Realizing Nolli’s Dream: Embedding Architecture in the City

Nolli’s map of Rome is uniquely significant for architects and urbanists these days. It presents dialectical relationships between buildings and their milieu, countering a tendency to see buildings as isolated objects outside the context that gives them life and meaning. Inspired by Nolli’s map, this studio focused on developing a conceptual and critical approach to architectural design where buildings are not seen as isolated events but are deeply and intrinsically embedded in the city’s fabric. The studio aimed to re-interpret typologies of civic/infrastructure projects that constitute a major part of urban development in Indian cities. Most of these projects do not respond to their immediate context due to conventional architectural approaches and end up becoming inaccessible parts of the city. This semester, the studio looked at typologies of transit focusing on the upcoming metro stations at Chawk Bazaar and Kadarshah ni Nal in Surat. Based on strong contextual awareness, this studio investigated and explored various programmatic strategies and architectural alternatives that make projects more accessible and public in character.