In spite of colossal demolition and the debris it creates, building activity continues to remain indispensable. Architectural thinking must evolve around sustainability, recycling materials and resources.
Project Name: The Container (for Kochi Muziris Biennale 2023)
Office Name: Samira Rathod Design Atelier
Office Website: www.srda.co
Firm Location: Mumbai
Completion Year: 2023
Gross Built Area (m2/ ft2): 5,000 sq. ft.
Project Location: Fort Kochi, Kerala
Program / Use / Building Function: Pavilion
Conceived and designed by Samira Rathod Design Atelier
Lead Architects: Samira Rathod
Project Team: Fenil Soni, Neethu Lakshmi, Kiran Keluskar, Devduthan
Structural Design: Studio Struct
Shutter Mechanics: Studio Motionworks
Main Contractor: Galaxy Tenso
Photo Credits: Sridhar Balasubramaniam
Photo Credits: Niveditaa Gupta
The pavilion is a container of hope.
It is built on dual narratives – one of the debris from ruthless demolition, and another of the poetics of construction – an honest admission of materials and methods of making buildings which often remain hidden under its skin, unknown.
The building unfolds as a large space under a singular roof that touches the ground, inspired from the many roofs of Kochi.
This temporary structure treads lightly, as it stands without any concrete footings, and may be dismantled to retrieve all of its material that may be reused or re-assembled again elsewhere.
It is this material and method, we want to celebrate, and bring forth the pain, risk and challenges that are faced in the manifestation of an architecture, an outcome we deem beautiful.
Materials:
- Construction debris from nearby sites
- Waste granite from mines
- Coir
- Fishing nets
- Geogrid
- Brick bat
- Cement
- Wire mesh
