PortfolioAnisha Menon

Freedom within Con-fines - A Case of the Urban Prison, Arthur Road Jail, Mahalaxmi,

Mumbai

Revitalisation of Bhatia baug as an Urban Land-scape at CST, Mumbai

Transit hub connection the Western Express

Highway and Ban-dra Station at Bandra

(East), Mumbai

Rural Housing at Bhaudi, Ahmedna-

gar

Smritivan Earthquake Memorial, Bhuj

Dhirubhai Ambani Uni-versity, Bhopal

Raksha Shakti Police Academy, Gandhinagar

Smritivan Earthquake Memorial, Bhuj

Hanj Kunj Habitat, Living in a Bird

Sanctury, Nalsar-ovar

Bharti House Extension, Mithakali, Ahmedabad

THE IDEA OF FREEDOM : A free person is one who simply has the ability to select the course of action and is not prevented by some external obstacle for contemplating that course in action. Incorporation of the idea of freedom and liberty in the ‘ways of operation’ of Disciplinary institutions is the main motive behind this thesis.

THE PRISON : The basic idea behind this space has always been Safe custody, Confinement and Reflection, Curtailment of freedom and liberty of movement. However, in actuality these ideas are remotely seen in prisons, that too in a twisted way. Prisons are said to be Schools for Crime where Devils learn to pray. A bunch of convicts, strip them of their possessions and privacy, expose them to nothing but threats of violence, deprive them of meaningful work, overcrowd their cell-blocks, and the result is an embittered underclass more intent in getting even with the society rather than contributing to it.

THE SITE: Arthur Road jail, Mumbai. The development of the city in the northward direction with the jail forming the nucleus of this region gives it a context for providing urgent transformation of the institution. Upgraded in 1994 to become the central jail the institute has a capacity of 800 inmates while the current numbers of inmates is over 3400.

Freedom within Confines - A Case of the Urban Prison, Arthur Road jailMahalaxmi, Mumbai (Final Year Design Dissertation)

Developmental Plan showing Site and Context Understanding the Site and Context

Site Context

Site - Arthur Road Jail

Initial Ideas and Concepts

THE PROPOSAL

For the prison structure: The idea of isolation is questioned. Using the concept of confinement and reflection, the institution will aim at all round develop-ment of the individuals. Restructuring of the confine-ment cells, proper usage of open spaces will be the pri-mary concern. Educational facilities, vocational training facilities, health care facilities, library, canteen will also be incorporated.

For the extension: The prison is like a wound-inflict-ed area upon the city. With visually as well as function-ally unappealing spaces, impoverishment of public space and heightened perception of fear. Creating a threshold that extends from the institution into the city will integrate this region with the rest of the city. This threshold will create places of intensity where a range of people and activities may converge. This idea em-phasizes on the reintegration (functional, social, dis-ciplinary and professional) on permeable membranes and design with movement in both space and time.

This space that extends from the institution towards the city and vice versa acts as a neutral platform where the prisoners from the fortified jail and the society come together and share a space which enables inter-action.

The prison is one of the cases that have been narrowed down on. However the overall idea of the thesis is to question the very basis of disciplinary institutions, their idea of punishment and the idea of those outside the fortified walls assuming that they’re free. These institu-tions behave more like dead spots in when the city is viewed overall. The proposal aims at Development of a symbiotic relationship between the city and the institu-tions.

ANALYSIS :

• Current conditions

• Overcrowding

• Poor Infrastructure

An Experiential Corridor as a Spine

The Main Junction- Plaza Connecting the Prison with the Extension - a Threshold enabling a symbiotic relationship between the Society and Prisoners

Typical Prisons - Built form with a central court used once in a day by the prisoners

Almost only 20% of the prison complex is used by the prisoners and the staff. Major areas are left open and unused

Introduction of Security cores and long spanning Virendeel Girders which form a connecting network of barracks for the various types of prisoners.

Single Girder forming one housing block - with a small mezzanine floor underneath. Openable floors forming single cubile like spaces giving personal spaces.

Initial stage - Allocating the various functions on site Introduction of the Girders in the Housing. Terraces. Open courts. Ground completely free.

CONCEPTS:

• Verticality - Height becomes the Boundary

• Extention - In the form of an Urban Plaza

STUDY MODELS:

• Security Cores with Entry and Exit Points

• Virendeel Girders used as Barracks

• Security Corridors forming

Connecting the Prison with the Extension - a Threshold enabling a symbiotic relationship between the Society and Prisoners

The Wall - Height creating the idea Boundary

Almost only 20% of the prison complex is used by the prisoners and the staff. Major areas are left open and unused

Minimum areas available to prisoners for housing and recreation. scattered open spaces. 5 metres high Compound wall

Single Girder forming one housing block - with a small mezzanine floor underneath. Openable floors forming single cubile like spaces giving personal spaces.

Introduction of the Girders in the Housing. Terraces. Open courts. Ground completely free.

Defining the Security Cores and working the access and connection of the girders with the cores

Master Plan

Section through Core 1, 2 and 3

Section through Core 1, 2 and 3

Level 1 Plan

Roadside Elevation

Level 1 - Examination rooms, Interview Rooms, Pre counselling and Counselling areas, Juvinille correctional facility, deaddiction centre and Prevocational Training

Security cores and corridors Connecting the Various catrgories of Inmate Facilities

Level 2 Plan

Level 1 - Examination rooms, Interview Rooms, Pre counselling and Counselling areas, Juvinille correctional facility, deaddiction centre and Prevocational Training

Level 2 - Workshops opening out to the plaza A strip of Security Corridor running all along the external facade of the building at a distance of 1.5 M creating a Pseudo Facade with a skin of Screens and Fins

INMATE HOUSING :

• Securtiy Cores

• Modules in the form of Virendeel Girders

• Common interactive spaces

• Creation of Niches to experience privacy

Level 3 - Undertrails, Women, Medium Security Inmates

Level 4 - Undertrails, Women Level 5 - New Inmates, Juvinilles, Women and medium Security inmates

Inmate Housing Plans and Model showing Dormi-tories for Women, Ju-vinilles, Medium security prisoners

Stages of Development : Housing Blocks

Level 5 - New Inmates, Juvinilles, Women and medium Security inmates

Level 6 - Juvenilles and Medium Security Inmates

Views

Master Plan of Bhatia Baug

Revitalisation of Bhatia Baug as and Urban Green zone CST, Mumbai

Situated in one of the busiest regions of the city, this garden has a pedestrain walkway connecting cst station to the main road. the garden has a water fountain and a sculpture that form its nucleus. Revitalizting this area and creating a green zone could lead to redirecting pedestrian movement through it thus decongesting the main road to a very great extent.

The main design ideology focuses on planting of trees long the pathway, creating shaded walkways using frames, pergolas and blank walls, public seating in the shaded regions and finally a small deck to view the city’s buiest road, for those who have time to spare and stare!

Ground Level Plan showing shopping area, Budget Hotel and Commercial Complex

Sectional Elevation from the Roadside

Axonometric View of the Budget Hotel

Transit hub connecting the Western Express Highway and Bandra Station Bandra (East), Mumbai

Provision for shopping, eateries, a commercial district and a budget ho-tel was the proposal. Creating a Hybrid structure with vari-ous levels cascading and overlook-ing each other was the main design ideology. thus resulting in a build-ing with terraces, rooftop eateries, courts with water bodies and bal-ance of solids and voids.

The building started at the 9M lev-el where it had direct access from the Skywalk and cascaded down by means of ramps and stairs to an en-try for vehicles and pedestrians. Most shops and stalls were foldable and modular hence clearing up space in the nights for events and gatherings. A series of water bodies led to a a long channel of water with cafes on one side and an art display section on the other.

Reception area of Budget Hotel

Administration, Budget Hotel

Seating at Terraced levels of the Hotel

Level 1 Plan

Section through Food Court, Shopping Area, Budget Hotel and Entry Plaza

Level 2 Plan

Sectional View of Shopping area

Master Plan showing Housing, Communal Spaces and Public facilities

Rural Housing Bhaudi, Ahmednagar

The proposal aimed at Redevelopment of a part of the Bhaudi Vil-lage. And extensive study of the existing houses, work typologies, people, cultures reveled that most were agricuturally oriented and some small scale commercial in the form of shops, tailors, blacksmiths, etc.

The master plan had the Nucleus of the settlement as the com-munity space where the panchayat took place which was closely connected, visually as well as physically to the health care centre and the Primary school. A row of Shops houses were provided opening towards the road as well as the settlement.

Each Module of the housing block was an L-shalped unit which interlocked with its immediate neighbour thus creating a small common cattle shed for every two houses and a mezzanine for each house. A backyard and frontyard with a small low height wall was provided with each unit thus providing them enough space for daily acivities and still keeping them semi private.

The Houses here were small, But Self Sufficiency was the key to make the People Happy.

Cluster Plan showing Single Unit details with Frontyard and Backyard

View of a Housing Cluster

Public Buildings - Health care centre, Primary School, Small Scale Industries Workshops

Location Plan

Smritivan Earthquake Memorial Museum, Bhuj

The January 26, 2001 earthquake of Gujarat snuffed out 13,805 lives in seconds and destroyed property and infrastructure. The Smriti Van Memorial will givefinality to the loss of human beings by being a lyric of loss. The Smriti Van Earthquake Memorial and Mu-seum will be an emotive experiential explaining the phenomena of earthquake.

The only breif provided was to plant one tree per victim. The most basic question it led to was : where does the water to sustain these trees come from. Kutch with a rainfall of 300mm, 40% surity still had checkdams that were 150 years old and still had wa-ter. Water management thus became the manifesto of the project. Valleys were mapped and small earthen checkdams were placed along them which would then water the trees through the gravitational drip system.The checkdams were now the actual memorials with the names of the victims engraved on them.

The site is on the Bhujiyo Hill and of 406 acres. Due to the vastness of the Proposal, it was phased out into 6 different parts. An orientation centre and a generic model for each sector was worked out with pedes-train pathways interwoven with the landscape. The pedestrian pathways that led to the ultimate culmi-nation points which were the Museums, had pause points in between where the user would encounter the checkdams.

A forest like landscape with the checkdams holding water in the dry and barren city created the major portion of the skyline being broken by smaller build-ings inbetween.

Bhujiyo Hill during Summer

Bhujiyo Hill during Monsoons

Check Dams Being used in Smriti Van

Study Models

The Site

Raksha Shakti University (Police Academy)Gandhinagar

Master Plan of Raksha Shakti University

Sectional View through Residential Blocks for Students

Sectional View through the Academic Block

Sectional View through The Academic Block showing the Lecture Halls and the Corridor leading to them

View of Parade Ground

Sectional View through The Academic Block showing the Lecture Halls and the Corridor leading to them

View of the entry from the Corridor shaded with Pergolas

Sectional view through the Housing

View of the Housing Block from the River

Bird’s Eye View of the Boys Housing

Dhirubhai Ambani UniversityBhobal

2 D sequential developement of the Master Plan

Master Plan of DAU

Monsoon

March

Winter

Summer

Sesonal varitions in the Water Levels

Academic Block

Sectional View thorugh the Housing

Girl’s Housing

Boy’s Housing

Section through Housing Blocks

Hanj Kunj Habitat, A Weekend Housing SchemeNalsarovar

Nalsarovar, Asia’s biggest wetland and Gujarat’s biggest bird sanctuary is everyones dream destination.Nalsarovar is a natural wetland, created at a time when we did not have to think about creating new lakes or reviving water bodies. One would always respect the law of the land, preserve the catchment and build accordingly. Today when development is starting to boom around Nalsarovar, capital-izing on its proximity to Ahmedabad and the presence of a bird sanctuary, the concern is also about the future of birds and the sanctuary. These issues and contradictions provided us with a unique oppurtunity to define the image and identity of Hanj Kunj Habitat, a weekend housing project. Capitalizing on the fact that 115 species of resident birds travel 40 kms everyday in search of food, the project attempts create a habitat for birds just 2kms from the Nalsarovar Bird Sanctuary .It also envisages creat-ing a natural habitat wherein both humans and bird life can co-exist and experience living with nature.Studying different sanctuaries informed us about the importance of wet-lands/natural water bodies in ecology and more so for human settlements. The site would become our container and every drop of rain that falls on it would be captured. Working with the natural contours of the land, we are able to create 65 acres of wetland with seasonal water bodies which would change levels with the change in seasons, an ideal habitat to accomodate differents forms of bird, aquatic and human life.The amount of land excavated to form the wetland is balanced by the same amount used to mound the land. What thus emerges is an undulating land-scape, a series of mounds and depressions.While the natural system formed the landscape, the sub division of the land into plots provided a habitat for humans. Plotting forms a separate plane floating on top of the natural system, preserving the natural land-scape. The house is a personal belonging while the natural system is for all to be a part of and to share and experience. The plots and the houses would float on top of land and water both. One would not only own land like in any other development but also own water, small islands scattered around and also a small permanent water body of his own, a small per-sonal space.

Master Plan showing plots

Development during Summer

Development during Monsoon

Monsoon Water Level Winter Water Level

Summer Water Level Extreme Summer Water Level

Layer of Natural System Plot as a Layer floating on the Natural System

Site - Location + Pictures

Bharti House Extension, Mithakali, Ahmedabad

Ground Floor Plan showing Existing house with Extension Block

Courtyard Level Plan (-215 cm) Family Room Level Plan (-84 cm) Deck Level Plan (+251cm)

Unfolded Elevation

Deck Level Plan (+251cm) Roof Level Plan (+611 cm)

Section J

Section L

Kitchen Elevation - Steel Structure Detail

Plan showing Bar

Plan of Extension to existing kitchen