DESIGNING URBAN INSIDE

Minor identity of the circulation spaces in the building may be turned around by metaphorically conceptualising them as public streets. In the showcased projects, those public elements break out of that metaphorical state to become real in themselves and start affecting the overall organisation in their favour. Either through independent production of the public realm in Correa's Salt Lake City Centre in Kolkata or by an independent representation of a formal complexity in Somaya's Indore campus, and for Hundredhands and Architecture Red, where the urban designers are able to generate a substantial and dominant spatial realm, where public and private places remain almost seamlessly integrated. Studio Lotus converts a gated private part of the city into a public space by partial transformation and brings the city directly into the site.

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Charles Correa Associates, Mumbai
SALT LAKE CITY CENTRE
KOLKATA | 2004
TOTAL AREA: 6.8 ACRES [INCLUDING RESIDENTIAL]

City Centre is designed as a unique experiential space for urban commercial, recreational and part residential uses. It is designed as a spatial composition of volumetric building blocks with receding terraces, roof gardens, pergolas and frames with flanking seating steps and open areas, all intertwined to create multi-scalar spaces. Pedestrian streets traverse from one end of the site to the other, climaxing in a kund at the focal point of the main plaza. While the non-air-conditioned market is in the form of a series of stepped-back terraces, so as to increase cross-ventilation, the air-conditioned shopping centre is organized around a central atrium- and anchored by the presence of two large Department Stores at either end. Combining shops, a wedding hall, a multiplex, offices and apartments, the place provides community and public spaces, covered and open-to-sky. The design encourages inclusivity and openness with strong visual linkages across areas while circulation and pause points offer a set of diverse experiences. An element of surprise and play is created by the use of artworks and color in the design visualization. The designed space blur boundaries between open and built while celebrating the idea of “public” by offering exciting possibilities of engaging with spaces for shopping, recreation or simply leisure, in a cohesive and connected manner.