“SAMUDRA” A space for the betterment of people belonging to the coastal community inhabiting the Bhatt Road beach, Calicut. As a successful humanitarian architecture project, this building is intended to become a catalyst to achieve positive changes in the community.
The idea is to provide them with a new community space, more like a gathering space. A space to do things together and pursue shared interests and activities. The space is rented out to the community members at a minimal rate and to the public at a common rate. Bringing this into the design process and functioning of the space add as a key factor to create a sense of pride, enthusiasm and ownership among the community. The story begins from the Shanthi Nagar colony, a coastal setting near Bhatt Road beach.
A multipurpose disaster shelter has been identified as high priority intervention for this locale where it experienced an absence of room to conduct get-togethers and other ceremonies. The idea to create a new space for the community came to light since the original public facilities in the locality could not meet the wellbeing of these people.
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More than 500 fisherman families live in close proximity of one cent to one and half cent plots in undesirable everyday environment. They had to adapt with two or three houses to make their gatherings happen. The purpose is very much determined by what the community would like it to be. The location and setting very well contributed to the program and this dream space of every single person in the fishermen community residing nearby, was built along the lay of the land capturing the vistas of the surrounding seaside. The project holds an auditorium space and allied facilities to conduct gatherings during normal times of the year, but during pandemics and natural disasters, these structures would double up as shelters, providing wider benefits to the community
Planning: In a 1200 m2 lot, the program is resolved in a single floor, whose L-shaped volume generates two masses, the one parallel to the beach is the main hall and later is designed for other services. Upon entering, visitors walk through a long corridor with bamboo roofing where the hollow nature of bamboo is cleverly utilized to hang beautiful lamps and grow creepers. The outdoor stage overlooking the sea is used as a distribution square and could possibly be used to conduct outdoor activities. Observed from a distance, its body well integrates the indoor and outdoor sections of the Community Hall into a grey structure that sits on the edge of the beach view. The absence of compound wall to beach and the openness to the context is well adjusted considering the surrounding users to setup multiple recreational and entertainment venues such as cultural display, women empowerment initiatives like “kudumbhasree” meeting, community development programs like fish net weaving space or any other social events to make the venues safe and comfortable. Also, the open space overlooking the sea is intended to use as a parking lot while the auditorium is being occupied for any functions and the rest of the time, left free and accessible to the general public to engage in many activities like walking, jogging and also children’s play area.
This document is embedded in …
On to the Streets (2014 – ongoing), Edited by Thomas Oommen. Kozhikode: Architexturez Imprints, 2023.