AR3015

Faculty: Piyas Chaudhuri | Vijay Patel

At the cusp of land and water

We EXPERIENCE places through the STORIES we hear and read about. They create EXPECTATIONS and FANTASIES in one’s mind. But the story of the Sabarmati and the walled city is long forgotten. The aspirations of the city and its people have also changed.

The city is facing a dilemma - GLOBAL AMBITIONS and FAST TRACK DEVELOPMENTS have left behind the stories and made architecture into a mere PROBLEM-SOLVING EXERCISE, creating isolated projects scattered in the city landscape. The walled city is considered a glorified artifact – seen from afar with an occasional visit from an admirer.

With the river as the binding element, it is at the Cusp of land and water that one finds an opportunity to create new stories and memories for Ahmedabad, the walled city and the river. The studio introduced the idea of storytelling as a starting point of the design process. Stories portray the aspirations of the city and its people – create places to celebrate, to be happy, to grow, to contemplate, to be lost and to wander. These stories can act as a catalyst, creating new environments and help revive the image of the place.