Manasi Chetankumar Bangera

AR2059

Once a prime center for music and the arts, the Sangeet Mahal stands desolate, the songs emerging from the depths of its interiors turned to a faint whisper. The project emerges as a response to this phenomenon- Rising forth as a receptor and sole witness to a fading fortress.  A grid of columns, like wild grass, rises from the ground, spreading across the desolate terrain. The breaking of the order that the monument reflects. The project - a cultural center consisting of a Library, Meeting Room and Hammam, finds its place in the midst of this field. With no fixed bounds, the project opens itself to the surrounding, the three events nestled within waiting to be chanced upon. The presence of each space is made evident by a modular roof, crystalizing over the events. Although positioned within the grid, the basic form of each event is derived as a response to its function. The meeting room and hammam, places of social interaction, submit to the contours, allowing for one to seamlessly enter each space. The library stands apart in this aspect. Unlike the former, the library offers solitude, a place of recluse. Here, the curved form of the structure acts as a vessel, offering a place to rest and settle in a project that calls for one to pass through with ease.