INDIAN PARADIGM

INDIAN PARADIGMUrban Design

INDIAN PARADIGM

Introduction:City planning in India is an evolutionary process. Factors influencing the design of cities range from holy texts like Vedas and puranas to religion trade and commerce and science and technology. Early civilization in India can be traced back to cities Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa to todays metropolitan city of Navi Mumbai. some of the basic elements street network institutions open space forming the structure of the city have remain an integral component of each city while new elements are added to the structure with the evolution of the design process. Elements like business district and community centers are more defined with reinforcement in planning process.The river valley civilization existed in India unto 800bc. Human settlements evolved from cave dwellings to agrarian settlement along the rivers. From 800bc to 600ad Greek and Roman planning principles influenced the process of city design. Tools and elements like use of grid composition of urban elements axis the agora acropolis etc. influenced city design. Development in India includes the Buddha period maurya period and gupta period. The dark ages and medieval period represent collapse of Roman Empire rise of feudal system and spread of Christianity. The church formed the principal element in the city structure generating city center and influencing location and location of markets and administrative buildings. The Indian history is described by the Rajput period and Muslim sultans. Hindu kingdom of vijayanagara was located in the southern part of India. Renaissance and baroque period forms an era of science and technology influencing all aspects of life. The Mughals and then the British ruled India during the period. The pesewas and the Marathas ruled small kingdoms in the 17th century before the British supremacy. Influence of Persian town planning principles is seen in town planning. The charbagh pattern formed basis of the city structure. Important cities of the era include Jaipur Poona Nasik Baroda agar and fathepur sikhri.The industrial revolution revolutionized manufacturing process. Design and role of cities was also influenced by the same company towns and dormitory towns were created. Industrialization process and its shortcoming lead to garden city and city beautiful movement. Industrialization also influenced development in India generating cities in to industrial centers. Building bye laws and health acts are introduced governing new development within existing cities and also in the creation of new cities.The 20th century brought changes in concept and planning techniques. Formation of town planning act influenced similar at to be created in other countries. Availability of new materials and technology future revolutionize the process of city design the 20th century represents Indian struggle for the independence and the birth of new democratic nations. Development and subsequent modification of town planning act across India and influence international planning.The Indian cities are based on different models which are arranged in chronological order, the evolution of the city can be seen. The forces modifying the spatial order of constituent elements form the resultant form of the city.

The city of mohenjo daro is defined into two parts namely the outer city and the inner city by open space. The outer city contained dwellings and workplace for production. Agriculture fields are linked to same. The inner city contained religious and administrative buildings and public institutions. The settlement is thus not in form of a cluster of dwellings but has different defined ones and distribution of function between the same. Both parts of the city are placed on mud platform. A defensive wall with guard towers encloses the settlement. There is integration of water supply and drainage in planning of the city and street network. The settlements are in the form of a grid pattern.

The city pataliputra is planned according to planning principle stated in Arthashastra written by kautalya. The city design include distinct zone for placement of temple palace complex and other administrative institutions. Entire city has a peripheral defense wall with guard towers. Markets is specialized in terms of good sold there in artisans and craftsmen population is located according to the location of individual markets.

The vigayanagars city is comprise of three zones namely the sacred center, urban core with the royal center and the surrounding urban area. The sacred core is occupied by the main temple, the royal core containing the place complex and administrative building forms focus for the urban fabric. The street forms procession route for religious ceremonies as well as military parades. The city design and structure is based on mythical and cosmic model highlighting relation between god and king.

The city of shahjahanabad was founded in 1638 ad on the banks of the river Yamuna. The city design was influenced by the Persian design principles and Hindu principles of city design. Symmetry gardens and boulevards forms basic design tools for the arrangement. The cross axis extending from the citadel forms principles organization spine for the city. The Mohalla forms the neighborhood unit for the residential zone.

The city Chandigarh was designed as capital city for new formed state of Punjab and Haryana. The city was designed by team of foreign architects which include le Corbusier. The city is designed as an icon for the democracy. Use of modern architecture was intended to create image of India as modern nation. The capital complex is placed towards north of the city utilizing the mountain range as a backdrop. The city structure is in the form of grid with street network divided into seven different types. The city center is located in the center of the urban structure. The industrial zones is segregated by the green zone and is placed towards the east.

The components of indian paradigm: Streets Markets Ghats Maidans

Street:A Street is a paved public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. Maidan:Maidans literally are open fields, it is open land space in or near a town, used as a parade ground or for events such as public meetings.Markets:Market is a place of regular gathering of people for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other commodities. It is also defined as an area as an area on which commercial dealings are conducted.Ghat:Ghats refers to a series of steps leading down to body of water, particularly a holy river.

The city represents human development. Change in society structure, political structure, technology, science etc. create a direct influence to the design of the city. The forming basis of design and expansion of the cities and the forces which influence the same form primary determinant. Forces like that of climate allow for new interpretation with help of modern technology allowing for more efficient response. Trade and commerce form an important determinant influencing the structure of the city at different scales. Political and social structure forms a direct influence in organization of the sector. Transport system allow for variation in street pattern and structure of different component with help of new modes of movement. These forces are a direct resultant of development of civilization. The city thus forms a mirror reflecting the evolution.

Jaipur:Nature of Block

The typical block would contain a number of mohallas according to castes,economic status and trade occupants. It can be seen that towards the edge of the sector,blocks adjoining the main street shops with arcades attached to residential blocks are present. Inside the block,there are two clusters:

Street cluster-the houses are organized along the street and their grouping is linear.Space cluster-the houses are built around a common space,where the density is high. Almost square in plan,city is divided into 9 sectors. The orthogonal clustering of nine sectors,brings a grid iron system of the streets. Primary streets: Three streets leads to fort and the periphery streets along the fort.

Early bazar view:REarl Secondary street: running within N-S direction,it further divides primary streets. Tertiary streets: these streets subdivide the sector into mohallas.

MaidanShivaji Park Shivaji Park is the largest park in Mumbai. It is situated in the Dadar area of Mumbai. The park is named after the legendary 17th century warrior king of the region, Chhatrapati Shivaji. It is of historical and cultural value because of the political and social gatherings it has witnessed, both in pre- and post-independence Mumbai. The park was created in 1925 by the Mumbai Municipal Corporation, in the days of the British Raj. The walkway is lined with huge rain trees. The area surrounding the park has many buildings dating back to the mid-1900s, and theShivaji Park Residential Zoneis one of the more sought-after and expensive real estate in Mumbai and it is pre-dominantly a Marathi neighbourhood.

Chowk: Chandni chowk is a market with historical importance as it was built by Shah jahan in 17th centuary. Chandni Chowk runs through the middle of the walled city, from the Lahori Darwaza (Lahore Gate) of the Red Fort toFatehpuri Masjid. Situated opposite the Red Fort, the bazaar has several galis (lanes). Each of these galis represent a specialty of this market. The bazar has an eqcuisite feature of Gali.

Chattri Chowk (Ujjain)

Ghats Ghats refer to the areas wih steps leading down to holy river-side cities likeVaranasiwhere stairs exist to reach theGanges. There are almost 100 ghats bordering the ganges. Munshi Ghat is one of the most visually appealing ghat. It is actually an extension of Darabhanga Ghat, an imposing palace built in the early 1900s by the royal family of Bihar. Other ghats in Varanasi include Scindhia Ghat,Manikarnika Ghat, Man Mandhir Ghat, Dasaswamedh Ghat, etc.

Ram Ghat

Ram ghat in Ujjain is the oldest bathing ghat in Ujjain and has been used for Kumbh mela. This ghat is located on the eastern bank of Kshipra river. This ghat developed fame due to temples located near it.

Planned components: Aranya Housing The road network, designed according to the topography, allowed smooth gravitational flow of water. The system adopted for storm water drainage was a combination of an underground storm water system in wider roads and surface drainage on internal roads where ground slopes were effectively used. The road section dropped below ground level by six inches, allowing it to act as the drain.

Later stage of development with rectified orientation to minimize heat gain and increase natural shading. Clear hierarchy to be obtained. Proposed master plan with interlinked open spaces, built form variations, distributed amenities, road network hierarchies and climate friendly orientation.

Sector 17 (Chandigarh) The city centre consists of different squares tied together by broad avenues. This sector-17 is virtually uninhabited, but it is enlivened during the daytime by many shops, bazaars, restaurant, cafes, banks and department stores. Theurban circulation here is in sharp contrast to the oriental bazaar streets, the narrow alleys full of noise and plunged in shadow. Of all the cities of India , only Chandigarh can claim to be an absolutely modern town , untouched by the tradition of the past, The execution of thebuildings for the city centre was assigned to different architects. Pierre Jeaneretteconscientiouslysupervised and organized the schemes determined by le Corbusier. The plans show a sufficiently large open surfacealong the facades as anti-glare protection.

Conclusion:It can be seen that the traditional cities have different character than the newly planned cities. The component design varies in the newly planned areas. It can be seen that the road system of planned cities is quite unlike that of traditional cities in respects other than its function as circulation. It is also seen that the urban morphology is different. For examples, Street patterns in old cities mentioned above is mostly of grid-iron pattern or un-organised.while planned areas like chandigarh and in aranya housing project, street patterns are designed considering gravity and including drainage systems.1