South Asian Architecture, Sem V
The course gave us an insight about the the builtforms in South Asia and the history that it has undergone. We learnt about the architecture on the basis of timeline and realised that history has always been studies according to periodisation.
Some peculiar features of South Asian Architecture are multinucleated form, blurred relationships, open spaces. Most of the projects have high degree of publicness.
Parallel to the lecture series, we read couples of books which talk about specific topics.
Article from First Questions by Prasad Shetty
standardized idea of space, ethics of an architect, orthography and its uses, problems in architectural institutions, difference between profession and discipline
Vibrant Architecture Scene of Bangladesh
pavilion and its setting, permeability in regard with site, Dhaka and its construction trends, dealing with wetlands, presence of large water landscape and working with it
Drawings from the Archives by Geoffrey Bawa Trust
current designs as a framework for society, emphasis on functionality and materiality, courtyard as a social space, drawings as a tool for planning, understanding site context
Critical Regionalism by Kenneth Frampton
commitment to place rather than space, achieving a photogenic scene instead of focusing on life, cross fertilisation between rooted cultures and universal civilisation
We also chose a contemporary project situated in South Asia and tried to understand and answer; What form of life does the particular configuration of space afford?
I chose to look at The School of Social Development in Nepal.
situated in Bodgaun, Nepal
is careful about the context of village and responds to it
ground floor and first floor have public programs which the villagers use
a central public theatre
terrace becomes balcony when central courtyard is occupied
is not a huge junk of mass on site, but is very modest
space allows flow of people inside to outside
suits the local culture of simplistic structures
A detailed paper on this project can be read here.
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