Stepped Valley

Through the semester, the studio through various exercises helped us understand the relationship of water with land and how its movement through spaces affect the experience at different scales. Spatial qualities of water were learnt through designing varieties of experiences with different volumes and speed of water, from the sounds it produces when it falls from a certain height to its properties in different degrees of enclosures. The case studies of existing water elements helped understand how the dimensions of water channels, the slopes and depth allow it to flow a certain way and also they come together to form a system. Drawing the elevations of Sarkhej Roza highlighted how the built forms around the edges respond to the presence of water by projecting themselves to connect directly through steps or indirectly through jharokhas. My design is a composition of pavilions and steps with variation in terms of their scale and proportion and light quality. The design and organizing principles are applied in the design to connect different parts together and to draw emphasis to water flowing. Minor axes are created because of the symmetry created between the edges. The symmetry emphasizes its linearity because of which people tend to look at the source of the water which flows into a semi-closed space. This draws the visitor towards itself because of walls all around it and becomes a recreational space cut off from the chaos. The edges of the water are articulated as steps and platforms which extend into water to facilitate the bathing and ritualistic activities. In between the long staircases which entries to the site, there are pavilions which on the upper level give joy of looking into the valley of Girnar hills and on the lower level, there are some shaded seating and changing rooms. As the area receives a heavy rainfall, the roofs of the built forms are designed to act as catchment for the rain water which finds its way back to the river through spouts, hence not only there is relation between land to water but also water(rainfall) to land(roofs).