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Charminar : Inside Out

Unfolding the heritage precincts

Urban Design Studio
Studio 4

With Charminar as the center, the old city of Hyderabad has developed organically within an iron grid pattern. With this overwhelming growth of the city, the fabric contains not only tangible heritage structures but also intangible cultures and value systems in every nook and corner, that one tends to overlook. The act of revelation allows the revival of these spaces. How can one use architecture as a tool to unfold the hidden spaces, whilst preserving Charminar's culture essence?. An outsiders horizon is only limited to the two main axes of Charminar. The intention is to introduce certain routes and thoroughfares to increase accessibility into the crevices of the old city. With the coming of infrastructure to the proposed areas, major congestion on the main axis of Charminar will dissipate into small lanes and open up more areas to the public. Forms of culture embedded in various music, like the 400 year old Sufi music in the mosque near Charminar or paintings and handicrafts, can be revived such that not only do they gain popularity but also dwell on their own.

Hyderabad, India
2019
Mentors
- Sonal Sundararajan, Shirish Joshi

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Existing Heritage Route

Existing  tourist route of the city is heavily concentrated on the main axis of the streets leading to Charminar. Over time  due to the same excessive footfall, more tourist infrastructure has only been developed in the Grade 1 listed Heritage zones . Only  exacerbating the concentration.

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Upon further analysis by mapping and walking around the  precinct. One chances upon several old structures not listed under any grades unpreserved,  laying derelict. 

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Layering the data creates opportunities and attractor points for decentralizing the existing tourist - heritage route.

Mapping and Layering
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Is Heritage grading only restricted to its tangible face value?

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Vision Plan

Not only does the plan aim for a decentralized movement of the public in the precinct but it also addresses the concerns of the city at the larger scale. It uses infrastructure as a tool to reveal the interstitial spaces of Charminar beyond just the gate and acts as a catalyst in activating the public spaces in the neighborhood- socially and economically. Further on, the projects marked in red were detailed out by separate  groups of students.

The new proposed layout for the city addresses the concerns derived from the study in varied fields and at multiple scales of intervention ranging from transportation, public and tourist infrastructure, educational facilities and waste infrastructure and much more.

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Go to the Epilogue:
A Bower for Knowledge

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