Courtyards of Care

Last year, in April, we began discussing research ideas and alternatives for our thesis dissertation with Prasad. Individually we listed our interests and as a class through discussions and arguments the ideas were sharpened. The process to be followed over the next 6 months was categorical and simple. Needless to say executing it was a complex and exhaustive task. Over the summer we would work on the What, Why, Where and How of our research topic.

Notes of the various ideas discussed in class

Architecture of Watching - The inquiry towards my research stemmed from a personal experience. We know that watching is a common act. We probably do not pay heed to this subject. Although it did intrigue me, to find whether architectural built form is connected to the subject. How does watching affect human behavior and architecture promote such watching conditions? Following is an excerpt from my research book -

"When a person steps out of their house, their movement is seen by many people

nearby. The watchman of that house/building will register the time you left & re-entered

the building in his mind or take a note in his record book. They are able to

judge you by your appearance and tell what kind of event you possibly might go to.

The same is applicable to our neighbours, fellows from adjoining buildings, people

who own shops downstairs, other strangers and temporary food stall owners. This

is applicable to a stranger or a resident in that neighbourhood. It is as if the building

façade has eyes. We experience ‘being watched’ due to such actions that are carried

out around us".

The term 'watching' cannot be reduced to a singular meaning. It includes ways of seeing, surveillance, voyeurism. Thus, I must insist that it does not necessarily have a negative connotation. A mother looks upon his young one, for his protection. This changes as the child grows old. People in their youth will find the same activity as nagging or intrusion of privacy. While for a voyeur, watching is an act of pleasure. There are spatial manifestations of the acts of watching. It has an effect on the way public spaces are utilized by different age groups of people and the behaviour of the human body. Architecture creates vantages which facilitate watching, those vantages in turn create discomfort to a certain age group and pleasure to another. Historically, in architecture and other creative mediums such as films and art, there have been many scholars and philosophers who contributed concepts and ideas of ways of seeing and its impact on space. For example Jeremy Bentham's Panopticon, Mies Van der Rohe's Farnsworth House, the movies 'Rear Window' by Alfred Hitchcock and 'The Truman Show' by Peter Weir. Thus, in the present context, how does architecture lend itself to act of watching? It began with my own experience in my neighbourhood. In my quest to demonstrate the relationship between watching and architecture, I identified various edge conditions in my neighbourhood that facilitate and generate watching conditions.

An axonometric view of an edge condition

Plan of that edge condition

Section through the edge

In conclusion the act of watching is generated by different edge conditions - a public street v/s a commercial street. Architectural elements such as large windows, balconies, terraces, wider footpaths, as well as the physical distance between buildings and its type generate watching conditions. The people who use these spaces are both who watch and the one's being watched. Although public spaces, by its meaning are supposed to be used by all age groups, such watching conditions throughout the city make them hostile for most youth. Whereas children and elderly are the ones who need to be looked upon, taken care of. Through architecture we can produce strategies that create new vantages in the city or at the neighbourhood level. Many buildings can be regrouped in a way that the degrees of watching can be controlled. Through this lens, a new program can be constructed, where two different kinds of building and age groups can be bought together. For example an orphanage and an old age home, both require ‘watching’ and assistance. If an architecture is created for watching then it would be more suitable for old people and young children where they would symbiotically relate to watching and being watched. Thus my thesis design project is a new hybrid type, of an old age home and an orphanage to create architecture of watching, that can cater to the young and the old.

The first important step before conceptualizing the design was to understand the prevailing conditions of old age homes and orphanages in the city. I visited a few institutions to understand the life in and out of the building, the built form, basic amenities and social conditions. I wasn't surprised to be disappointed by the living situation. A city bursting with empty skyscrapers, lack of imagination and utter disregard for public spaces. Orphanages and Old Age Homes not only lack privacy but suffer from no space for recreational spaces. The common area is usually large and inward-looking. This limits the possibility for intimate conversations and small scale activities. The living spaces are bleak and inhospitable. While these organizations are functional in terms of safety and care giving to its minimum, they meagerly encourage public participation and interaction with the neighborhood.

The site of intervention is in Dadar. It is adjacent to an old church, a school, a boarding school and residential complex. It is busiest in the evening, parents wait in the church precinct as their children leave school. This was a good opportunity to re-imagine the existing orphanage as a hybrid structure. I began with sketching different experiences that young and old people would enjoy. Followed by an intensive design process via model making.

Walking on grass v/s hard floor

Secret cabinet under the stairs

A tree house

Small, intimate courtyard

Private pockets in public space

Irregular balconies and a never ending staircase

Process Models

The project moves beyond the utilitarian idea of the old and orphan age homes. It is a complex that enables various social groups to do series of activities together and privately. One enters the building through an open plaza near the church. The plaza has a semi covered waiting area for visitors. As you navigate into the building, it elevates into an intimate open plaza overlooked by a bridge that connects the primary-school with children's living area. The school provides primary education to the orphans as well as students from the neighbourhood. It also consists of a large library and computer lab. The building elevates further as one is welcomed into a large open space. A ramp cutting through the elevated ground gradually transcend into a sunken courtyard that is shaded by a mango tree. The living spaces for the old are easily accessible. The living spaces for young are playful compositions of intermediate resting and common areas. The building embraces playful elements such as a watch tower, a bridge as a connector, ramps, play/common rooms that are intimate and private and a never ending staircase that serves multiple purposes i.e. resting, gathering or an amphitheater to watch movies.