Paramparé (puh-rum-puh-ray)

Heritage Visitor's Centre

Role - Research, Graphics and Design

Year - 2017

the background

As part of our Urban Design semester, as a group of 15, we were allotted an area of 1sq km in the heart of the city, to conduct in-depth mapping and research of the architectural character of the neighborhood. Consequently, individually we would need to select a site within this area, and design a space that we believed would benefit the neighborhood.

This area that we were allotted, called Kalasipalyam houses some of the most important heritage monuments in the city, including the remains of Bangalore Fort, Tipu Sultan's Summer Palace, and the City Market.

Taking a closer look at the area, we developed different maps, depicting what we believed were the most important aspects of this part of the neighborhood - building height and age, landscape and vegetation, plotlines, and traffic, were made to understand the urban environment.

the analysis

The entire site was divided into 3 main precincts based on the architectural character, human setting, and traffic density of the area. A detailed SWOT Analysis was also done to get a better idea of the needs of each precinct.

KR Market

The majority of the buildings in this area are old, decrepit, and lack maintenance and upkeep. However, the precinct is densely packed with community-focused spaces and a large number of family businesses. Due to the presence, of the fruit and vegetable market, this area has a high footfall and less vehicular traffic. The presence of the Chikpet Metro Station also adds to the reduction of private vehicles in the area.

Kalasipalyam

The buildings in this area are fairly new, (except for the Bangalore Fort, Vani Vilas Hospital, and Minto Hospital) and generally cater to the Kalasipalyam Bus Stand, which is a frequent drop - point for various travelers to the city, attributing to a large number of lodging and travel agencies. The presence of the metro station also allows this area to be well accessed by the public. But the lack of pedestrian level street scaping leads to frequent clashes between pedestrians and traffic.

Chamrajpet

Due to the distance of this neighborhood from the bus stand, metro station, and the market, this area lacks the hustle and bustle of the other two areas. This is also reflected in the vegetation in the area which is much denser than in the other precincts. However, the presence of significant historical sites, such as the Tipu Sultan's Summer Palace, Fort High School, and the Kote Venkataramanaswamy Temple makes it a frequently visited tourist spot.

site selection

Upon further research, I found that a heritage walk was being proposed by the Government of Karnataka, beginning at the Tipu Sultan's Summer Palace, and ending at the Palace Grounds, called the 'The Golden Corridor'. This walk would cover 13 historical structures in a span of 1.2km, with 11 of them within the Kalasipalyam area.

The site indicated, was chosen due to it's proximity to both, the historical structures in the area, as well as the KR Market Metro Station, thereby allowing for good accessibility to the public space.

map showing the initial boundaries of Tipu’s fort as well as the locations of the heritage structures in the vicinity amongst the chosen site.

newspaper clippings of government proposal for corridor

the intent

Despite housing a large number of historical structures, Kalasipalyam is poorly maintained and lacks any recreational spaces and spaces for public gathering. Due to the presence of the metro stations, and bus stands close-by, the area is well connected to the rest of the city, and can be developed into a thoughtfully designed heritage tourism centre.

The idea was to create a Starting Point to the Golden Corridor, where visitors could gain knowledge about the walk, as well as the other heritage sites in the city. The money generated from this could thereby used to help in the renovation and conservation of such important historical structures.

The name Paramparé, means 'lineage' or 'heritage' in Sanskrit, and Kannada (the local language) was chosen, as it seemed apt for a building which would keep the heritage of the city, alive.

Some of the immediate surroundings include the following:

Tipu Sultan's Summer Palace, built 1791

Remains of the Bangalore Fort,,

built 1537

VaniVilas Hospital,,

built 1935

KR Market Underground Metro Station,,

built 2017

the design

The main idea during the design development, was to have a very small footprint, and therefore allow for more open space on the ground floor, for public space in the form of a plaza and streetscaping.

Since the surrounding buildings were all of different architectural styles - Bangalore Fort and Tipu Sultan's Summer Palace having rich islamic influence, VaniVilas Hospital, and Minto Hospital having Indo-Colonial style stone walls, and the metro station having a more recent contemporary feel, I decided that it was better to create a design that was eye-catchingly different.

The spaces within were zoned into different floors depending on the amount of time a user would spend in the area, and the privacy required for the function.

Therefore, spaces requiring the least amount of time - such as the information desk - were kept in the ground floor, while spaces that require more privacy - like the office spaces - were provided in the top floor.

The south end of the site was converted into an open plaza, which acts as a meeting place for the heritage walk, right across from the Tipu Sultan's Summer Palace.

This is partially shaded by the auditorium at the double-height level.