top architecture design thesis 2020
SCHOOL OF PLANNING AND ARCHITECTURE
DELHI, INDIA
Design thesis authored by
SRISHTI JAUHRI
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THESIS SPECIFICATIONS
Thesis Title: EXPRESSIONS OF THE PAST, Serai-i-Firdaus: A luxury hotel
Location: Agra, India
Project type: Revival of historical hospitality design
Year of completion : 2020
‘Reviving the glorious past of the Mughal Era, through experience based hospitality design’
India’s rich cultural and architectural heritage, is recognized the world over. The built heritage of the country is not just restricted to visual richness, grandeur and monumentality, but exhibits an interesting use of space, leading to the creation of a variety of experiences and giving a strong character to its cities. This character of Indian cities, makes up an important part of the identity of the country.
In today’s times of advancement and development, the architecture of the country is moving ahead, adopting a new style and language due to the availability of the latest of technology. In this era of moving ahead, the heritage of the country, in some way is taking a back seat. The original character of Indian cities is slowly changing to meet the growing requirements of today’s population and their aspirations. To keep the original identity of our traditional architecture alive, a small contribution can be made by following a language in today’s buildings that respects the heritage and sensitively responds to the context of a place.
The aim of this thesis was to understand and interpret the essence of spaces in heritage buildings and apply it to the design of a building in today’s times, thus forming an expression of the past and taking the country’s identity forward.
‘Successful social places are places people want to be, not just places people want to see.’ (Carmona, 2003)
India’s rich heritage has given rise to a high rate of heritage tourism, especially in the city of Agra – the city with the marvellous heritage of the Mughal era.
Hospitality plays an important role in the fostering of the country’s tourism sector. Architecturally, a ‘hotel building’ or in Islamic terms, a ‘serai’ or an inn, is the first exposure of a tourist, to the city being travelled to. Thus, the architecture of hospitality buildings can be used as a tool to craft experiences of the people visiting a city and portray an ‘image of the city’. This portrayal of heritage can be done by re-interpreting and recreating experiences from the past by following principles of traditional planning and design.
This thesis, thus, investigates the possibility of portraying experiences of the past, by the design of a hospitality building, based on the premise that, architecture inspired from the place and its story, incorporating the visual and cultural character of its heritage, can craft experiences, which are symbolic of the richness of the past.
“This way, heritage would not only be restored, but made alive – the city would not only have places to see, but glorious places to be!”
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