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NARRATIVES OF IDENTITY

(Location:  Nabha precinct, Shimla,{City}, Himachal Pradesh {State}, India)

Intent: Reviving identity of a place through urban regeneration of historic districts

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Concern

  • Can contemporary place be created that upholds the local  identity and provides meaning?

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Theoretical premise

  • Aldo Rossi defines the city by its "urban artifacts", associated with history, memory and spiritual values.

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  • Norberg-Schulz's "Genius Loci", defined “place” beyond geographic space to the experience people have in a particular environment.

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  • Italo Calvino's "Invisible Cities" speculates how the signs of the city repeat themselves and become its emblems. ​

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Premise: Unique characteristics of hill urbanity

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Physical 

  • Lesser geographic extent, walk able distance to work and services, pedestrian connectivity between all places.

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Visual

  • Continuous unhindered views of a hill town allow the entire city to be seen in one glance.

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  • The relation of the urban form with the natural cascading land form is a critical element that can create or destroy its character & identity.

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Social

  • Social cohesion & interaction are due to this essential pedestrian connection between places, allowing exchange.

Site Context: Evolution of the city

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  • Shimla was discovered and developed by the British colonizers as a hill station.

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Issues

  • The town was designed for a population of 10,000 (1901) and has increased to 1,40,000 (2001).

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  •  The city has fallen prey to the rapid trends of urbanization, leading to generation of places that are placeless, urban form that does not respond to the context.​

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  • Only the central core is defined as the heritage zone and has strict building regulations.

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  • The areas in immediate vicinity   ( IInd tier), having visual and physical linkage to the core town are also important to its identity but are neither preserved nor regulated.

       

Proposed strategy

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Regenerating the centres of collective memory: City's historic core along with its residential pockets

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City scale

  • City's urban artifacts are its historic structures, that provide identity.

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  • The linear city form gives an opportunity to string along new / re-defined public places connected to the core.​​​

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Site Scale

  • The role of each site is defined by its historic value, the function it served and the nature of ownership.

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  • Restructuring is proposed based on hierarchy of landform and activity.

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  • Creation of open spaces allow congregation and gathering.

       

Demonstration on site

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Defining the role

  • Current ownership is with the central government & the landuse is residential.

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  • New role defined for the site is administrative in nature, based on the affinity of function.  ​

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  • Public functions are proposed, based on building typology, it will allow more users to engage with the precinct. Adaptive reuse of heritage structures as district courts​.

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Aim

  •  Link to the city core

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  • Urban regeneration of historic precint

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  • Area level restructuring to create open spaces

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  • Heritage guidelines to ensure control on all forms of development

Proposed architectural guidelines

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Design suggestions are based on visibility of heritage structures and views of the natural landscape

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Threshold character

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  • Ground floors to include colonnades and archaded space.

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Continuity of architectural elements

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  • Facade shall include ribbon windows for all floors above ground level.

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Visibility control

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  • For the Nabha precinct, no structure to be allowed to be raised over G+2 floors.​

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