Gathering Space Within the Building

Open Public Space, Bhaktapur

Traditionally Kathmandu had open space which was unanimously a paved courtyards acting as a multi functional public domain. It was a collaborative space which transcends beyond social connectivity to physical and mental well being. Today, these invaluable spaces are merely being built, primarily because we don’t have a similar socio-economic structure anymore. The society has changed and so are our needs. Earlier, everyday work was more focused outdoors on the field; today we need more desk space than open space, smart devices than beautiful lawns, and hemmed cubicles than expansive interactive spots. With this paradigm shift, our needs have transformed drastically. We are haphazardly constructing buildings undermining open space for the sake of various infrastructure developments

What We Need:

Price of land governed by skyrocketing face value makes the owner use every inch for profitable return. The rampant trend of giving less and getting more has inundated Kathmandu Valley with brutal concretes and less of open space to breathe! Therefore, the drift of constructing new building now needs innovative ideas to change the way we perceive such gathering space both semi open and enclosed, where people converge and mingles for opportunity, collaboration and most importantly for well being, where we spend most of our times. Because something like this has become impossible in the outdoor community we live in today. This is intensely alarming and needs serious considerations.

What we have done-Forgetting Public Open Spaces

The Value of Public Space:

The rate at which buildings are being built in Kathmandu is so alarming that the day we don’t see an open space is not far. This is because of the lack of strong governance in policy making and urban development practice. Kathmandu is the 15th-most densely populated city in the world. So, at this tipping point, neither can we wait to convert a Tudhikhel into massive greenery like New York’s Central Park, nor can overhead bridges be refurbished into a connecting greenery bridge like a High Line in New York City; (an old elevated railway converted into an urban park). But what we can do is still dream creatively green, create open gathering space within the matrix of a building in our drawing boards, then convincing clients come in the second place. This means our thoughts with initiation are paramount. As a solution to this harrowing situation, Architects need to be a conscious activist to support and incorporate these in between gathering open spaces in the form of semi open lobby, open terrace spill out space, lawns, and pleasant courtyards with interactive activities in projects where possible to compensate what the cityscape lacks at the moment.

The Inn Swotha, Patan beautifully integrating open space in between the built form

What We Can Do:

The first thing to challenge the conventions is to be the change in the first place. This means taking initiation and addressing the need to loosen the boundary to mingle the outdoors with the indoor space by creating pocket of such in-between space which functions like an oasis to a desert.

In retrospect to our original towns and cityscape, equal considerations were made to form an open space. Neighborhood was not a residual space like it is today, but rather a consciously planned matrix of built form and public open spaces. Today, more than average, the community resembles a mass produced product just not close to even trying to become an exception. So what has to be done to be exceptional? What are the added values to be unique? All these questions being answered will raise the quality of our community with an average number of people starting to understand and acquire the principles of exception and uniqueness would be the most desirable utopia after all.

And the step is not hard; it just has to be a little bold. Being brave to be conscious and build better requires a lot of holistic thought. This only comes with a proper guidance, where the role of an Architect comes to a lead. When an Architect finds a solution that are derived from a conventional element in unconventional ways, then there can be better houses, a nice and productive office, exciting shopping malls, enjoyable schools, energizing hospitals, dramatic museums, stimulating art galleries all combined to form a gratifying community at large.