‘MORPHED MEMORIES Coexisting with heritage’ by Tanya Puri

Thesis Abstract:

‘Morphed Memories’ looks at adaptive reuse within a heritage building shell, which houses an all-encompassing cultural space for the citizens, that promotes the architectural legacy of South Mumbai.

Several heritage spaces & old buildings are mistreated and used with disregard. Government funds and ownership issues drive people to being callous about the maintenance of these spaces. People only view these topics on the surface level, but nobody ever questions the need to value what we have and how we can make it better and more useful and aesthetically beautiful for the generations to come. The Fort Precinct was an interesting area of study. This designated area in Mumbai includes the Gateway, Mumbai University, Esplanade, Fountain, Horniman Circle, Ballard Pier, V.T, B.M.C & the Oval Maidan Precincts. The Bombay Stock Exchange on Dalal Street in Fort was considered the ideal site to experiment with. Morphed Memories is an effort to revive and breathe into old unkempt spaces in the city. Maybe one day, others could harness the same application and re-use old spaces in a more contemporary manner to bring about present issues and present day ideas in a communal space. As in individual entity, the space would draw attention to smaller lanes of the Precinct and encourage people to maximize space potential and inspire them to build more complementary spaces that are in accordance with the already existing historic areas. The design intent was to create a multifunctional space in different zones that is seen as one singular unit as a whole. This space is one where people can come and learn about Mumbai’s history, engage with it on a deeper level and converse with others around them to share & communicate their ideas & build their experiences together through different activities. People should be able to take something away from the space that they may have viewed differently before entering it.Credit- Tanya Puri – Class of 2018