PM: Democratic Hut
Corrie Graham - Michael Posso
Project Mayhem
Boat Clubs tend to convey elitist views, sub-urban mentality, notions of wealth and exclusivity. Kolkata seems to encourage urban infrastructure built upon bourgeois amenities: social clubs and other privileged spaces are linked together as series of buoys floating on a surface of now fragmented colonial class-formed territoriality. In the South of Kolkata, The Lake Mall creates a distinction between the “up”-market measure of privilege in the upstairs shopping mall and the “down”-market Ganga measures present among the fishmonger folk at street level. In the North of Kolkata, the Tallah Tank echoes and represents parallel water distribution inequalities of Kolkata more directly through its re- appropriation, dominance and measure of nature. These agencies negotiate edges in a dichotomy of measures.
Project Mayhem is an urban garden project that seeks to disturb current water and Ganga relations. The Rabindra Sarobar Lake presents a fecund ground for tactical rupture. A rowing track is proposed for the artificial lake. It seeks to look beyond the handicap of water through aquatectural thresholds (Ganga’s Cast of Gags), using various social measures to rupture and redistribute privileged measure.
A series of kilns will re-appropriate the man-made garden ground (that was once swamp) to Democratic Huts, abiding by the precision of a rowing track. Urban Shuttering will provide a transition between Ganga measure and the conditions demanded by social measures. Ganga’s Cast of Gags will reveal a new garden biopolis to initiate a different Boat Club mentality for the benefit of all folk.
Lake Mall (above the fish market) “up”-market measure of privilege
600 meters Auction House
The Auction House is the epicentre of project Mayhem, As the Democratic club houses form the wide spread 'Mayhem' of our architectural interventions, the auction house is where action materialises into architecture. Follow the link bellow to move to the next project.
'Project Mayhem' - Democratic Club House
The phrase Club House is associated with individual elitist ideologies of bourgeois sportsmanship. specifically in the confined boundaries identified within the Rabindra Sabora Lake in central Kolkata. building a 'Club' that identifies itself to only be of equal standing once a transaction of wealth has taken place.
The fee of participating, accessing and competing is what defines such a hard line to the existing lake paradigm. With existing club houses scattered across the 'waters edge' forming claimed territories of privileged access the lake finds a void of use and level competition in the name of sport, specifically rowing. The only point of level negotiation is upon the competition taken place upon water.
'Project Mayhem looks to construct a manifesto of level competition from rowing track to extended competition within the city of kolkata. Acknowledging the previously discussed ideology of land and water being of the same consistency and that the varying saturations of ground can be identified and worked upon the competition becomes on waters edge and above.
The Democratic Club House of 'Project Mayhem' look to appear along the pure measure that is the rowing track and become areas of democratic 'Club' environments. Allowing the otherwise excluded folk of Kolkata to become involved in the competition of the rowing track and begin to compete in what was otherwise isolated to them.
Measuring Deck - Club house affairs
Each club house forms an individual following of like minded folk wether that be taxi drivers, Fisherman, Cleaners, Smokers the democratic nature of such a structure allows for occupation and identity to become fluid. As the Architecture can be territorialised within the moment of occupation but once the competition or race is over it becomes yet again a clay tower gently dissolved along the horizontal line that is the lake.
Like a clay pot purchased from the various chai tea stands in kolkata. Once the 'chai' has been consumed similar to the consumption for competition and rowing race or training day the cup is then tossed aside to be washed away by the rain and repurposed for another chai event'.
Democratic Club House North - South section 1:50
Standardised Programme - Democratic Club House
Democratic Club House Site Plan 1:200
Democratic Club House GF - LGF plan 1:100
Isometric drawing facing waters edge 1:200
Structural worms eye drawing, ground up 1:100
Image: Lifeguard Club House Swimming pool 0 Meters
Construction - Model Making
Model making is a key part of the process i use to not only push the design process forward by too try and gage a sense of construction and detail. Working at the scale of 1:50 and taking the theoretical tech-tonic of walnut this model aims to display a wider understanding of construction.
The walnut throughout 'Project Mayhem' is used as a tool to indicate the juxtaposition of water and ground as within this model the brick work and kiln structure is used to elevate the excavated earth through the process of firing on site into the structure, quite literally above it the lower walls of the democratic hut are formed.
