cubes can be inhabited within the pavilion created by the media modules. The workspaces are intended to be occupied by a range of sociologists, researchers, students, online agencies, and independent contractors.

In an effort to maintain seamless transitions to the newer spaces, binding programmes like the canteen are kept flexible to promote interaction among all types of public. The lower floor is an open grid that can have individual spaces created within it according to need and opened up for larger gatherings. These workstations can be temporarily occupied by various media groups in need of space, allowing them to expand this alternative digital media network. 

The first-floor extension connects the postal space with a lounge, workspaces and a view of the pavilion and plaza beyond. The extension is intended to be a bright, airy area that enlivens the existing structure. The community media functions underground and the public plaza on its terrace which can be occupied for a variety of public events.

Sectionally, the idea was to not add to the load of the existing.  So use of light steel members in a way that it cantilevers out to the old, creating an expansion joint and not tampering with existing foundation systems. While the openness is also maintained. The goal of this renovated post office is to serve as a neighbourhood catalyst by offering easily accessible public functions and seating spaces at the junction. To cater to pedestrians searching for places to pause in the city, the canteen and public toilets are placed thoughtfully.

2. Vajreshwari- Sub Post

Postal land next to the gram panchayat is selected for the intervention. It is bordered by lodges and hotels and faces the Tansa river. The plan was to build a larger structure that could house the media functions and include the post office as part of a public project. The department could generate income by utilising the same structure for other programmes when it’s not in use. Entering the project through the post office leads to a canteen where media modules are parked on either side of the long bar. When these modules are placed together, they create a digital archive space. The canteen turns into an attraction for tourists staying in the vicinity and visiting the nearby hot springs.

The bar on the upper floor is the digital workspace occupied by organisations, followed by storage space for extra mobile panels. When not in use, it can be transformed into a source for information about the surrounding hot springs, geology, and national parks, keeping it relevent throughout. Every part of the project is open for occupancy; people can work in the cubes, learn how to write as citizen journalists, or just relax on the plinths. 

The project aims to establish spaces where individuals engage in civic discourse, debate opposing viewpoints, and facilitate cross-generational learning. The roof is upturned to allow greater quality of light to enter throughout the day  that can also be moderated using the pivoting fenestrations. The plinth and the edges are designed with pedestrians in mind. Several opportunities for gathering and pause can be found.

3. Dabhad – Branch Post

A site next to the village’s gram Panchayat and zilla Parishad school is chosen, which is a fairly recent extension of the village. This level adopts a collaborative approach, relocating the post office into the Gramme Panchayat premises as was customary up until about 20 years ago. The site currently has a number of buildings that were all constructed under Yojanas. A lack of funding or neglect on the part of the state has left many abandoned. They were still classified as functional structures even though they were in a state of ruin. 

To enhance the public spaces on site, plinths were created  that run across the project binding all the trees together. Then, in response to the older structures, the newer ones were positioned to create two clusters that receive the most north light. After the plinth work became crucial for energising the compound, additional functions were added to the existing buildings. Here, the mobile units improve the space and serve as study areas for children. The women’s centre is redesigned to be public and open. Stairs can be taken to the upper level where for the post office.

Meeting space can hold all the town meetings and larger programs. The canteen can function along with the mid day meal kitchen, whereas the digital media space can be used as a computer lab during school hours. The archive can be converted into digital classrooms. The post office is designed to adapt to the essential role that it plays in villages. In this context, it can serve as a vital public institution that provides information about different schemes and acts as a conduit for bottom-up feedback regarding their implementation. All these institutions gain from the shared infrastructure. Conversations regarding the town’s issues, betterment can be enhanced when major institutions operate through the same compound. 

Through its design, the architecture seeks to enhance civic engagement and foster a sense of community. Children from the existing school can spill out onto the courtyards, which turn the areas around the trees into essential play areas.

Conclusion: The thesis acts on the simultaneous urgency of revitalising state-backed institutions and the state of the media. The goal is to bring about agility in monolithic institutions at a time when we direly need physical spaces to reconnect and exercise basic rights to expression. The project hopes to discover ways of creating more informed and evolved media environments and making the production of information more transparent and participatory. It aims to decentralise voices and power through the creation of an alternate media network to ultimately have more control and say in our collective media environment, truly making it the “people’s media.”

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