TEAM : Aseem Sangari & Siddharth Bagga
Keywords : Community, Modules, Art Chamber, Certains and Uncertains, Time, Interaction
There is an identity crisis that has taken over the people living in metro cities all over the world. Rapid urbanization is altering the physical and cultural milieus of our cities, making it seem as if the past, the present and a somewhat dystopian future are all colliding, snuffing out breathing space.
The sense of belongingness towards a space is increasingly vanishing from the City. The primary reason for this is the absence of a Community space that allows bonding within the population, encouraging a sense of ownership and togetherness.
The project in hand has an objective to unite the people by providing them with a place to do nothing and everything. The project is hence – The Third Place. If home is the primary place, and work is a second place, then a third place anywhere else one goes to be around other people—to build community, to hang out, to feel connected.
A Place where the spatial design is not specific to encourage a particular function, rather so general in its essence and physicality that the user has the freedom to guide the function of the space and further, the program of the project.
To offer this standardization, the functions are broken down to their smallest pixels – The modules. These modules are cubic cells that can be plugged into the building as and when required by the user. These cells offer a hierarchy on the basis of the volume - as required by the function they’re serving.
The user group is divided into, the Certains – People who have a specific objective towards the building, and the Uncertains – People who don’t have a specific objective towards the building (which can also be seen as work and leisure groups). These two user groups have functions specific to them on the two sites. The idea of a Third place that tackles both the user groups and provides ground for conversations and leisure is reinforced by the introduction of an Art Chamber in the Building. This Chamber is underbelly of the building both physically and metaphorically; and further connects the two buildings with each other.
Further, on each floor there exists an extension i.e., an Interaction Corridor that allows spatial refuge to the primary functions that take place on each floor.
To arrange different functions, there were larger parameters that helped the building achieve its distribution, them being –
a. Privacy – How public is the primary function
b. Time – How long in 24hrs is a function active in the building
c. Viscosity – the rate of change of a function (spatially) with respect to time
The project is a dual building. The two buildings connected together by Rigid elements and both composed of fluid cells. The project according to the user changes with Time. It grows with the user.