A Confluence of Cultures | Reviving forgotten grounds

Tiruchirappalli is an ancient town with a millennium-old water system. Earlier community open spaces included; places of religion, shared resources, threshold, and markets. Over time, development and socio-cultural changes have either turned these spaces into destinations or left them as low-value, unused, exploited, and encroached spaces. The city lacks meaningful community open spaces. The project aims to revive contiguous under-used land parcels (a maidan, a market, a compost unit, an open ground, and a jogging track) along a heavily polluted 1000-year-old irrigation canal, the lifeline amidst the urban fabric. The aim is to engage with the diverse stakeholders and reawaken their memories of the site as fields, groves, wetlands, play areas, and ancient kumizhi water systems, with all the connected traditions, associations, nuances, dependencies, aspirations. The site has a few anchoring programs derived from current usage, aspirations, and memories to accommodate the resident’s evolving needs. The design process attempts to address inclusiveness, transparency, and integration along with spatial quality. Besides being an escape from everyday chores, the place attempts to change people’s way of living, attitude, and perspective. The process aims to create unique community spaces along the canal, reclaiming its values and serving as the city’s green lung. Restricting human access is not the only solution to conserve an environment; sometimes, building relationships with the environment and instilling a sense of ownership and belongingness can also achieve this.