2. 2
Finding the Yamuna
Studio 7
‘Architectural interpretations accepted without
reflection could obscure the search for signs of a
true nature and a higher order.’
Louis Kahn
“He who seeks Truth
Shall find Beauty
He who seeks Beauty
Shall find Vanity”
Moshie Safdie
Louis Kahn, IIM Ahmedabad.
Louis Kahn, National Assembly Building, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
3. 3
Contents
6 Introduction
Contextual Essays
8 History and Climate
10 Hindu and Mughal
12 Trip and Monuments
Site Studies
16 Chowk
32 Plantation
50 River
66 Cricket Square
82 Caravanserai
96 Abney Park
114 Newspaper Clippings
116 Glossary
Mughal Carving, Red Fort, Delhi
6. 6
Corbusier, Plan Voisin
Clatrava, City of Arts and Sciences
Introduction
Global Localism - Space has Memory
When working in a diffferent culture we as architects must be
sensitive to their local character. The built environment would
ideally fulfil its function and at the same time be beautiful. Form and
function must both be qualified. Modernist experiments in exclusive
utilitarianism lose the vivacity of buildings, their spirit of place, in
the process and results can be Brutalist eyesores and reduce man
to a machine. Conversely working from a preconceived aesthetic
ideal in the design frees the creative mind from the parameters of
definite space leading to the kind of plasticism practiced by Zaha
Hadid, Santiago Calatrava in Valencia; ego writ large in the guise
of international newspeak. Architecture as sculpture is achievable,
through understanding of construction techniques, local history,
climate and so on the artistic spark, the poetry of form can become
real and practical. Practicing a Zen like absence of self allows us
to objectively address the conditions of a particular site and those
inhabiting it, though we can never completely remove ourselves
from the creative process. The Japanese idea of Shinto practiced
by Tadao Ando creates starkly simple buildings, which entirely fit
their site, finding the path the place itself wants to go, through letting
the place speak. The right path lies somewhere in between the two
extremes of form led or function led design. We cannot reduce the
role of man to that of a robot, nor should we inhabit a jungle.
The effect of placelessness inflicted on modern cities - a condition of
Modernism reducing ornament and character towards an international
style, can be countered by a resurgence in Critical Regionalism, a
return to localism. In finding the unique aspects and denominations
of a vernacular, its particular construction methods and the climate
it responds to, we can work from the first principle in the same way
indigenous builders had to and thusly create a building which will be
uniquely of that place. To progress, we need to look optimistically
at the language of the local vernacular with new eyes and discover
ingenious improvements and adaptations.
Form and function is polarized in Agra through The Taj Mahal, itself a
symbol of the social divide between the ruling classes and the poor;
its decorated stone contrasting with the city’s buildings which are for
the most part are humble and run-down brick or concrete. A lack of
infrastructure means there is a long way before the streets of Agra
will meet the basic needs of its inhabitants. The cast system draws
a clear division of wealth and power through society, mirrored in the
built fabric of the city for hundreds of years.
The Taj Mahal draws a great many visitors to the city and brings in
money to central government. Meanwhile the infrastructure of Agra
is failing its people and needs investment.
The tendency in Agra (and in the history of India) is toward extended
families looking out for themselves, sharing houses, like the fortresses
of the Maharaja. After families comes the difficulty of organizing small
communities (i.e. families of a different background) to work together
to provide themselves services where the state services have proved
inadequate. A great deal of electricity is used with no controls, and
clean water supplies are unreliable (pipes are simply broken open to
supply those in dire need). Problems finding fresh water have existed
in Agra since the time the Taj Mahal was constructed and the Mughal
Ruler Babur built many water gardens, remnants of some can be
seen across the Yamuna from the Taj itself. Locals could set up safe
water between themselves rather than relying on paying delivery
companies or the state, water being such a valuable commodity in
India as a whole its collection and safe storage are real problems
nationally as well as within our studied area.
Two very appropriate precedents exist in India where architects
have previously tried to create a real sense of place and identity.
Le Corbusier’s palace of assembly in Chandigarh and Louis Kahn’s
Bangladesh National Capital. In both cases the grandiloquent
statement of national government has excluded the people.
Corbusier created symbols which in reality did not function, and
Kahn’s great castle, though an enduring image for the people creates
7. 7
Corbusier, Chandigarh
1 Evenson, Norma (1966) Chandigarh, University of California Press
a defined boundary between the powers that be and the populace.
Le corbusier’s building failed in terms of response to climate and
he was content to have the symbols representing his aim in climate
control without their actually working. Kahn’s buildings have required
a great deal of maintenance and cost the people millions - this is
of course impractical. The saving grace in Kahns building is that
on a symbolic level it does express the spirit of community, whilst
Le Corbusier’s building “seems an elaborately contrived means of
keeping the citizens seperated”1
. For all the theory in the world a
building is useless if not practical. Symbols of not the intended show
of power but of a defunct way of thinking.
After our initial study of the route of the New River (from Finsbury
Park Reservoirs to the New River Head in Angel), some students
remained in London and mapped Abney Park Cemetery a pocket of
overgrown green space within Stoke Newington. Both working from
first principles. The Abney park cemetery has a unique condition
being wild and overgrown as it is. Wild nature as the tonic to city
life, and the eventual beneficent control of its resources maximized
within the city as with Myddleton’s New River. The situation of
touts selling water in central London before the construction of the
aqueduct is echoed in the water delivery companies operating in
Agra today; through mismanagement of resource India’s people
bear the brunt of overpopulation.
- Barty Dulake
Louis Kahn, National Assembly Building, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
8. Agra, the former capital of Hindustan, is a city on the banks of the
river Yamuna in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, in India. It is
363 kilometers (226 mi) west of the state capital, Lucknow, and 200
kilometers (124 mi) south of the national capital New Delhi. With a
population of 1,686,976 (2010 est.), it is one of the most populous
cities in Uttar Pradesh and the 19th most populous in India.
The city is mentioned in the epic Mahabharata, where it was called
Agrevaṇa (“the border of the forest”). Legend ascribes the founding
of the city to Raja Badal Singh, a Sikarwar Rajput king (c. 1475),
whose fort, Badalgarh, stood on or near the site of the present fort.
Though Agra’s history is largely recognized with Mughal Empire,
the place was established much before it and has linkages since
Mahabharat period and Mahirshi Angira in 1000 BC. It is generally
accepted that Sultan Sikandar Lodi, the Ruler of the Delhi Sultanate
founded Agra in the year 1504. After the Sultan’s death the city
passed on to his son Sultan Ibrahim Lodi. He ruled his Sultanate
from Agra until he fell fighting to Babar in the First battle of Panipat,
fought in 1526.
In the year 1556, the great Hindu warrior Hemu Vikramaditya, won
the state of Agra as the Prime Minister cum Chief of Army of Adil
Shah of the Afghan Suri Dynasty. The commander of Humayun
/ Akbar’s forces in Agra, Tardi Beg Khan, was so scared of Hemu
that he retreated from the city without a fight. This was Hemu’s 21st
Agra, Main Street, 1858
continuous win since 1554, and he later went on to conquer Delhi,
having his coronation at Purānā Qil’a in Delhi on 7 October 1556 and
re-established the Hindu Kingdom and the Vikramaditya Dynasty in
North India. of government, and just two years later it was witness
to the Agra famine of 1837–38. During the Indian rebellion of 1857
British rule across India was threatened, news of the rebellion had
reached Agra on 11 May and on 30 May two companies of native
infantry, the 44th and 67th regiments, rebelled and marched to Delhi.
The next morning native Indian troops in Agra were forced to disarm,
on 15 June Gwalior (which lies south of Agra) rebelled. By 3 July
the British were forced to withdraw into the fort. Two days later a
small British force at Sucheta were defeated and forced to withdraw,
this led to a mob sacking the city. However, the rebels moved onto
Delhi, which allowed the British to restore order by 8 July. Delhi fell
to the British in September, the following month rebels who had fled
Delhi along with rebels from Central India marched on Agra but were
defeated. After this British rule was again secured over the city until
the independence of India in 1947.
Agra is the birthplace of the religion known as Dīn-i Ilāhī, which
flourished during the reign of Akbar and also of the Radhaswami
Faith, which has around two million followers worldwide. Agra has
historic linkages with Shauripur of Jainism and Runukta of Hinduism,
of 1000 BC.
8
History and Climate
The Border of the Forest
9. 9
Agra. The minimum temperature sometimes goes as low as -.2 to-
.4°C but usually hovers in the range of 6-8°C. Days are pleasant and
best to roam around the historical city. Winter is the best season to
visit Agra, when days are warm and sunny and ideal for sightseeing.
- Marillia Louka
Above, it is portrayed diagram showing the Climate in Agra at
different months of the year. Agra is described by a semi-arid climate
that borders on a humid subtropical climate. The city features mild
winters, hot and dry summers and a monsoon season. However the
monsoons, though substantial in Agra, are not quite as heavy as
the monsoon in other parts of India. Agra has a reputation of being
one of the hottest towns in India; hottest in terms of both, tourist
destination as well as temperature. In summers the city witnesses a
sudden surge in temperature and at times, mercury go beyond even
46°C mark. The humidity is appalling and is sure to leave you puffing
and panting. During the summers, the daytime temperature hovers
around 46-50°C. Nights are relatively cooler and mercury dips to a
comfortable 30°C. It rains scantly during the monsoons as Agra falls
in a semi-arid region. The annual average rainfall never goes beyond
400 millimeters. Winters are bit chilly but are the best time to visit
10. The Indian subcontinent houses two types of great architecture.
Mughal architecture and a more ancient Hindu temple architecture/
Indo - Islamic. It is a well known fact that Mughals had a major
influence on reshaping the Indian culture and its architecture. The
Mughal dynasty started in 1526 after the victory of Babur in the battle
of Panipat. Mughal architecture was mainly developed under Mughal
emperors such as Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzib who
during their rule were prolific patrons of Architecture and brought
many new touches to its aesthetics. With Aurangzib began a process
in Mughal architecture which eventually led to its general acceptance
as an all – Indian style, not just the expression of a ruling elite1
.
Some Mughal architecture features include the Timurid – derived
from Akbari buildings that are dependent on accurate construction,
and floor plans that followed a hasht bihisht plan. A nine – fold
design with one central chamber, four matching corner ones plus
four chambers on each side, which could be fitted into a square or
octagonal plan2
. The other feature comes with Jahangir favouring
white marble, as opposed to red sandstone, as the basic building
stone for exceptionally important buildings. The Indo – Islamic
architecture drew its style from indigenous systems of construction
and decoration, thus early Islamic buildings in India contain “Indian”
features that were particular to “trabeate” construction (post –
and – beam) as opposed to “arcuate” (arched), for instance the
highly decorative corbels (brackets) supporting beams over tomb
doorways3
.
Battle of Panipat 1526.
1 Koch, Ebba (27 May 1991) Mughal Architecture, Prestel – Verlag, Munich.
2 Peck, Lucy (1 April 2010) Agra: The Architectural Heritage, Roli Books Pvt Ltd.
3 Peck, Lucy (1 April 2010) Agra: The Architectural Heritage, Roli Books Pvt Ltd.
Axonometric sketcch of Itimadud
- Daula’s tomb, showing a typical
nine fold plan.
10
Hindu and Mughal Architecture
Heaven on Earth
11. Hindu architecture is dominant in Hindu temples scattered around
India, Cambodia and Indonesia. However there is one secular
building form which main purpose is a private house (in some
cases guest house or hotel) known as Haveli. In general havelis are
mansions inhabited by large families with couple of servants. This
type of building is usually identified by one or more interior courtyards
where all the rooms around it face the courtyard and are accessible
from it. It’s windows are usually ornate and it may have balconies
facing the street.
In conclusion one would define Mughal architecture as being a long
lasting dream of heaven on earth with its sophisticated decorations,
complex construction techniques and symbolism it carries. Truly the
gardens of Taj Mahal were meant to represents heaven on earth
and its rivers resemble 4 rivers of heaven. At the same time Hindu
architecture could be called an eco friendly one. For instance if there
is a tree on site it would not be removed, it would be used as a
reference point to build around and would enhance the surrounding
atmosphere.
- Alex Nacu
Typical Haveli in Agra.
Trabeate (post - and - beam)
construction.
Arcuate (arched) construction.
11
12. We arrived in Agra in different groups, late in the evening of the first
day of Diwali. After a 5-hour extremely rough taxi ride, we made it
to the city of nearly 1,700,000 habitants. I had made the mistake
of sitting in the front, which is what made it so frightening. Quick
enough, I learned that there are no rules when it comes to driving
in India. Cars, vendors, all kinds of animals, motorcycles (some
carrying babies on them), rickshaws bearing way more than their
tolerated capacity, ruled the highways without a necessary direction.
On our ride to Agra, I noticed several tower-like monuments that sat
a couple of meters off the side of the highway like a tall, solid brick
pillar. They seemed to come up at regular intervals so I asked the
taxi driver what they were. They are called Kos Minars and they are
ancient milestones built during the Mughal times and erected on the
main highways that led to Agra to mark distance. It can represent
either a distance of approximately 1.8 Km or 3.2 km. In the present,
The geographic span makes for nearly three thousand kilometers
of Mughal highways, accounting for nearly 1000 Kos Minars: 1
every Kos or 3 km. There is no record as to how many of them have
survived.
Although most of us had somewhat of an idea, I don’t think any of
us really knew what we had actually signed up for. India was big
and crazy and rough and unorganized and chaotic and at times,
overwhelming. Although for most of its citizens, India would be that
entirely but in the good sense of the word; It would take us about 3
weeks to realize the good things about it. Diwali (or Dewali, Deepavali,
row of lamps) is the Festival of Lights, and it’s celebrated during five
days, starting on the thirteenth lunar day of Krishna Paksha (“dark
fortnight”) of the Hindu calendar, between October and November.
For Hindus, Diwali is one of the most important festivals during the
year and they celebrate it by lightning small clay lamps filled with oil
to signify the triumph of good over evil. Firecrackers and fireworks
are also let off because it’s believed to drive away the evil spirits. In
our good Samaritan tourist eyes... it was certainly driving us away.
They lit up incense on them and are usually garnished with petals
and milk
Those firecrackers were our wake up call to India, Kids up all night
celebrating outside without any actual rules or street lights for that
matter. A firecracker was thrown under the car before we arrived in
the hotel. I think that’s when I finally realized: Yeap, I’m in India.
Our hotel was located about a mile from the Taj Mahal and next to a
large slum settling near the banks of the Yamuna River. It was odd
acknowledging the thin invisible line that separates the opulent big
hotels on one big street leading to the Taj Mahal, where numerous
tourist from all over the world stay to visit the famous building; and
seeing poverty first hand by almost smacking us on the face with its
raw reality on the other side. I quickly realized, had we been those
tourists, there might have been a big chance we might have missed
that cruel reality.
The very next morning we embarked on an exhausting tour through
Kos Minar sitting on the side of the highway to Agra from Delhi
Little sculptures made out of cow’s dung, adorned Agra’s house steps,
12
Trips and Monuments
A taste of indian life
13. the 5 different sites that would be picked and divided into groups later
that afternoon.
Walking behind the nice street of hotels and merging into the world
of the slums was no picnic; especially now seeing on broad spectrum
the repercussions of a reckless night of firecrackers in small
environments where health and safety don’t exist for kids or animals.
Luckily for my group, we picked the most peaceful site: A blend of
the quiet horticultural gardens and tree nursery next to the Taj Mahal,
an ancient Hari Krishna temple and the banks of the Yamuna River.
Our regular Indian routine consisted of a skimpy hotel breakfast at
8am every morning followed by a 15-minute walk to our sites through
the streets in the slums where numerous cables hung from poles in
very dangerous ways and plenty of odors came from the canals of
sewage on the sides of the pathways.
During those walks we only feared of 3 things: wild monkeys,
hordes of insanely aggressive and relentless vendors being a little
too pushy and the possibility of getting hit by moving vehicle (cars,
vans, rickshaws, trolleys, cows) because you never knew which way
were they coming or which one (of those 3) was coming first. All of
these fears were well accompanied by the noisy horns or bells all
blown at once nearly 2 cm away from your ear. So by the time we
would get to our site it would take us a good half hour to relieve the
stress accumulated in those 15 minutes that seemed like forever.
Our gardens were our haven from all the disarray.
To make our walk a bit easier, I often begged my group to take a
rickshaw to our site. Rickshaws (or tuk-tuk as tourists call them) rides
were generally loud and bumpy and though they weren’t safer than
the walk, they provided me with an adrenaline rush of some sort that
allowed me to think less about the ever-changing surroundings.
Once on our site the days went by quite smoothly. Each day was a
new adventure and provided us with something exciting. We learned
how to live with the day-to-day tribulations and became quite good
at the art of head wobbling due to the language barrier. For what we
gathered, the more vigorous the shake the more sure the wobbler is
of whatever he’s wobbling about. One wobble is an OK, two or three
is a simple yes, and any more than that is a definite yes. Though,
let’s not forget this was India and things can change in the span
of a second. Sometimes those head wobbles could also mean no
or I don’t know, it all depends how they do it. Either way, we didn’t
seem to be bothered any more, soon enough, we carried on with our
work and did what we loved most; discovering, thinking, breathing
and practicing architecture in one of the most intricate places on
earth; allowing us to be designers while exploring a very different
surrounding that neither of us were used to. I also realized how the
Mughals loved architecture, there’s no doubt about it. Everywhere
you turned there was a reminder of it. Beautiful carved walls of
granite, marble, onyx, lapis lazuli mosaics or any other precious
stone.
In the tree nursery on our site, there was one particular tree that
Walking through the slums in Agra to our sites
13
caught my attention. The gardeners presented it to us as the “Ficuis
Krishna”. Named after him, it was Lord Krishna’s favorite tree and it
is of a rare category. Krishna used the leaves of this tree, as it made
a perfect utensil for the young Lord to have his stolen ‘makhan’ or
buttercup. The shape of the leaf is twisted at the lower mid rib and it
serves the purpose of a ‘dona’ or a cup.
Near the entrance to our site was Fatehpur Sikri, a palace-city
complex of monuments and temples that was once the capital
of the Mughal Empire during the late 16th century. Its architect,
Tuhir Das, built this place using Indian principles, having Gujarat
and Bengal craftsmanship throughout its construction thanks to
indigenous workers from various regions. Influences from Hindu and
Jain architecture are seen hand in hand with Islamic elements. The
building material used in all the buildings is the locally quarried red
sandstone, known as Sikri sandstone. To this day, you could still see
workers carving sandstones by the entrance of these buildings.
One night, Rachael invited us a to a wedding through the guy she was
working with on the heritage walks. His brother, who is a doctor was
getting married to a girl his family had agreed for him (or each other)
as culture dictates. He hadn’t met her yet and she was in another
town celebrating her own engagement with her family and friends.
14. Ficuis Krishna or cup tree
14
The wedding, as I understood it, lasts up to a week. From the
engagement, gifts exchange to the actual celebration. His whole
street had been decorated with lights and colorful decorations
hanging off the roofs. His house also seemed to have been recently
painted.
A couple of feet away from his house, in a different area covered by
2 big white & blue tents and covered with a padded floor, guest were
served a very humble typical vegetarian dish on a plate made of
banana leaves stitched with toothpicks, and the meal had to be taken
in turns due to the lack of seats.
Also, women and children ate first. After they had taken their turns,
men would seat down. They seemed to call this process a “program”.
Since we were the guests of honor, they brought in mineral water for
us to drink instead of tap water.
Next to the tents was the kitchen. Men frying bread on a massive pan
with oil and cooking the dishes in big pots and some others quickly
rushing back into the dinning area to serve the next group of people
and clearing everything up.
In the other area inside the tent, the groom would exchange gifts with
his father in law and they will all sing. Although music was blasting
and you couldn’t hear much; it all seemed pretty organised and
everyone seemed very happy (except for the groom who seemed
pretty stoic).
Later on we were taken to the groom’s house. Women, dressed
in colorful saris, sat on the floor singing constantly and playing
instruments. Pictures of the groom with his family were taken and
another man kept filming everything with a very shiny light that
could almost leave you blinded. I was a bit stricken at how unlike
westerners; no one smiled much for the pictures.
On the other side of the wall next to our site, on the banks of the
Yamuna River, we had one of the most beautiful and astonishing
buildings in the world, the Taj Mahal. Regarded by many as the finest
example of Mughal Architecture, a style that combines elements from
Islamic, Persian, Ottoman Turkish and Indian architectural styles.
Tells the story that it was ordered to build by Mughal emperor Shah
Jahan in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died while
giving birth.
22 white marble domes beautifully crafted are part of the integrated
complex of symmetrically built structures. A dome for each year it
took to be built commanded by the grief-stricken emperor.
The tomb is the central focus of the entire complex of the Taj Mahal,
which is the main dome where the late emperor and his wife’s body
were laid to rest. 2 Muslim temples sit on each side across the main
dome.
One day, we managed to dodged the £9 (750 rupee) entrance fee
to the Taj Mahal due to being some kind of anniversary. Again, we
weren’t really able to understand why this was but we went inside
anyway. There is a massive difference between foreign fees and
local’s fees to enter the Taj (750 to 20 Rupees) so I did feel a bit
guilty about taking this advantage. Despite the crowds, I went inside
the main mausoleum but regretted it soon after, it was quite damp
and claustrophobic. I personally felt like everything else seemed
much better in pictures. The gardens and water fountains around the
complex are not well kept and it just felt like it had been too hyped up.
It was quite sad to know that such an important building in the world is
not being taken care of by its government. Perhaps it’s due to the low
funds the Archeological survey of India (ASI) receives. It is possible
there’s an over reliance on tourism and tourists are frightened of
going in due to the lack of security. Perhaps this situation is stopping
locals from progressing to new heights but at the same time, locals
and the town itself, may be stopping tourist from coming in so it’s all
very contradictory.
To make matters worse, most of the tourists at the Taj Mahal are
Indian. If you look very non-Indian, people will ask to take a picture
with you every ten minutes or so. We took pictures with dozens of
Indian people. I often turned around to find someone taking a picture
of me on their mobile phone camera and one man even asked me if
I could take a picture with his family.
I believe it represents wealth.
15. Fathepur Sikri
15
After visiting the Taj Mahal I felt quite relieved that I got to go back to
the peacefulness of our site, sitting on the beautiful grand gardens or
enjoying the tranquility at the Hari Krishna temple and the mellowness
of its kind, amicable occupants; where no one bothered us and
we were able to carry on with our work without anyone asking us
questions, without feeling harassed or followed. I’m afraid not all the
groups had the same luck but I’m more than sure we all enjoyed it in
the end and after coming back, we realized that no matter how much
traveling we do throughout our lives, we’ll never have an experience
like this again. Though during out trip I may not have seen it, I hold the
fondest memories of our trip to India. We met the some of the nicest
people I have ever met in my life and we experienced adventures like
I never thought we would.
- Patty Leo
16. GROUPCHAPTER INTRODUCTION
If you were to stand and observe from the tip of the triangular Tangastand Chowk for just 10
minutes, it would be likely to see; herds of buffalo, cows, wandering, standing, laying around
on concrete roads, camels being ridden towards the tourist spots, stray dogs with missing body
parts, tuk-tuks pulling in and out of their stand, peddle rickshaws cruising for customers, men
and children defecating in the gullies, goats in sweaters, rooftop pigeon flying, welding, sewing,
repairing, eating, drinking, begging, slaughtering, fighting, working or lazing and children playing
in amongst all.
Tangastand Chowk
18. The word chowk /tʃɔ:k/ is a Hindustani word describing a space that
functions as a town-square, marketplace, courtyard and roundabout.
To qualify as a ‘chowk’ there must also be a large and distinguished
tree as well as four intersecting roads. To describe our site as a ‘town
square’ implies that is a pleasant and relaxing spot but in contrast it
is a place teaming with people, animals and vehicles all competing to
pass from one area to another.
If you were to stand and observe from the tip of the triangular
Tangastand Chowk for just 10 minutes, it would be likely to see; herds
of buffalo, cows, wandering, standing, laying around on concrete
roads, camels being ridden towards the tourist spots, stray dogs with
missing body parts, tuk-tuks pulling in and out of their stand, peddle
rickshaws cruising for customers, men and children defecating in the
gullies, goats in sweaters, rooftop pigeon flying, welding, sewing,
repairing, eating, drinking, begging, slaughtering,
fighting, working or lazing and children playing in amongst all. To
listen you would hear engines and vehicle horns, with only very rare
moments of silence.
An overflowing skip takes centre stage and with fortnightly collections
the smell and flies deter many of the Chowks human occupants
from using this as a public space. Instead, stray cows graze their
way through the plastic bags and contents to become the Chowk’s
unofficial waste recyclers. Locals complain angrily to each other,
“when will someone clean this up?” until eventually their voices reach
Delhi and a digger is sent.
Shops, restaurants and workshops line the edges of the Chowk
and beyond these dense housing, narrow passageways, privates
courtyards with the occasional public square. Each is connected,
physically, religiously or through extended family networks. Everyone
knows everybody and our presence was observed (most of the time)
with friendly curiosity and hospitality.
As the two weeks passed, we were welcomed into people’s homes
and lives, allowing us to spread our survey beyond the boundaries
of the Chowk along the four intersecting roads and into the private
spaces and courtyards.
- Susan Kudo
Tangastand Chowk
Branches of Life
18
20. Site Introductions
The 700 m2 L-shaped plot of uncultivated land is next to the Hindu ‘family’ temple on Tanagastand road. A 16m fence encloses the
site from the road and is only accessible via the temple garden. To the rear, an alleyway leading from a residential area should provide
access but is blocked by an illegal house. A soft drinks distribution company use the only road into the site for parking their truck. The
site has several large Imli (tamarind) trees. These trees provide shelter and food for the families living at the temple as well as being
part of a tradition to have a Imli Tree growing at a Hindu temple. SK
Hindu Temple
An ally from the Buffalo Site site leads to a small piece of triangular shaped land on the corner of the Chowk. The family next door
keeps a goat there. The site has a large twin tree that provides shade for the whole site. The Goats Garden is next to a busy junction,
where there are temporary traders sheds along the roadside. The small house on the street side has a beautifully detailed ornate
facade facing the garden. The derelict brick wall of the extension forms a gate to the backyard where children play. GF
Goats Garden
The largest of five sites surrounding one of the busiest junctions in Agra is known affectionately as “home and business” by the owner.
The Taj Ganj Wedding Hall is a vast empty space littered with temporary wooden support structures used for weddings and vibrantly
coloured decorations. The next site is adjacent to the wedding hall site with a large brick wall separating the two . Here, a large Muslim
family run several businesses including a water buffalo farm, a goat butcher, and a private run public toilet for the Hindu families living
next door. The Tulsi Chabutra road is south of the site we named after our third site, the wastepicker’s Street after the waste pickers
and the local recycled metal traders who live and work there. GF
The busy intersection has been included as one of our sites as it forms the heart of the community. The site includes a Tuk-tuk stand,
a gully and a waste dumping area, unofficial mens urinal as well as being a space for parking wedding sound systems. Please see the
introduction page for a more detailed explanation. Behind the chowks only fashion shop is a square piece of land surrounded on all
sides by buildings. To the rear of the site, a secret door takes you through into a residential area and small square where children play.
The secret door is rarely used by locals as a route to the site. Currently, the land is used as additional parking space for the wedding
sound systems. SK
The Chowk
Buffalo Farm
20
22. 1
People of the Tanaga stand Chowk
At first glance, it seemed that the chowk was inhabited by just
men, but after we were invited into peoples homes, we discovered
the women lived on the rooftops where they cooked, cleaned and
took care of children. The women could interact with each other by
passing along the rooftops into each others homes. These spaces
were calm in comparison to the ground level. SK
clockwise from top left
[1] Souvenier shop owners
[2] Tuk Tuk driver and student
[3] Son of waste merchant
[4] Biriyama shop owner
22
23. 1
4 5
6
This young school boy is
picked up and dropped off at
the chowk everyday by bus.
23
24. At first we all assumed the chowk was a place for dumping rubbish.
A large pile of rotting garbage sat in the middle of the square covered
by flies. Local residents seemed appalled and expressed their
concerns to us as we took photos. The next day we returned and
a digger was clearing it away. Many of the locals seemed pleased
to see us and we all watched on as the digger cleared the pile
away. Throughout the week, as we measured, people asked if we
were from the government. Eventually we met a man who said,
“we assumed you were from the governent because the day after
you took photos of the rubbish it was cleared way.” It seemed the
local people felt ignored by the local government as their previous
requests went unheard. They made the assumption that foreigners
had more influence to make change than they themselves had.
- Susan Kudo + Leyla Yesiltas
Chowk Observations
Goodbye Rubbish
24
25. The Tangastand is a busy junction which once served Mumtazabad,
today it remains an important route between Agra and Taj ganj. The
Tangastand has to deal with localised traffic and Tuktuk traffic and
this as well as the use of the area as a parking lot for Tuktuk. This
has lead to severe congestion problems. In the past the Tuktuk traffic
carrying Taj Mahal tourists would go through the highway in the main
park, today that area (in green) is a pedestrianised route cordoned
off by army barrier outposts. The traffic here is either by foot or by
government run carriages. Tourists used to be dropped off here to
visit the Taj Mahal. Today however the traffic is diverted through
the Tangastand, with people being dropped off at certain drop off
points, from there the Tuktuk’s park in several areas, one being the
Tangastand which acts as an overflow car park. The Tuktuks bring
both congestion and they also drop tourists off away from areas which
could do with increased commercial footfall. The current system
Tangastand Traffic Observation
benefits the government and restricts the flow of capital movement
to the local population.
- Lee Hodgetts + Gergely Filo
25
26. In a square behind the chowk, many elementary school children
were playing. As an alternative activity to the boys’ football game we
decided to do a calmer ‘Treasure Hunt’ with the girls. First we met
with the parents living around the square and gained their permission
by using a letter written in Hindi explaining the treasure hunt. The
parents seemed pleased and we set the time for 2pm the next day.
At 2pm the following day we arrived at the square with treasure hunt
maps and some small prizes. When we got there, we found a group
of men playing cricket with no children around. We showed the men
our letter, and reluctantly they decided to allow us to use the square.
But by this time, many older children had gathered, mainly boys who
started fighting to get the maps. We eventually managed to give
the maps to the girls who went off to do the trasure hunt. By that
time however, even adults were fighting to get the pens. The cricket
players watched on with the parents and elders, not helping to stop
the children from pushing or fighting.
Some maps started to come back to us. We tried to hand the prize
to those children but it was quickly snatched away by the boys.
Then everybody started push to get the pizes and we had to go
inside someones house. Once in the house, the family who lived
there asked for some gifts, we gave a pen each but they demanded
more, then they started fighting! Eventually, we left the area. We
were saddened and shocked that this had happened. There were
so many adults there who wouldn’t assist to control the children who
themselves were pushing and grabbing. From this experience we
had seen a part of Agra that we weren’t expecting. Children and
adults, driven by poverty fighting with each other for something as
simple as a piece of paper and pen.
Cultural Exercize
Treasure Hunt for Girls
26
27. During our stay in Agra we were shown great hospitality, through
offerings of kindness and generosity. We felt it was our due to give
something back to the community, which may in turn mutually help us
in our projects. Through the game of football we were able to engage
with local community and were in turn able to ‘break barriers’. We
used a uneven brick paved empty courtyard we found as a location
for our sporting activity, that we called Cricket Square, where we
took the initiative to organise a match between local youngsters and
ourselves. This event provided more trust towards our group than
any social discussion before, as through the eye of the children
and youngsters we became one of them, part of their football
team, differences became less important than similarities, where
the aim was to have fun in a fair competition, and to dispense any
preconceived social and linguistic differences.
At the end of the game we gave the ball to the children playing on
Cricket Square, as a souvenir of our culture, where for an afternoon
they became guests on our temporary football field. It was interesting
to see that a bottle of fresh water at the end of a long ballgame in a
sunny day is equally worth gold for any thirsty participant. As for a
brief moment they could understand our fair game competing each
other on a playfield, we could also understand their difficulty in their
unfair struggle to obtain fresh water against forces of nature and
politics.
- Gergely Filo
Cultural Exercise
Football game for Boys
27
28. So many travel through the Chowk without ever setting foot within it.
For it sits in the middle of a Tuk-tuk ferrying route between the City
and the Taj Mahal. In turn very few walk through this historic area,
instead the channels of tourist revenue bypass those who need it.
The Chowk is full of life and vibrance, but it isnt without its
problems, it is in need of investment, it needs infrastructure to
counter poor health and sanitation and it needs contact with
tourists. To do this the Chowk requires re-organizing, it needs to
subtly be made more friendly to the tourist whilst still retaining its
life and vibrance. By making parallel considerations both of these
factors can be satisfied. The Buffalo Site will form a connection
between the Chowk and the Waste Pickers Street, with it acting
as a via that will help to clean the Chowk by bringing health and
sanitation, whilst the rubbish will be filtered out through to the waste
pickers. Meanwhile the Tuk-tuk parking area can be addressed by
dropping the tourists near the Chowk, which in turn with the right
conditions can lead to the tourists spending their money there.
- Lee Hodgetts
Bahumukhi Stan
A place where several arms meet
28
29. The ‘Kumar’ family are one of two families who take care of the Bagichi
‘family’ temple north of the Chowk on Tangastand Road. Eleven family
members live in the small brick buildings and shelters surrounding
the temple. At night, a large Imli (Tamarind) tree provides shelter for
the family members unable to fit inside the small buildings. During
the day, the elder children go to school while the younger children
play around the temple, watched over by both family’s mothers and
grandparents. When the elder children return from school, they study
with their parents and neighbours before playing with the younger
children. Finally they do their chores, sweeping the grounds and
helping to cook dinner.
The extended family structure at the Hindu temple as well as two
families living together provides an ideal environment for raising
children. I felt there was a contrast between the Hindu temple children
and the children living on the busy roads leading to the chowk where,
left unsupervised, the children often got into mischief. Using the
living arrangement of the Hindu temple as a model, I hope to design
a cluster of simple buildings where families can reside and raise
children within a small community.
- Susan Kudo
Imli House
Hindu Temple Site
29
30. Tangastand Guest House
Buffalo Farm Site
The silent and empty site is full of guests. Some of them temporary,
few of them permanent, a lot of them occasionally occupiers of land
and space. They have never expected to meet each other, but India is
the place to meet with the unexpected. I am about to introduce them
to each other, so they can work out the rules of the house together.
The Muslim family has a few Hindu guests staying and living on their
land. A lot of them just pop in to use the toilet, the most of them to
get married. The hosts of the land are the 25 trees, renting out their
shadows for anyone who is passing by, like the buffalos, who like to
rub on their trunks. But they are all the guests of the Mother of all
Landlords: Mother Yamuna. She takes a stroll to look on her land
during every Monsoon. She decrees who can stay and who has to
leave. I will ask her to let more guests on her land. I have to promise
her, that we will behave and not ruin anything that is hers. To take
care of the land, the trees, the air and the sun. Thank you for your
hospitality, Mother Yamuna.
- Gergely Filo
30
31. Paneer Town
City Farm
The vitality of activities is clearly evident in the central area of the
chowk, with many types of commerce, forming a similar aura of a
town. Although it may seem socially merged, there are certain
divisions and boundaries of location. I witnessed some of these
boundaries and routes whilst surveying, such as the children playing
only in neighbouring courtyards and the daily walks of the water
buffalos.
The water buffalos are an essential source of income as well as
for domestic produce. I thought of incorporating the production of
paneer from the buffalos with workshops for the children and locating
them around the chowk. This could be an urban intervention to help
‘upgrade’ commerce as well as enhancing social and educational
activities
- Leyla Yesiltas
31
32. 32
In the midst of the chaos 400 meters from the Taj Malhal, there sits a tranquil space, filled with huge trees, flying parrots,
crawling chipmunks and monkeys relaxing on rooftops. Walking down the dirt road you find a welcoming half open gate,
which opens out to reveal the facade of a bright yellow and worn out building. Instantly you’re being greeted by workers,
who seem intrigued by your presence.
Plantation
32
33. 33
Photo By Susan Kudo
33
Hannah Stadie
Adrian Portillo Svensson
Sulaiman Quereshi
34. 34
Introduction
Amoung the midst of the chaos 300 meters from the Taj Malhal, there
sits a tranquil space, filled with huge trees, flying parrots, crawling
chipmunks and monkeys relaxing on rooftops. Walking down a dirt
road away from the Taj Mahal road, you find a welcoming half open
gate, which opens out to reveal the facade of a bright yellow and
worn building. Instantly you’re being greeted by workers, who seem
intrigued by your presence.
This is the plantation. A vast area that concentrates on growing and
selling plant pots but also looks after the neighboring Shah Jahan
Gardens. The Plantation also maintains trees that have medicinal
purposes and trees with religious significance.In the background you
suddenly hear the cheers of the children playing cricket, in the cricket
square, hidden behind a concrete wall.
The plantation, which is government property is not a busy place, the
workers will more than likely be found playing cards than watering
the plants. The atmosphere is relaxed and they sit down for Chai
three times a day if not more.The ‘Boss’ keeps everything under
control most of the time but when he is not there the cards come out
and the work stops.
There are many different activities that happen on site including
chair repairing, chai making and monkey scaring.
This is a space that should and could be used to its full capacity.
36. 4
Observations
As a group we all noticed the tranquility of the site and the relaxed
nature in which the plantation staff worked.
The workers arrived at about eight o’clock to start work. The first
task of the day was to sit and chat. After a good chat was when the
watering of the plants happened. The season and smog that was
around when we went meant that watering was done at anytime of
the day but not mid-day when it was the hottest. In the middle of
summer the watering would be done before the sun came up or after
it set to avoid scorching the plants in the hot sun.
The plantation was very careless with water and we even witnessed
many occasions when water was left to overflow onto the ground.
Nobody seemed to care that water would come gushing out when
they turned on the tap for the water storage tank.
When the gang of monkeys came to visit was the only time we saw
any quick movement form the workers. The monkeys would sit and
pull the plants to pieces no doubt causing trauma to the plant making
them un-sellable for a couple of weeks.
There was a lot of old farm equipment left over from what the called
“the British times” which had just been left to rust. Everything from
tool sharpeners to water storage tanks. As a group we felt like this
had been a waste of resources as they had been left to degrade for a
long time and had not even been removed from site.
[1] The unused bungalow emerges out from the plantation
[2] The facade of the main storage crumbuling down after the
monsoon season
[3] Tractor man rests before he leaves with the tractor to another
plantation
[4] Watering the seasonal pots early on the day
[5] Indians from all around the country come to visit the Taj Mahal,
many which stop over at the plantation to hydrate themself.
[6]This is where the workers take a break to have a cup of Chai.
36
4
38. 38
Mapping
A landscape mostly inhabited by forestation, in which buildings are
secluded and caved in between greenery, lead us to a different take
on surveying and mapping. Using tree triangulations, the trees that
stood out would be named and landmarked individually, this gave us
the ability to grasp the landscape in a far more detailed way.
Due to the vast variety in age and species of the trees, we came
across many different thicknesses that meant within measuring
between three different trunks we would also take the diameter in
to account.
The process of tree triangulating created a structure in which we
could allocate and slot individual buildings and there measurements
in relation to each other, in detail and with precision, despite the vast
scale on which the site is presented.
Finding patterns within this also developed an understanding
of the purpose of the individual buildings, how they are placed to
accommodate the community around them. With this we gained
locations on various paths of access such as footpaths, those built
for vehicle access and those crafted through simple human traffic.
38
40. 2
2
Analysis
The boundaries of our site were very hard to define. There were two
very clear entrances but the locked gates were easily bypassed by
walking under the barbed wire.
On site you could never really tell who was and was not invited to be
there. For instance there were two families living on-site; one more
openly than the other ,but they were never talked about. Occasionally
you would see the husband walking through the plantation. The other
family lived out of sight behind an old water storage tank.
Lots of different people would pass through and none of the workers
cared, unless the street sellers would talk to us and they would get
asked to leave (more shoved away than asked to leave).
There were broken down walls leading from highly populated areas
into our site which meant that the locals would be very curious and
even teritorrial if approached univited. But we never felt threatened
by their presence even after a five year old with a hypodermic needle
tried to stab us as we were climbing the wall down to our site. That
was scary.
When you are in the plantation, it can feel like your in another world,
isolated from the city, but with a faint background noise of all sorts.
But when we were discovering the boundaries of the plantation, it felt
much more inhabited and vibrant and met people that have lived in
the boundary of the plantation their whole life.
There was always something happening yet the plantation never felt
busy.
40
1
41. [1] Path from the criket square onto our site
[2] Looking from the main Taj Road onto our site
[3] The water tower as seen from outside of our site
[4 & 5] The families and their homes parrallel to one of the
plantation boundary
4
3
5
41
42. Initially for our cultural exercise we had come up with an interactive
game for some of the local children; most of them were street vendors
selling fridge magnets and key rings of the Taj Mahal.
The exercise was constructed under the basis that the kids would
have to be challenged with team work, mathematical calculation
and spatial awareness. So we drew on the ground of our site; two
rectangular fields one next to the other, with a smaller squares filling
the ends of the rectangles and a circle in the middle. Each team had
a rectangle with fifteen bricks on one of the squares and team A or B
on the opposite side of those bricks. The game consisted that one kid
of each of the opposing teams would stand in the middle of the circle
and draw out one playing card each. The member in the circle had to
add up both cards and shout to their respective teams what the sum
was. Then the team would have to go one by one carrying as many
bricks as possible back to where the team is. If both team get the
amount right, we would then ask them three more questions/tasks; to
manipulate the brick to create X amount of length, X amount of area,
and X amount of volume. If its a tie after that, the game restarts all
over again.
Our objective was to observe the interaction of the children to see if
the older kids would help with carrying the bricks, to see if some kids
were more engaged than others and in what cases this may vary.
Cultural Exersize
42
43. Vikash’s visual exercise; He had to identify the images in English and
then he had to write them down in Hindi. We also went through cutlery
and a mobile phone in english.
This is Vikash Kumar a bright young boy. He was a street seller too
but he was always smilling and wanted for us to teach him english.
With his enthusiasm he grew a relationship with us and kept coming
back to see us, and warmly greet us when bumping into him in the
streets.
He was eventually allowed to join us in the plantation, with permission
from one of the workers we made friends with. He could already
speak and write in English but we wanted to see if we could teach
him different types of words and the difference between singular and
plural in particular as well as visual exercises in the sketchbooks.
These children who are street sellers on the Taj Mahal road were kind
enough to come and help us survey the buildings in our site. They
are normally not allowed in this area, and they often get kicked out
by the workers.
It was a really great opportunity to teach them about adding numbers
and how to read numbers over 100. They also told us were they went
to school and what type of schooling they received. Some of them
liked school, whilst others prefered for us to teach them key words
in english.
43
44. A sense of decay and neglect lingers around the plantation. Not
just through the maintenance of the nostalgic postcolonial Indian
architecture, or of the natural beauties it holds, but also of the many
possibilities the site could potentially offer in terms of agriculture,
community infrastructure and its communications with the chaotic
world outside of its green incognito boundaries.
Walking through the site, you can unravel the thriving sense of
business and community that it used to incorporate. The run down
buildings stand prominently in synchronization with the surrounding
land. One building in specific that promotes these antique qualities is
44
Foundations
Through to Roots Liberation
a greatly undermined wopied bungalow. Tainted the collapsed straw
roofing, it left no room for human inhabitants. Cobwebs, splintered
doors and walls peeling from decades of attempted restoration. All of
which stir the curiosity of any keen observer.
Roofing system catered for the raw climate that fluctuates year
round, is held up by geometric series of internal walls. Creates
a natural cooling system out of its high ceilings and open space.
This speaks for the negligence of aged methodologies. An inspiring
opportunity for centralizing my scheme, a prime example to which
history interweaves simplistic modernity.
- Sulaiman Quereshi
45. Within a hundred meter radius of the Taj Mahal’s West gate, there
lies a peaceful and eccentric playground for the growing and nursing
of a collection of over two hundred different species of plants; some
with important economical and religious value to Agra’s culture.
As you enter the space it immediately feels warm and welcoming,
by local agricultural workers who greet you with a look of relaxation.
As the men huddle together around a dusty, old wooden table, sat on
a collection of metal, wooden, plastic and polished-stone seats, they
wrap up their three hour long card game, to have their third cup of
chai (traditional Indian tea) of the day.
The tea drinking culture has brought people together around the
world for thousands of years, and in this magical place there is
no exception. Men from around the plantation join in this humble
ceremony, where some bring the milk and others get the chai herbs,
as the improvised fire is slowly light; as if to mimic the beginning of a
religious ceremonies.
The plantation, like few other places contains trees and shrubs that
have medicinal and religious purposes, some, which are classed as
the most sacred trees of India and are under protection for fear of
being cut down and stolen.
The proposal for my design is aimed at these qualities as well as its
preservation.
- Adrian Portillo Svensson
45
Eastern Glow
Chai Ceremony
46. The basis of my project is to redesign the way in which the plantation
is organised. One of the biggest things that shocked me about the
site was the wastage of water.
My proposal is to capture and store rain water on site. This would
stop the need for bore holes being dug to tap into the already
depleted natural underground water source. Also the sites location
on the main road to the Taj mahal make it an ideal place to have a
tourist haven. A place to get away from the chaos of the main Taj
Road and have a cup of chai.
The masterplan for the site will be to use the unused space to
educate street sellers and for them to then be able to sell their goods
on site after school to the visiting tourist. There will also be a natural
water filtration system in place to purify the water.
The main aim is to design a fully functioning plantation whilst making
employment opportunities for people in the surrounding area.
The infrastructure is there it’s just need to be utilised more effectively.
- Hannah Stadie
46
Kaltanpur Chai Gardens
Water Filtration
47. We had a lot of fun working in the plantation and we learnt a lot of new
mapping skills. The workers of the plantation were sad to see us go a
certain Rajheeve was so sad that he didn’t even want to say goodbye
and we spent our last afternoon trying to make him feel better.
There were high points to the trip but we were reminded that most
people don’t have proper homes and food to eat. Even on site there
was a temporary brick shelter made from disused bricks. The family
were less impressed by our presence on site and wouldn’t let us
measure properly near their living quarters.
Having spent time with kids that were happy with the little they had
was amazing they laughed at us, were really helpful and found it very
confusing that the boys in our group let the girls smoke (apparently its
fine for boys because only girls will get sick). We Didn’t explain the
After a couple of days getting over the shock of being in India going to
the plantation everyday felt as normal as walking to university. Some
of us got too use to India, especially the monkeys ,after hand feeding a
sick monkey back to heath and then nearly being bitten by its mate we
realised we may have been too relaxed.
47
Summary
Plantation
48.
49.
50. Yamuna River
An unknown territory. A mystery location. A secret world. Situated next to the Taj Mahal, yet never really discovered by
anyone. Where are the tourists? Why do they show no real interest or desire to visit the Taj Mahal West Gardens? You are
surrounded by nothing but beautiful trees, flowers, plants and monkeys. There is so much in the Taj Mahal West Gardens
that is undiscovered and so much beauty which has been spared the chance of being possibly damaged by tourism and
everything that comes with it – litter, damage, constant wear and tear or pathways. There is a military look-out location
based behind the gardens, at the side of the Yamuna River to stop any form of threats reaching the Taj Mahal from the
west-side. What about the gardens? There is absolutely no-one there to protect them apart from a handful of unstable
gardeners.
52. As we entered the gates of the main Taj Mahal Gardens of the Western
Gate (Khan-I-Alam Bagh), you are immediately struck by the imensity
of the space. With everything towering over you, you cannot help but
feel so minuscule in the grand scheme of things.You would never know
that you’re only standing 260 metres from the Yamuna River, a river
that once was flowing with fresh water to supply the local community.
You would also not realise that you’re only standing a few metres
from the walls of the great Taj Mahal since it remains so silent and
peaceful. The space remains vacant apart from the frequent daily use
of gardeners to tend to the plantation and relocation of rose bushes.
After a brief walk parallel to the Taj Mahal Western Wall, you
find yourself coming to a small archway which, once you walk
through, you realise it is a threshold to a completely different scene
- a security base which looks to be owned by the Indian Military.
However, overtime the military guards explained to us that they
were not soldiers of the military but were just security guards,
which in comparison to our culture would be no different to our local
department store security... apart from the guns. If you continue to
walk around the security base and away from the western wall, you
find yourself at a temple, the Bateshwar temple. This temple is 70km
away from Agra and belongs to the Hindu Hare Krishnas which are
worshipers of Lord Shiva, the “supreme” god. We spent the best of
seven days with the people of the temple - they were so humble
and respectful. We were really interested in their culture and trying
to make a connection between them and the main town of Agra.
TheYamuna River used to supply water toAgra from 1874 but the land
around it became too polluted, which resulted in the contamination
of the river and an alternative for water supply to be found. However,
water supply from the river is still used in Delhi. During our time in
Agra, we were able to discover how they used to bring the water
into the town of Agra and use the water for the Taj Mahal gardens.
Yamuna River
Introduction
52
53. The drawing shown to the right is a plan of our site created by all
three group members. We split our site into three and each drew a
plan for that part, and then at the end put together each plan to create
the final result.
53
54. Whilst exploring our site situated in the Taj
Mahal West Gardens and alongside the
Yamuna River, we noticed that there are
certain restrictions and invisible boundaries
which make a very significant difference to
how each area intereacts with each other - the
locals are not allowed to enter the Taj Mahal
gardens or near the Yamuna River without
good reason, and if they are caught anywhere
near, they are immediately forced to exit. We
also noticed a strong connection between
the main Western Taj Mahal Gardens and
the Taj Mahal itself - the Western Gardens
produce plants which then go into the main
Taj Mahal. Also, the main water supply for
the fountains of the Taj Mahal runs through
the Western Gardens and directly into the Taj
Mahal and is shared with the irrigation system
of the Western Taj Mahal Gardens. The water
supply to the Taj Mahal and its gardens in
relation to the Yamuna River became of great
interest to us.
4
[1] Patty Leo - ‘Main Taj Mahal Garden near
the West Gate’
[2] Reham Elwakil - ‘A man of the Yamuna
Temple with their holy cow’
[3] Reham Elwakil - ‘Monkey Business’
[4] Reham Elwakil - ‘The Ox House’ sketch
[5] Yasmin Freeman, ‘The Plantation’
[4][4]
Observations
3 4
54
56. Since we had such a vast area to measure
and draw, our group had to come up with
many different fast and easy ways to measure,
especially large measurements. Our main way
to measure one metre by stepping to check
the distance, and then by taking footsteps of
roughly the same distance and adding it all
up to give a total length (as shown in photo
1 next to text). We had to make sure that
there was someone to consistantly note down
the measurements that were being taken as
where there were so many measurements, it
was easy to forget them or get muddled up.
≈ 1 Meter
[1] ‘Reham showing our measuring method’ -
Yasmin Freeman
[2] Map of Agra highlighting our site in red
[3] ‘Main Garden Arches’ Sketch - Yasmin
Freeman
[4] ‘Yasmin writing down measurements’ -
Reham Elwakil
[5] ‘Front Elevation of Main Gardens’ - Re-
ham Elwakil
Mapping
1
5
56
58. Working from dusk until sun down, I used my time wisely. Making
regular sketches of sections and elevations of my space which
helped represent it in the best way possible. Overwhelmed by
the prospect of creating a project based around such a large
area, which at first seemed daunting. After the first week of
intense sketching and multiple cultural exercises, I warmed up
to the idea of using such a large space to innovate. As more of
my time was spent in Agra’s Taj Mahal West Garden’s and the
Yamuna Temple, I witnessed many opportunities to unravel a
project. However, I had to narrow down my ideas to just one idea.
Whilst I was working in my space, I gained knowledge of trees and
plants that are used for medicinal purposes as they help with all sorts
of ailments. This resulted in me discovering that the Aloe Vera plant
is grown in the space of the Taj Mahal plantation garden, but it does
not get used for medicinal purposes; it gets lined up along some
Essence & Essentials
steps leading through the garden next to other cactus plants just for
aesthetics. My idea developed from this to create a cactus “factory”.
However, notice I use the word factory very loosely; I do not want
the “factory” to be hard labour machinery based work. I am going to
create a space for the Aloe Vera to grow and then be put through a
process to capture the precious juices of the plant which will then be
sold to the local community and potentially abroad. I am also going
to create a perfumery with the Taj Mahal’s rose collection to make
use of the multiple flowers grown in the plantation. The idea is to
be able to produce a working environment that will result in creating
additional jobs for the people of Agra and form a sense of security.
- Yasmin Freeman
58
59. Three main superficial yet very evident territories, from a power
evoking army in direct contact with a seemingly humble temple, to
an elevated land of agricultural struggles. On our first meeting with
the temple community, we were invited inside with warmth and
hospitality. A slope can be tracked down from a smokey courtyard
hidden within the temple walls. In an attempt to follow its path, we
find the source standing built and preserved, a Mugal creation that
has now become nothing but a vast empty cave for spiders, monkeys
and other free animals. A mysterious journey begins...
Through our broken English and sign language conversations with
the community, we have come to know that this building is tagged
with the name “Ox”, as we finally discovered that the great three
meter thick walls of the building, once, used to sustain the moving
weight of fourteen oxes. A continuation of the puzzle of ancient
water flow, this was a system that was used to pump water up to a
Crossing Barriers
series of aqueducts leading to the Taj Mahal fountains. The biggest
disappointment throughout our journey was that none of those
compact communities had any knowledge of the powerful history
their homes held. Is there an opportunity which could be given to
such simple men which could channel their love and enthusiasm for
their surroundings into a more rewarding and life sustaining cause?
A tour guide specialised in the field of his own home…
- Reham Elwakil
59
60. While surveying our site, I met Agra native Mr. Suresh Chandra
Socla, a thirty-seven year old, father of three, professional swimmer.
He has been working as a watchman at the University of Agra for
the past fourteen years and as a side job, he has been coaching
swimming classes at the Majur Tourist complex swimming pool in the
JP Hotel for the past 6 years.
He told me he was on his way to the banks of the Yamuna River
to perform his daily routine of swimming on the river. Seeing the
conditions in which the River appears, I couldn’t believe it. Rubbish
and human deposits are thrown on this river on a daily basis. Either
way, he jumped into the river, as he does everyday, and swam from
the Taj Mahal side of the river to the Metah Bah side, back and forth.
His daily ritual after a swim in the River is to shower with fresh water
from the well at the Hari Krishna Temple and bathed in Sweet Almond
Oil. On September 12th 1994, Mr Socla swam the Yamuna River
Horticultural Aquatic Project
for twenty-eight hours (three days) for a distance of 120km. His
expedition goal is by the summer of 2013 surpass his ninety-fourth
record and once again, swim for eight days (Sunday to Sunday) the
Yamuna River, for a distance of 425 km.
- Patty Leo
60
61. Throughout our time in Agra we spent getting to know our site, along
with its people, relationship and significance to the city of Agra. To
allow us to come to these conclusions we had to undergo many
different types of exercises which then enabled us to understand
how the space worked, how the people working/spending time within
the space managed themselves and the activities that happened
there. - ‘Cultural Exercises’. One of our important cultural activities
that took place was spending lunchtime with the local people of the
Yamuna Temple. The people of the temple were Hare krishnas and
extremely easy to get along with. They welcomed you to experience
their version of “lunch”. The food we were presented with consisted
of a batter-pancake kind of texture with quite a bland taste - a purri.
However, we soon realised how important it was that the purri
needed to be eaten alongside eating the masala since the masala
was extremely spicy. Accompanying the food was a small plastic
Cultural Exercises
cup containing a drop of the freshest water in Agra - delicious!
Another incredible experience that we witnessed was the making of
lassi - a traditional Indian drink containing lots of nuts, fresh milk
or yogurt, dried fruits and water. Watching the process of making
the lassi allowed us to see how simple it is to make the traditional
drink which is served in almost every restaurant and cafe throughout
the day. We also made friends with a young boy from the Yamuna
Tample called Ajay. We had conversations with him to the best of our
abilities with broken english but he was the first person we interacted
with on our trip. We each took turn in riding his new bicycle with
him, drawing with him and teaching him to write. We also tried to
invovle ourselves in as many of the gardening activities as possible.
61
62. [1] ‘The Making of Lassi’ - Patty Leo
[2] ‘ The Festival of Colours’ - Patty Leo
[3] ‘ Indian Wedding’ - Patty Leo
[4] ‘Homemade Lassi’ - Patty Leo
[5] ‘Taking the flowers from one garden to another’ - Yasmin Freeman
[6] ‘ Reham riding the bicycle’ - Yasmin Freeman
1 2
4 5
Observations
62
64. The time spent in India was certainly an eye-opener. We built so
many friendships with the people that use the space, which really
influenced us with how we chose our individual main project ideas
and what to focus on - they were key to the experience. Agra has
a great amount of different boundaries covering all different kinds
of spaces. These boundaries are mostly invisible, with only very
few apparent. The invisible boundaries have been created by the
presence of Indian Security and control that has been put in place
by the Government of India or A.S.I (Archaeological Survey of
India) as well as all of the local Indian community being aware of
these restrictions. Whilst we were working in our space, on several
seperate occassions we witnessed local Indian people, both adults
and young children, being treated with absolutely no respect due to
them “overstepping the boundaries”. During the time spent on our
site, we also noticed that the majority of people had either a small
private “business” or worked under the employment of someone
else, or both. However, even though there are people working two
different types of main jobs, this still does not allow them to take
enough money back to their family to feed their wife and children for
the week. Also, there are many Indian people that have a dream in
mind about what they want to be able to achieve, but everything in
their life makes it very impossible.
Analysis
64
66. GROUP
CHAPTER INTRODUCTION
Malko Gali
Malko Gali is quite a peaceful region with many retail and souvenir shops around its main wide streets. It is a very rich area
which consists of a heritage protected Burji Shawaly Baba’s Tomb built in 1917, who was a very good and helpful man,
therefore Muslims pray to him and come to visit the tomb. There’s also a big Taj Ganj Mosque in the neighbourhood and
many graves of famous poets and broadly known Indian teachers. It has a big communal playground which in comparison
to the rest of the area is always busy and noisy. Mostly, you can find Muslims in here with an exception of one side of TajGanj
street which belongs to Hindu people, explaining the relatively humble size of the local Mosque.
68. Malko Gali
Cricket Square
68
Surprisingly, even though Malko Gali is positioned very close to
the Taj Mahal, it doesn’t have many tourists around; therefore our
presence there was of great interest in the locals. Just off one of the
streets, there’s a large communal open space, daily used for cricket
matches between the local kids, and occasionally it turns into a spot
for carpet cleaning, Hindu festivals or beautiful wedding parades,
during which the whole square is covered with colourful carpets and
camel parades are lead through. In one corner of the square, right
next to a main road there is a tomb of a world famous Indian poet
- Nazeer Akbarabadi who was known as “the father of Nazm” and
unfortunately the state of his grave is in quite a poor condition. Further
down into the open square you can see a small structure which
covers a cemetery where family members of Nazeer Akbarabadi are
buried. The contrast between dead and living is suppressed in here
as the ground around the tombs is still very liveable place and used
by locals as a shaded seating area which allows them to spend their
days there while playing cards and drinking chi. Most of the area
around the square is dominated by marble workshops, purse and
shoe factories, with one of the factories located right inside a small
primary school which has a strong smell of glue, very dangerous
for the children to be breathing it in every single day during their
learning hours. Unlike the cricket square area, the streets nearby are
less dense and much quieter, with young children playing around the
sewage and drainage canals and elders socialising in front of their
houses, or sitting at the neighbouring shops with the owners.
1 2
69. 69
Group members and their sites in relation to Taj Mahal:
Alex Nacu - left (Cricket Square)
Aleksandra Skula - bottom (TajGanj Mosque)
Richard Coburn - top right (Malko Gali)
[1] Children playing cricket at the
open communal space, right next
to the tomb
[2] Local primary school classroom
with stacked up boxes of shoes at
the back of it
70. 4
Observations
1
70
As you walk East from the open square, your eye catches a very
long fence on the left hand side, which restricts your view into the
area behind it. The boundary surrounds a big space where almost
30 years ago it used to be a working maternity hospital. Now all
there is, is a badly damaged building for widows and homeless but
also a storage place of the boxes, petrol and machinery for Nagar
Nigam Agra Road Construction Group, as well as a children’s
clinic – a one room injection centre. The space behind the building
is used as a parking for the machinery and building materials are
scatted around the place. There are a few lower quality ‘houses’
within the boundary, which are inhabited by the people who work
for the Nagar Nigam (government). The surrounding area is mostly
residential, but off the main road, in the neighbourhood of the big
fence, stands a beautiful heritage protected tomb which is hidden
by the houses. Behind the monument you can see the horizon
of the trees surrounding the nursery ahead, where most of the
monkeys hide from the sunlight during the day, before coming
out onto the roof terraces of terrified residents of Malko Gali area.
2
3
71. 5
4
71
[1] The camel parrade after Hindu festival
[2] Tajganj - one of the main roads in the
area
[3] Aleksandra Skula and Richard Coburn -
Section through Malko Gali area showing the
Mosque and local houses
[4] Tuk Tuks parking along TajGanj road
[5] Richard Coburn - A sketch of a protected
monument - Burji Shawaly Baba Tomb
The mosque, which is positioned down
South from the Nagar Nigam institution, also
consists of a big free space, where most of it
is covered by trees, and a small part at the
back consists of one of the largest Muslim
cemeteries in the local area. The area which
separates the mosque from the road is mainly
used as a parking space for Muslim men who
daily come to the Mosque for prayers. There
are a few more spots which have been used
as parking places since a long time ago.
One of them runs along the fence of the old
hospital, and you can not only find cars in
there, but also dozens of Tuk Tuks with their
drivers sleeping and resting at the back seats,
waiting for the rush hour to kick in.
4
72. 72
[1] Alex Nacu - Perspective drawing of shoe
factory
[2] Alex Nacu - elevation of the cricket square
in the direction of marble factories
[3] An old wooden door in a brick wall
[4] Detail of the temporary roof structure
[5] Alex Nacu - Plan of the interiors around
the communal cricket square
1
2
74. 74
[1] Aleksandra Skula - Sketch of the
abandoned hospital
[2] View of the machinery at the hospital
area pictured from a rooftop balcony
[3] Local people around the area observing
our work
[4] Aleksandra Skula and Richard Coburn -
analysis of the area within the boundary wall
[5] Aleksandra Skula and Richard Coburn -
Resolving the plan
[6] Local goats in t-shirts owned by people
who live in the huts from the area of the old
hospital
[7] Richard Coburn - Surveying of the old
hospital building
1
2
3
4
76. 76
3
[1] Aleksandra Skula - Mapping of inftitutions
around the site
[2] Aleksandra Skula - Marking the area by
religion
[3] Wooden poles on stacked bricks
supporting the leaking roof of the Mosque
[4] Local Muslim boy showing a dried up well,
now used to dry clothes on
[5] Back of the TajGanj Mosque - cementary
[6] Local kids in the courtyard area of the
TajGanj Mosque
[7] Aleksandra Skula - Development of the
interiors of Malko Gali area
[8] Aleksandra Skula - Surveying the
courtyard in front of the TajGanj Mosque
1
2
78. Text descirbing analysis of the site, written observations what
we found out
A mere 400 yard stroll south and west of the ‘Western Gate Taj Mahal’
you will find ‘Malko Gali Square Garden’. It is rarely stumbled upon
by tourists and the presence of strangers creates much interest. A
concrete boundary wall dominates the site, enclosing large space at
the heart of which lies a one-time maternity hospital that now lies in
serious disrepute. The hospital is occasionally used to dispatch child
vaccinations, store medicine, and safe guard many utility vehicles in
its grounds. A lone security guard is at address for much of the time.
I peer through a hospital window; an old soiled duvet lies amongst
other personal effects.
The square is flanked on every side mostly by residential buildings,
affluent and educated in parts, whilst others are less fortunate. A
mosque sits proudly to the south, a horticultural nursery directly to
the north separated only by a single row of homes, and a beautiful
red stone tomb sits hidden from view by ‘The Wall’. To the west,
a large plaza frequently used by the children for cricket and then
littered with a patch work of carpets to be cleaned.
The streets are rarely quiet, infiltrated by the Tuk Tuk driver liberally
applying their horns as they use it as thoroughfare to the Taj Mahal,
or for parking awaiting a loose tourist. It is invaded by the monkeys
every sunset as they make their journey through the streets to the
haven of the nursery beyond leaving behind locals with sticks. The
sewers are open, the accompanying odour lingers. Small market
stalls operate outside the houses, selling ‘Kodak moments’ and
keepsakes, but trade is slow.
‘The Wall’ obscures the hospital from sight. ‘The Wall’ obscures the
potential that lies at the heart of ‘Malko Gali Square Garden’.
- Richard Coburn
Malko Gali Square Garden
78
79. 1
2
While examining the area of Malko Gali which is mainly occupied by
Muslims, I came across many nice, mostly educated or in education
people who showed me around the neighbourhood. I have visited
many local mosques and realised that the Tajgang Mosque is quite
different from the rest of them. Firstly it turned out to have a ‘guest
entrance’ which lead behind the main building and into a small
cemetery where right in the centre of it, surrounded by high walls was
buried Sadique uz Jaza Mohammad Karim, and next to him were his
wife and child. In the middle of the front courtyard of the mosque was
well known to the neighbouring people, 80 metres deep well which
for a long time used to be their main supply, before the levels of water
have decreased, causing it to dry out.
There could be so much done for the Muslims in this area as the tank
which normally is used for cleaning up before entering the mosque
has now been broken for many years. I was told that several builders
tried to come up with the solution to a problem, yet none of them
succeeded, and now they are experiencing another problem, as the
extended roof of the mosque leaks. In my project, I could help the
locals by designing a better roof structure and also try fixing their
water tank.
After not such a pleasant cultural exercise with the kids, I came to
conclusion of using the courtyard right in front of the mosque, and
the abandoned area behind it, to design modern versions of Islamic
schools – madrasa, which would teach both boys and girls so much
more than just Arabic and Urdu.
- Aleksandra Skula
Taj Ganj Mosque Extension
79
80. The Malko Gali’s “Cricket square” is one of the few places that one
would find attractive and busy at the same time. The reason being
that it is a lively square but all the industrial works that take place
in the area are happening inside the surrounding buildings and
therefore do not interfere with the square. It is almost hidden busy,
except for the kids that play cricket all day long and some local chaps
that sit around Nazeer Akbarabadi’s tomb playing cards. As I was told
on site while examining it, Nazeer Akbarabadi was an 18th century
poet and apparently one of the most famous Indian poets who is
known worldwide. His tomb is surrounded by other smaller tomb
of his family and it is covered by corrugated metal roof panels held
by 12I – beams. Unfortunately the tombs are not in the best state
because of their daily use as seating and play area. While examining
the area I visited a nearby Mosque’s graveyard and to my surprise
I was told that the main tomb in there belongs to Sadiq uz Jaza
Mohammad Karim who was Shah Jahan’s teacher, it is surrounded
by his wife and son’s tombs as well.
To me, the fact that such important individuals for Indian cultural
context are sort of neglected in a way that it is not known publicly
about their presence in the area, only locally, doesn’t seem right.
Therefore the main idea for my design project, the programme of the
building would be raising awareness of existence of these individuals,
their biography and contribution to Indian culture. I see it as reviving
or rejuvenating the forgotten or less known, looking into the hidden
can sometimes generate a very exciting story or discovery. By doing
that I hope that it would become an attraction for locals and tourists
who only visit Agra because of Taj Mahal and do not know that there
are plenty other interesting stories scattered around Taj Ganj.
- Alex Nacu
Dead Poet’s Society
80
81. 81
Some of the students show the latest dance to the
opposition before the football match in cricket square.
82. GROUPCHAPTER INTRODUCTION
At the south extent of the Taj Mahal complex was built a Caravenserai and Bazaar, aside from the
ornate gates which remain, the original buildings have been subsumed by the tide of new concrete
and brick homes and shops whose narrow paths meander to quiet private courtyards. These
rooms are still in use today, some converted to master bedrooms as part of a house, some used as
stores. Their thick walls make them suited to the Indian climate, keeping cool in heat. The image
conjured by Kalim, a 14th century poet “finding rosebush blossom at every step” has gone, along
with Shah Jahan’s masterplan. The walls that kept out the dangers of the jungle have fallen away.
Caravanserai
82
84. 84
Caravanserai
Old Bazaar
Along the road leading towards the west gate of the Taj Mahal is
a row of tourist shops selling novelties like t shirts and keyrings.
Through a covered entrance beside some street sellers who had
laid out their wares in front of an abaondoned shop, there came a
stream of people, not from a busy restaurant but, as we discovered
a stairwell leading to quiet domestic streets. Amongst these colourful
houses were some small industries, box making and stone inlay
production continuing in quiet courtyards. Amongst the organic
pathways of the new houses were some remnants of the cravanserai
which had provided shelter point for travellers and craftsmen. We
found our way into some of these, one was a master bedroom
rendered and fitted with electricity, one was set into the taj wall, and
one was being used as a kitchen for a hotel. The buildings lack the
grandeur of the stonework of the rest of the complex, being brick
and chuna. These quarters contain 136 rooms (hujra) the standard
number in Mughal Caravanserais. Many have been converted and
reused over the years. This profusion of busy urban India lies over an
octagonal plan, chiming with the towers of the surrounding mosques.
So close to the Taj Mahal, we cannot help but feel the great contrast
between the two topologies; between the lifestyle of the ruling class,
and those outside.
The gates as such present a fascinating survival of the historical
social divide. Their large pointed brick arches faced with red
sandstone amd topped by a chajja (overhanging eave) and above
that the decorative kanguras (small pointed arches in relief). The
gates vary in complexity, all having a flat roofed passage, whilst the
gates of the northern cravanserai led to a domed chamber.
Three of the quarters house mixed communities, whilst in the south
west katra they enclose a Hindu community. The atmosphere of Agra
is charged with religious fervour and beating of drums and chanting
is heard most nights - nothing like a bit of healthy competition?
Backpackers are in force in this area (an important revenue stream)
and there are a number of hotels, some of which we were able to
survey in all their idiosyncracy. It is common for these hotels, built on
narrow plots to rise high above the surrounding buildings to vie for a
view of the Taj Mahal.
85. 85
Tractor Shed
Police Station
Nagar Nigam
Computer
School
Nagar Nigam
Girls’ School
Haveli
Box workshop
Stone
workshop
Muslim Tomb
Hindu
Shrine
Open House
Old Doctors
Shop
Surgery
Katra Gate
[6] Stone Inlay
Working in the shade of a hujra
entrance, fabricating souvenirs to sell
in the local shops.
[7] Stairs
The dark narrow route which links the
main walk to the Taj to the katra above.
[2]
[3]
[1]
[5]
[6]
[7]
1:1000
86. 86
old walls of katras
Taj Mahal Southern boundary wall
Historic Katras of Taj Mahal (caravanserais)
1
5
4
32
6
7 8
1. southern gate
2.western gate
3. east gate
4. gardens of Taj Mahal
5. katra omar khan
6. katra phulel
7. katra reshum
8. katra jogidas
Taj Mahal complex
88. 88
Starting our survey as a group around the
area of the famous monument we came
along many surprises, discovering how Taj
Mahal and its contemporary surroundings,
have been carried out to the present, both
successfully and unsuccessfully, and how
influences of people helped to do that.
Hidden hangovers of the old city waiting to
be discovered and many historic treasures,
representations of the old city of Agra
have been disdained or even covered by
new touristic facades.These are historical
evidence that someone can’t discover during
one day visit to Taj Mahal but it needs to be
surveyed further.
4
[1] Goats in Coats in the domestic alley
[2] Hindu Shrine in the Katra Gate
[3] The Tea Seller
[4] Roofscape
[5] Taj View
[4][4]
Observations
3 4
90. 90
We spent our time measuring the narrow
streets of the raised level ‘Katra Phulal’ or
flower market and also finding some houses
or hotels to explore. Particularly the Host
hotel, whose incongruous shape changed
with each floor. The host hotel typifies two
common features of hotels in the area - it has
a high up viewing platform (12m) allowing for
views of the Taj Mahal, and it is built within a
narrow plot. On the higher ground, we found
some hujra, mughal era rooms and also a
mixture of mainly residential with occasional
shops and services.
[1] Stairs
[2] Host Hotel Section
[3] Katra Mapping
[4] Katra Mapping
Mapping
5
2
1
92. 92
Dance School
Trinity Laban
India, Agra, Taj Mahal are nothing but a dream for many people. A
third world country with unimaginable wealth. Visiting India was a
unique and unforgettable experience with many surprises. A country
whose wealth is its culture, a country rich with tradition, but whose
main problem is poverty. A country full with alternations. Alternations
in the classes of its people, in the buildings, which speak the
country’s history.
While I was in India, Agra I researched by interviewing some people
in Agra and by the cultural exercise (we danced in the school our
traditional dance and they showed us their traditional dance), I found
that in Agra there are no dance and music schools so I was inspired
from the “Trinity Laban conservatoire of music and dance” in London
and I thought that Agra needs a place like that of entertainment
basically an international community, advancing the art forms of
music and dance.
In a further development of my project I will try to do a building
indicating the above idea.
- Kiki Petrou
93. Art School
The inspiration for my project came out of the cultural exercise that
we did in Agra, which was to exchange ideas through a meeting. I
I started having an interaction with some girls from the “Nagar Girls
High School”, who showed us Bollywood dancing, their art lessons
and also their English lesson. My part of the cultural exchange was
to perform a traditional Greek dance known as “Zorba’s Dance” What
I noticed in this school was that when they danced they really put
their heart and soul into the dance. Moreover in their art exhibition
they often portrayed clean water and proper houses, which said
something about their psychology. After the experience in the school,
I saw a thatrical performance in “Kalakriti” theatre, a play about the Taj
Mahal. Although the girls in the high school had been most amusing,
the thatrical performance was most unproffesional. So I decided to
build an art school, where dance, theatre and art would be offered.
What I want to achieve with my project, is a building that will enable
the local population to better express themselves in art.
- Marillia Louka
94. West Stairs
Hotels and Beuracracy
9494
The stairs which led to the corner of the old perfume market were
dark and dingy, on one occasion we asked someone what the chalk
writing meant: “don’t piss”, it is telling that such a sign is necessary.
I climbed up onto the broken brick wall to gain a better vantage
point so I might photograph the elevations of the shops and hotels
on the opposite side. For a brief moment I walked into the protected
plantation area, cool shady trees revealed a lean-to with an ancient
tractor rusting contentedly beside. A small child approached holding
aloft the eponymous Taj Mahal in a snowstorm keyring. It matters
little that it will never snow here. Though tourism is so important it
is somewhat oversubscribed and poor conditions in the city mean
visitors tend to stay for a couple of days before continuing sightseeing
tours. Studying the road for two weeks we encountered some of the
local characters; Bobi Herb (tattooed across his knuckles) and his
mob, Camran who over chai in his cafe explained his tenets: of God
living in the heart; of no woman, no cry, no chapati no chai; and with
painted “love is sweet poison” above his cafe. The Taj is a pretty
object, but could not be futher from the local condition. To engage
with the architecture of Agra is to put aside shows of wealth, to create
useful buildings which can serve the immediate needs of the people
and ultimately promote social cohesion. Perhaps the root problem is
that the beuracracy of India is so notoriously fickle: a law passed in
1996 decreed nothing should be built within 200m of the monument,
though this included every modern building in Taj Ganj. The very hotel
we stayed in was built illegally, bribes paid to government officials. As
a result there is no overall masterplan
Above the bustle of street traders the high rooves of the hotels
crane their necks to provide views of the great wonder that is The
Taj Mahal. We can forget the corruption and mismanagement and
enjoy the lovely view afforded: We can purchase a bottle of water
and cast aside the plasic, safe in the knowledge that someone will
collect it to redeem its small worth in recycling. Agra lacks money and
so propsals must find elegance in thrift, following the Laurie Baker
manifesto: “16. Make cost-efficiency your way of life – not merely
“Low Cost for the Poor”. Practice what you preach.”
- Barty Dulake
95. Tourism in Agra
9595
I can imagine only few streets in the world being used by so many
tourists all year long..The street leading to the West gate of Taj-Mahal
is for sure one of the most touristic, but at the same time undeveloped
places globally.
Along the street, low quality craft shops, and cheap hotels make the
area less attractive. they have a good strength though, despite the
low quality of services and accommodations and the poor health and
sanitation conditions, the streets are crowded and full of life with a
strength point: the offer of one of the best views to Taj Mahal from a
roof top.
The area certainly needs to be upgraded and reorganised by
combining, when possible, contemporary solutions for a better living
to the traditional local fabric and buildings.
The place needs to show off its real beauties and history that is now
covered by long touristic facades. Hangovers of the old great Agra
are right there waiting to be discovered and redeveloped.
A new street offering quality services and pedestrian areas that
reflects the unique character of the city and the enormous history of
Taj Mahal complex would be required.
Moreover, a site that takes advantage and respects its historic
monuments and can be converted from a one day destination to a
safe and touristic resort can be both an economical and architectural
solution!
- Panigotis Kourkemis
96. Tea Man
Bishambar
9696
What if there was more than just a tourist road outside Taj Mahal?
Through my walks in Katra, I noticed a small staircase. It led me to
a totally different kind of area. A residential part that its unique layout
system and the fact that I got lost, reminded of a ‘labyrinth’. At the
same time, another link appeared between the two levels, a door.
Accessible only from the residential part and a floor difference from
the road, visible from the only abandoned site, not far from the Taj
Mahal gate, which is occupied from a tea-man.
This site intrigued me, a new route, a possibility to built something
different and a unique story behind it. The owners are four brothers,
the one being dead unfortunately, that have terrible relations between
them and thus, no decision has been made for the construction of the
site, the past decade. So, I decided to try to unite the differences of
the brothers and design a new path for tourists to trigger them and
make them want to discover the ‘labyrinth’. But, provide also facilities
that are currently missing from the area and are priority.
- Rigas Potiropoulos
98. GROUP
CHAPTER INTRODUCTION
Hidden beneath the ground for most of its London “heritage” section,the New River canal
peacefully follows the course man’s hand dug out now nearly four hundred years ago. History
books and reviews mainly mention the technical and engineering achievement which the creation
of the canal represents.
New River
100. Myddleton’s canal did indeed take more than five years to
complete, as Sir Hugh Myddelton, the main actor behind this
works, had to seek help in funding to the king James I. But far
greater seem to be the lasting impact it has had on London’s daily
life as clean water could then be supplied throughout most of the
capital. Over time, city growth and technological development
made this urban piece of engineering become more and more
obsolete as it evolved mainly into a place of leisure and recreation.
The use of the canal for leisure has existed very early in its creation.
Gardens and parks have grown on the sides of the stream all along
its course and one can now enjoy a calm walk along the path in
London or set oneself on a trek from the beginning of the canal in
Ware, to its end in Islington, experiencing at once the openness of
the countryside and the urban density. One would then come across
Clissold Park in Stoke Newington where our investigation took place.
Very open green spaces daily play hosts to dog walkers while the
edges of the park are taken by joggers. Many benches are located
along the strait tarmac paths as everything here seems to be made
for the ease and comfort of the users. Families can enjoy moments
at the pet zoo, a drink at Clissold house and let their kids burn their
energy in the secured and safe playground. Much appreciated by
local communities as indicates the high frequentation, Clissold park
stands as a striking contrast to its neighboring Abney Park cemetery.
Local communities as much appreciate the later for very different,
and nearly opposites reasons. Overgrown, sometimes unsafe,
hidden, and seclusive, the cemetery park offers visitors a unique
place in London. From its very beginning was the place an
unconventional one as the cemetery simultaneously opened to the
public as an arboretum, a cemetery, and a park. Rapidly reaching it
full burial capacity in the 19th century, the 20th century has been an
alternation of decay and regeneration for the park. It now hold a local
nature reserve title as trees from the original arboretum remain. The
approach taken by the trust on the park maintenance in one of wildlife
preservation. The historical legacy here not only lies in the tombs
but also in the natural habitat which has developed over the years.
Set between residential areas and main high streets, the park
stands as a calm piece of nature within the rapidly changing urban
context. Host to local community events, the parks needs to maintain
and develop a subtle balance between urbanity and nature. The
challenge for us student in architecture then becomes to work and
design at the meeting point of the different realms here present.
London Group
Parks Study
100
