Community Center

Pune Municipal Corporation has initiated Place-making projects under their Smart City program to develop quality public spaces for the city. The sites which have been identified by the municipal body are the amenity spaces handed over to them by private residential developments. A lot of these sites in the city had been lying vacant due to lack of funds. The Smart city program has provided an excellent opportunity to create quality public spaces in the city for the people. One such site for Place-making in Pune’s Manikbaug-Vadgaon neighborhood at Sinhagad Road was undertaken by Pune Municipal Corporation’s Building department. The site is situated in a middle class residential locality with farm lands on one side. It was observed that the neighborhood lacks open and recreational space which is a fundamental right of citizens of all ages.
Although being an architectural project, the overall idea was to improve quality of life of the community and provide value addition to the neighborhood. The most challenging part of the project was to make it happen in the same existing system and laws of project execution. The idea of place-making in this particular project is ‘Traditional games park: A place for all’ providing a recreational space to all age groups as well as revive traditional Indian sports like Mallakhamb, Kho-kho and Kabaddi which are losing their glory in modern times. Thus they form the focus of the design and the overall space making exercise.
One can experience the following in this place-making exercise:
1. Multi usable play court for games like Kho-kho, Kabaddi &Volleyball along with an exclusive Mallakhamb arena
2. Natural mounds with children’s play area.
4. A 1500 sq.ft multipurpose hall for indoor activities like carom, table tennis, gym, yoga, dance room, art gallery, etc.
5. Amphitheatre for cultural, social and sports gatherings
6. Walking/Jogging track for health enthusiasts
7. Public utilities like toilets and drinking water with barrier free access
8. Seating Areas
The designed space creates a tranquil environment for relaxation, recreation and playing where one can have a breath of fresh air in the midst of a mundane routine city life. The overall space quality achieved in the project is defined by three elements, the inviting form of the building, the landscape mounds and the existing tree canopy. Not one element can be separated from each other making it a cohesive form. The post construction observation shows people using the space in various permutations and combinations. The people, who are the real stakeholders of the project, can be seen modifying and defining the space as per their requirements and anthropometry. Be it children paying different games, elderly people walking/resting or even youngsters coming together for recreation. This multiple usability of the space by the user is the core of this project. Architect Daniel Libeskind quotes, ‘In a strange way architecture is really an unfinished thing, because even though the building is finished, it takes on a new life. It becomes part of a new dynamic: how people will occupy it, use it, think about it.’
The materials used for the project have been thoughtfully chosen with respect to the budget, maintenance and the form of the building. The structure of the building is entirely in steel to make it light weight both physically and visually. The structural system is wrapped with brick masonry with plaster and paint finish to create a modern form yet making the user aware of contemporary times. The concept of ‘Place-making’ is not just a project but proving a lifeline for the contemporary chaos of the city.