‘Beyond Facades: A Dialogue amongst Altered Spaces’, a collaborative exercise themed on “transformation of urban character” was conducted in association with Studio Muse and Intersection Foundation in Jaipur, Rajasthan. The workshop aimed at sensitizing the students pursuing architecture to perceive an urban form beyond its appearance.

Emphasis was given to develop an understanding of the tangible and intangible transformations in an urban setting concerning character, size and function over successive time periods.

The workshop took place in three folds. Multiple grid blocks of the historic city of Jaipur were identified for this exercise, which involved understanding the character of an urban settlement through experiences in each grid block.

EXPERIENCING THE OLD CITY

Visiting old city, its chowkris, identifying, analyzing the architectural elements and later studying them critically was starting points of the workshop. Expert lectures as part of literature briefing were scheduled before studying the facades.

STUDYING FACADES

ALTERED SPACES

The facades and intersections were studied with an analytical sense and a meticulous recording of the crtique was done. Later, selecting all the relevant built complexes transects and other elements that stood upright with the time were recognized for analysis and later identifying the causes of alterations in the built spaces.