Anusha Bishnoi

2140-C

Manek Chowk market in the old city area of Ahmedabad is one of the most crowded spaces. The throng of people bargaining in the local shops, vendors shouting and the honking of vehicles trying to make their way through all this chaos. The fruit market is located behind the Jama Masjid mosque which makes it a good place to build a hammam, considered a pure and sacred place in Islamic culture. A hammam has a peaceful and calm environment in which women (in this case) would come to be cleansed and bathed properly. It is put under the fruit market to achieve calm and quite in this chaotic environment. Going through the streets and the fruit market, at the heart of this chaos is the entry to this quiet place. The user decends into a huge hall that serves as the lounge area. They are greeted at the reception desk on the right and guided to relax in the loungers placed along the periphery and the centeral courtyard. The periphery and the courtyard receive natural light that falls on a garden under it. There is also a counter that serves light snacks and drinks. A screen covers the opening to the semi private section. A few steps down open to the changing areas. The temperature is regulated to warm the room. The hammam is steamy hot and to ease the change of temperature there is a long passage to provide this transition. The passage is an arched, dimly lit way that opens into the huge volume of the hammam. The periphery of the hammam is a raised platform on which people can relax in the steam while their pores open up. It also has washing cells or niches that have wash basins where people can sit and wash off the oils. The center is the naval stone covered by linen curtains where the bathing and massaging procedures will take place. On their way back, they go through the same transition areas making it easier to adapt to the temperature change.