Typology studio- Pandemic type
Semester 3
Location- Kandivali Gaothan, Mumbai
During the pandemic, several changes were seen everywhere, which we mostly noticed in and around our neighborhood. In my locality is a place that changed itself from a temple to community food distribution center to serve people who couldn't afford a living in the city due to the pandemic.
This temple is around 27 years old, and has the tradition of serving food on one special occasion in the year. Due to the Covid-19 restrictions, the distribution was not possible. The temple Trust along with the support of the locals set up counters outside the temple, collected food from people in neighboring societies on daily basis and distributed it.
The Temple is located at a corner of a main road connected to a smaller lane. Neighboring shops remained closed in specific time slots, allowing the space outside those shops to be used. The premise of the temple was used to store the collected food and the counter set up outside allowed the distribution along with the precautions such as social distancing being followed. The temple has three entrances, one main entrance, which remained shut during the pandemic, second was next to the idol which was used for moving the food from inside the temple to the counters and third was a back entrance which functioned for bringing the food inside. This space was connected to a small cabin inside the temple.
The programmes in the temple premise could not be defined as each space inside the temple became a community space, where as certain spaces were earlier restricted for the people of the trust. Multiple programmes started taking place inside the temple such as checkups, indoor sport competitions, storage for the food, etc.
During the pandemic, one wall of the temple became solid, whereas the other one blurred. The smaller lane became a part of the temple and the community center.
The temple can function as the community food distribution point but gets restricted as space gets restricted with the relaxation of the Covid norms and people using the street more frequently. The design process began by studying the pattern of movement of people.
Before pandemic During pandemic After iteration
The entire corner then became the site. Thus the design blurred the wall which extended to form the corner and the smaller lane.
reference- Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art
Each platform then serves as the space for specific programme.
The walls further divide the space and define the programme.
