Hampi Tourism Nodes
Culture Architecture I Hampi, Karnataka
Client KTDC
Area 5,300 Sq. ft
Status Ongoing
Team Shimul Javeri Kadri, Sarika Shetty
An Architectural Competition Entry for Visitors Center's at various nodes for Hampi for KTDC
The magic of Hampi emanates from the amazing relationship between the manmade and the natural. Life, in the Vijayanagara period, was clearly played out in the great outdoors of Hampi’s boulder-strewn landscape. This inside out connection has been used to full advantage in the design of this proposed Hampi tourism node architectural design, with the central courtyard forming the focal point like a garbagriha of the temple.
Kamlapur-major interchange node:
This node provides an opportunity to create a central organizing point for visitors to Hampi. The structure needs to efficiently provide myriad services to tourists while also allowing for a social and cultural meeting ground. This opportunity, “to orient” direct and enlighten tourists is irreplaceable. The building needs to be a contemporary icon of its historical origins. We have attempted to amalgamate historical references from Hampi’s religious and royal architecture, with the climatic and functional needs of the modern-day centre for tourists to avail of internet facilities, day sim card & memory chips, avail of touch screen information tours etc.
Life, in the Vijayanagara period, was clearly played out in the great outdoors of Hampi’s boulder-strewn landscape.
Pampa Sarovar:
One of the 4 holy sarovars of India with a high influx of local public, pilgrims & tourists. The strong belief in the holy waters of the Sarovar and the pampa Devi temple within its precinct has led to many ritualistic occasions & ceremonies around the Sarovar. The shabari guffa behind the temple complex seems like an interesting constrained pathway leading to some unknown destination. The onset of the guffa has a linga circumambulated in water. The beauty of the Sarovar, the belief in pampa Devi, the suspicious shabari guffa, the mighty boulders enveloping the site on the east, a canal channelling from the Tungabhadra surpassing the site on the west... all of this and the context around has inspired us to create the programme to this heavily contoured site, conceptualized around the GHATS... in general associated with the holy waters, the holy belief! An open-air amphitheatre is conceived within the ghats appropriately located with the Kalyanamantapa, the mighty boulders & the Sarovar as its backdrop. This space is conceived to hold the Anegondi festival with a deck over the expanded water canal for dance n song recitals, enacting tales of Vijayanagara history through puppet shows like bomme da atta, performances through Karnataka's various folk art forms like yakshagana, Carnatic music...and others. The last track of the ghats terminating into the expanded water canal could be conceived as a buffalo race track (Kambala). All in all a space programmed to reverberate with colour & gaiety and celebrate festivities, customs, rituals, culture, arts & crafts.
Sanapur Inspection Bungalow:
This destination opens up a third possible tourist type- the adventure and nature lover. Nestled farthest from the heritage sites, in the midst of gushing water & Tungabhadra’s high currents, this somewhat Art deco guesthouse demands conservation, repair and creativity. Our proposal is to convert the existing guesthouse into a café where the terraces afford beautiful views of the river and rocks. The ground floor space with verandah on the south is proposed to extend outwards into a fan-shaped patio made out of densely placed slit bamboo with a recessed structural support system. This open-air patio proposed as a café could afford a beautiful vantage point for nature lovers. We propose to do 4 guest rooms within this plot, to cater to tourists needs. This could be rest room after thrilling adventure water sports experienced just a few seconds earlier. A large tree in the foreground could carry a tree house or machan thus offering a spectacular viewing deck to closely observe the flora, fauna, gushing waters &boulder-strewn landscape all over.
