The uniqueness of a city’s character lies in the mix of the various multicultural populations that inhabit it. It goes through a lot of socio-economic changes due to migration of diverse groups of people. In the process, all the customs and lifestyles interact and mold over the decades to bring forth a new identity, yet keeping the essence of the city as well as adding new dimensions to it. Cities are thus being rediscovered by a large segment of the population from different places to fulfill their personal needs.

‘Civic’ means ‘of or relating or belonging to a city’. Earlier in cities, sharing of civic space gave rise to its cultural experience. But economy has changed drastically which is depriving people from the roots of the city, its civic spaces. Hence, a healthy city life can be achieved by creating a balance between private and public experiences which depends on the opportunities to engage people in each domain of the city. Therefore, civic engagement refers to involvement of an individual with people and places. This makes difference in the civic life of residents by giving them social experiences and also lead to promote the quality of life in a city by connecting people to it. However, in the current scenario, there are no such places in the cities for the native and transient population that helps them to know the city better. Can a space represent the values of a city by promoting its architecture, philosophies and trends that constitute it?
This project focuses on the physical characteristics of a city and lets one explore its essence that are rooted in its socio-spatial fabric. It tends to ‘Attract, Manage and Engage’ the civic life of the city and will lie somewhere between the tourist places(one or two visits) and regular workplaces(daily routine), where people can go in their leisure time to learn about the events, festivals, languages, culture, flavors, places etc. that defines the city, thereby helping them connect with it. So, by bringing together different personalities of the city, through the deployment of a multi-functional dynamic surface, the project connects, engages and revitalizes the people and the city at large.
So, the design intention is to design a built environment that connects people to the city, by establishing and reflecting the character of socio-spatial fabric of a city in its spaces and activities that weave through it.

2018

2018

Vinay Agrawal