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India’s top architecture rms are bringing back the concept of interactive community spaces for social progress and wellness. A virtual tour of ve such projects
One Tree Hill Community Hall, Hosur | Completion Year: 2022 | Gross built area: 7,200 sq.ft. | Cost: Approx. ₹5 crore
It was in 2015 that Samira Rathod Design Atelier began work on this innovative community centre, in honour of HRS Rao, a patron, who wished to dedicate a building to his land and people. “The entire concept of civilisation is built in the idea of community living. Societies today are fragmented and people suer from loneliness and depression. A well-designed and interactive community will foster activities that bring back the sense of togetherness and therefore the wellness of a community,” says Rathod of One Tree Community Hall that opened its doors in 2022.
Each project is a response to the context, explains the architect, adding that the context is the site, geographical location, climate, cultural background, its people, the programme itself, budgets etc. “This building is dierent from the other ones because of its geographical location and the
Locals at the One Tree Hill Community Hall.
materials that we sourced. We have primarily used granite because it was easily available, and we drew inspiration from temple architecture to create composite walls from brick and granite to reduce load, cost and time of construction. Old discarded eucalyptus tree trunks which were marked by termites were recycled to become pillars,” explains Rathod.
The architect says that while the construction did not pose any f global architecture trends are anything to go by, experts are leaning towards fuss-free, community-centric designs. Be it retail spaces that integrate socialising areas, artist residencies with amphitheatres and
‘sculpture plazas’, or public halls in urban and rural settings, architects are putting the focus back on the importance of community. With less experimentation and more ‘safe spaces’ to dene architecture in 2024, here are ve spaces in India dedicated to foster inclusivity.
Iissues, the challenge was to get the locals on board. “We had to understand their needs, explain what we were doing. So, the sense of ownership of the building was important. This was a big challenge as we needed a lot of time to negotiate and build bridges so that what we hand over is taken as a responsibility and maintained.”