top architecture design thesis 2021
MNIT ARCHITECTURE
JAIPUR, INDIA
Design thesis authored by
Jagad Jay Mukeshbhai
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THESIS SPECIFICATIONS
Thesis Title: Ship Breaking Museum, Alang
Project type: Museology in Architecture
Year of completion: 2021
Home to the biggest ship-breaking yard in the world, the tale of Bhavnagar is intricately woven on the creases of the rise and fall of its shipbreaking industry. With the change in economic activities, a port city is likely to experience rise and fall.
Back in time, ships came in through the Juna bander(Old port). However, with the increase in ship size the lock gate failed to let ships pass through. The ships would now be anchored afar and the goods unloaded by employing boats. This turned to be expensive. Such circumstances lead to the birth of the Nava bander(New port).
Shipbreaking is a laborious job. And, the fact that labor in Bhavnagar is available in abundance is another reason why this city allowed to develop itself as a shipbreaking yard. Despite working from morning till evening, people get minimum wages. The neglect of the city can be now captured into a social infrastructure that weaves the tale of the people and their employment source.
Right across the road fronting the site lay the quarters of the people who break these ships. Tired from working day long, people begin to return home after sunset. They hardly talk to each other and the roads get rather deserted and unsafe. Also, the male-female sex ratio here is very poor. Social infrastructure like the ship-breaking museum can foster much-needed social connections. When people get room to discuss their problems, they discuss them openly.
The natural topography of the Bhavnagar coastline is furthermore in favor of the industry. This museum is utterly important to the scape of the country. Despite generating employment for over one lakh people, the city and its inhabitants have had a fair share of neglect and a structure like, so can dight the clouds of this neglect.
The ship-breaking industry gives employment opportunities to thousands of people till date and to lakhs with the upcoming ship -container building industry, a 5 km long market runs solely on it. Numerous temporary structures can be seen along these roads hoarding reclaimed wood and metal, furniture, from the ships. The museum design is sustainable and employs these locally available materials. Concrete is readily available in the nearby area and has been abundantly used in the project. Reclaimed wood and reclaimed metal from the ships are also used. Utilizing core elements of the ships, the shape of the structure has been carved.
Architecture is the structure of scripts. This space narrates the tale of its inhabitants and their tryst with shipbreaking. They who cut the wood and can also reassemble it. This tale of disassembly is the reason for the sheer existence of this museum. Its structural assembly is naked.
Entry into the museum introduces the visitor to z-shaped spines amid the building block that houses a gallery depicting the history of Bhavnagar. They sit as if something got embedded in midst of the museum. Similarly, a walk past the ramp turns out to be a journey of downfall symbolic of transition periods. The trajectory leads the visitor from dark to light, wide to narrow. The evident extension deck is a metaphor for the Concrete jetty’s shape.
The tower of hope signifies the hope of the inhabitants. It emanates the rise and fall of a port city.The deck on the first floor leads a visitor to the view of a long coastline, where ships are dismantled, by borrowing the view of the seascape. The museum rightly captures ripples that space and people leave behind, forging the connection between the generation of people and gathering stories behind everyday objects, exploring and cherishing the magic and mundanity of everyday life.
The site houses workshops and artist residency. Open to people worldwide, here art enthusiasts can experience the laborious ship-breaking jobs as though it were a movie set. In lines with the same, a wood and metal workshop is proposed in the structure.
The wetlands of Gujarat are home to migratory birds. The bright and tantalizing flora of the site is sure to lure birds and humans alike. The trails on the site are laden with reds and yellows. The shipbreaking museum is the tale of hard-working people who have had a fair share of insecurities and vulnerabilities owing to the uncertain nature of the industry they work in.
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