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Shastrinagar Housing Area
by Harshit Vaja
The site for the civic center is located in Shashtrinagar housing area. Parallel to the 132 ft. ring road, and within 400m of Shashtrinagar BRTS and Pragatinagar BRTS stations, the site is well connected to public transport
On Sundays this site is occupied by cricket players, there are 7 pitches used by cricket players including one concrete pitch. Generally, the Concrete pitch is occupied by youngsters and children have to play on the other pitches. The site is not big enough for playing shots behind the wicketkeeper. Sometimes the ball breaks the glass of cars while playing big shots. The boundary for each play is defined by putting a brick on the imaginary circle.
Apart from cricket, older people come daily to feed ants and birds. There is no seating space on the site. Only one plinth in the middle of the site with a temporary structure is used as a stage in the Navaratri festival. During the kite festival, children catch the kites and flew there. The street around the site usually remains active throughout the day because of commercial shops. There are all kinds of shops for our daily needs.
Sahiyaru Patangan
Site Strategies: The site has a rectangular shape and every side has a parallel road and footpath. One corner has a closed road so there is less activity than other roads. The main idea is to maintain the sense of plaza Putting the civic center building on that side will activate the whole site.
Design Plan: Different plinths set a platform for multiple activities. This plinth's height is kept 450 mm. People can easily seat on these plinths and they can watch the cricket match at the same time plinth will not allow vehicles to go inside. The long linear roof will respond to the surrounding buildings.
The last road was removed from the side as it is part of the internal road. All commercial shops were included in the plaza. Seating space will come under the trees, so less amount of shed will be required. This area will be open for pedestrians, where children can play safely. AMC can provide parking space somewhere else or it can be the underground parking.
Typical Sunday after converting the site into the plaza.
Cricket play will start in the early morning. 4-5 games can run at the same time and pitches will be parallel to each other. seating plinth will separate the imaginary circle of the boundary line. Players which are in a betting team can enjoy the view of the game from the plinths of the batsman's end or from the plinths of the bowler's end. The girl's team will play badminton and tennis on the courts. People will come and walk throughout the plaza in the pathway that is created by landscapes and plinths. In the early morning, people can get fresh fruit juice and tea or coffee from the nearby shops. People will seat on the plinths and enjoy their breakfast while reading the newspaper. In the afternoon or at late night people will come to play chess, carom, and cards.