Integrating Historic Values with Contemporary Growth: A Case of Iqbal Maidan, Bhopal
Co-Authors: Prof. Sanjeev Singh, Yug Aggarwal, Mohit Singh
Abstract
The “Washington Charter” in 1987 has deliberated and emphasized on the conservation of historic towns and urban areas, it also emphasizes on its harmonious adaptation to contemporary life. Historic urban landscapes are complex systems and are generally recognized as shared cultural heritage (Amoruso, 2013). Historic urban areas are not only a sum of monuments and urban fabric, but also are dynamic organisms that continuously change according to the social, economic and physical changes (Bandarin and Oers, 2012). History of cities have always been discussed and understood through their culture and the built form which is also embedded by the cultural values that a society had during that respective timeline. Uniqueness of a historic city like Bhopal is its complexity which has made it different from other cities in this central region of India. Alike other parts of the world social, economic and physical forces have been pulling the city in different directions where disciplines like urban conservation often get confused on how the urban historic settings can be preserved and used. This paper investigates a Historic Urban Area ‘Iqbal maidan’ which has been the central focus of the historic precinct of Old Bhopal. The dichotomy established in this two acres space through the transformation in time recognizes the context of the space from a private leisure courtyard to a recreational public space. The history has seen its definitions changing from the luxurious ‘Khirni’ orchid of the Begum’s royal precinct to a flat cricket ground in today’s time. This historic urban space has been seen integrating the historic values with the contemporary growth of the city.
Introduction
The history of existence of urban agglomeration has been since 5000 B.C. and the growth of civilizations has been attributed to certain given inventions which made larger settlements possible. By 3000 B.C. evolution of cities in civilization like Egypt, Mesopotamia, and India have been well recorded. The evidence on the cities shows that they were generally small and had to be supported by much larger rural populations. Cities were more of consumer cities rather that producer cities and had to depend upon the rural hinterland in a number of ways. They were more of like administrative or trading centers. The whole equation changed with the industrial revolution where the cities changed its role from consumer cities to producer cities. The production units needed workforce which was drawn from the rural population and with the increase in the production units the population of the cities grew faster. Urbanization has gone ahead much faster and reached proportions of far greater magnitude during the last century and a half than at any previous time in world history. The tremendous growth in world trade during this period has enabled the urban population to draw its sustenance from an ever wider area. Indeed, it can truly be said that the hinterland of today’s cities is the entire world.
History of cities have always been discussed and understood through their culture and the built form which is also embedded by the cultural values that a society had during that respective timeline. Historic urban areas are not only a sum of monuments and urban fabric, but also are dynamic organisms that continuously change according to the social, economic and physical changes. Alike other parts of the world social, economic and physical forces have been pulling the city in different directions where disciplines like urban conservation often get confused on how the urban historic settings can be preserved and used. Emergence of global conscience facilitated by the technological innovations within the population today has to a large extent has been influencing the social behavior of the urban populace. This is having an impact of the people’s perception of the urban form as well as urban spaces whether public or private.
In the Indian context the urban growth pattern coupled with the growth of a global conscience within the populace has been transforming the character of the urban space with historical significance to an extent that it can lose its identity as historical precinct. The fragmentation and deterioration of urban heritage has become eminent through the transformation of associated meanings and identities of the given spaces. This paper investigates a Historic Urban Area ‘Iqbal Maidan’ located in the walled city of Bhopal which has been the central focus of the historic precinct of Old Bhopal. The dichotomy established in this two acres space through the transformation in time recognizes the context of the space from a private leisure courtyard to a recreational public space. The history has seen its definitions changing from the luxurious ‘Khirni’ orchid of the Begum’s royal precinct to a flat cricket ground in today’s time. This historic urban space has been seen integrating the historic values with the contemporary growth of the city.
Bhopal: From Raja Bhoj to the Begums
“There is a central quality, which is the root criterion of life and spirit in a man, a town, a building, or a wilderness. This quality is objective and precise, but it cannot be named.” — Christopher Alexander, The Timeless Way of Building
Questioning the legibility of townscapes, Kevin Lynch, through the same statement theorized a pattern language, an order, that evolving civilizations, quality townscapes (in terms of imagery and the dweller’s emotional satisfaction) follow necessarily the same –
The Landscape, The Physical, The Human
The Landscape being the object in focus is the quality in a townscape around which a pattern springs up. This value is either realised or generated.
Tracing the theory in the history of Bhopal we see the same pattern generated long back. Raja Bhoj, a mystic character in the history of the city, the ruler of Parmar dynasty (1000–1200CE) was the one who commissioned the engineering of Upper Lake. Bhoj, because of his epilepsy, consulted his religious scholars, who suggested him to link up 9 rivers and 99 streams at one place and take a bath as a cure for the disease. Thence this dam was ideated and named “BHIM KUND”. This is how a plateau marshland was given the first landscape emotional point around which the society sprang up. Bhopal, the city of lakes is not only known for its beautiful landscapes, but also by its rich, vibrant and peaceful culture embedded in the roots of ‘this’ history.
Raja Bhoj developed the village Bhojpur, as his capital near to ‘Bhim Kund’. The dam constructed by Raja Bhoj stretched from Gohar Ganj to Dumkhera village near present day Bhopal. On the upper end, Bhoj commissioned a walled city and a bath house. Due to this, a link along the periphery of the lake developed following the major route between the two nodes, i.e. the walled city and Bhojpur. The link flourished with small market towns and villages that added to the then industrial and crop production. As a result a small town, Mandideep was flourishing.
The walled city however was never completed. The death of Raja Bhoj after a while saw the dynasty divided under small chieftains fighting for power, the construction of Sabha Mandal at the centre of the walled city, was abandoned. Hoshangshah, a Turkish warlord invaded Bhopal in order to destroy the cultural and scientific achievements that the Parmar dynasty bragged of. After defeating the local armies, he ordered the destruction of the dam towards Gohar Ganj. This led to the flooding of Bhojpur and Mandideep. Due to the immense volume of the dam, and a relatively smaller puncture, the area kept flooding for a year. Both Bhojpur and Mandideep and a larger area remained flooded for another 30years. When the water receded, the marshlands were inhabited again by the villagers. Because the land had been under water for over 3 decades, the mineral deposits had increased the fertility of the land immensely and the crop production soared. Mandideep flourished even faster and soon boasted a huge crop market and invited trade and industry, while Bhojpur lay in ruins.
Gonds and Bhils were the only inhabitants of this Malwa region. Due to loyalty and bravery of gonds, the rulers of Bhopal (during Parmar Dynasty) gave them Jagirs. Fort of Ginnor and Chowkigarh were built by Gonds, both areas being Jagirs of Parmar dynasty. These gained prominence after 1200AD due to their strategic locations and towns started developing around them. Raisen fort came up soon as a major stronghold nearby, and soon became a major city.
Meanwhile, Mandideep continued to flourish as a freelance trade center connecting the towns of major fort divisions situated around the lake. Because the growth was centralized from 1200–1700AD, the ruins of the walled city and Bhojpur, never grew more than villages. Nearing 1700AD, the morphological pattern developed was not along the axis joining the nodes, but concentric around the nodes — nodes being the forts. One more fort, Rani Kamlapati fort came up at the end of this period. The flooding of Upper lake long back had created lower lake, and this fort was constructed over the dam dividing the waters of the two lakes. The area where the walled city of Parmar dynasty once had been, now was a reduced image of a village with mass plantations of fruit orchids — ‘Khirni’ being one of the varieties of that orchid!
The Physical Pattern
Having generated the focus in the landscape of Bhopal, i.e. the Upper Lake, the region still struggled, after 700 years, to define a physical pattern around it — enter Dost Mohammad Khan. An afghan mercenary, he started off as a soldier in the Mughal army and then rose to the post of an army general.
After the death of the emperor Aurangzeb, Khan started providing mercenary services to several local chieftains in the politically unstable Malwa region. He was crowned as the ruler of the town ‘Berasia” in Madhya Pradesh, lying east to Bhopal. Soon his power in the region grew as he neared Bhopal.
When he came to Bhopal, he visited the ruins of Bhojpur and decided to build a new city rather than reviving the ruins. He settled 11km north of Rani Kamlapati fort, and built a fort, Islamnagar fort, and established a circular walled city on an offset from the fort. Due to the guerrilla attacks by Gond tribes, and due to the peculiarity of the planning flaws of the walled city, the city was raided again and again, and once ultimately set to fire. In the meanwhile, on the southern end of the lake, Ginnor was the jagir of a converted muslim, Nizam Shah Gond. Nizam Shah Gond was killed and to take revenge, his wife Rani Kamlapati seeked help of Dost Mohammad Khan to protect her state and safeguard her position as the queen, and for that she offered him half of the small village of Bhopal of 2000 population (a portion of the territory of Kamlapati fort).
Slowly, Dost Mohammad Khan succeded in capturing all the smaller territories and forts in this region — the Ginnori, Chowkigarh, Raisen and many smaller ones — thus consolidating the rule of Rani Kamlapati. He was, apart from half of the village, was given the post of Wazir. He shifted his focus from Islamnagar fort to the banks of the lake and constructed Fatehgarh fort, the largest in the Bhopal state, nearer to Rani Kamplapati fort. He consolidated his portion of the village by converting it into a walled city that was linked to the fort also. Moreover, the location of the city was such that it was protected by Rani Kamplapati fort and Islamnagar Fort too. Also, the region of influence had expanded and the region had been stabilized under one ruler — this meant a stable morphology. This triggered the growth in and around the walled city along the routes towards the previous nodes.
After the death of Rani Kamlapati, uring the early 1720s, Khan having transformed the village of Bhopal into a fortified city, assumed the title of Nawab Dost Mohammad Khan and his Afghan associates brought “Islamic influence” to the culture and architecture of Bhopal.
After Khan’s death in 1728, the Bhopal state remained under the influence of the Nizams. The state also paid tribute to the Marathas, who defeated the Mughals at the Battle of Bhopal in 1737. Throughout the regime of Nizams, the pattern triggered in the same manner. Thus the period of Dost Mohammad Khan and later Nizams of Bhopal is what can be truly referred to as the ‘introduction or the organisation’ of the physical element, establishing the lake still as the genius locus.
The Human, The Culture and The Precinct
After the rule of Nawabs, the princely state of Bhopal (between 1819 and 1926) fell in the hands of Begums. Qudsia Begum being the first begum took measures to improvise upon the areas in the walled city. At the same time, she took to the development of the orchids towards Kamlapati fort in order to utilize the lake front. Finding it a more recreational value to the city, she shifted the royal utilities to the lake front. As a result, Gohar Mahal was the one to be constructed first. Other structures panned out as a part of the bigger complex. A patch of the Khirni orchid was left in between as a courtyard to the vast complex that held now the Begum’s abode, the court and numerous offices. The precinct came into being as a rather secluded section of the city with limited entrance to the public.
Qudsia Begum was succeeded by her only daughter Sikandar Begum, who in turn was succeeded by her only daughter, Shahjehan Begum. Sultan Jahan Begum was the last women ruler, who after 25 years of rule, abdicated in favour of her son, Hamidullah Khan. The rule of Begums gave the city its waterworks, railways, a postal system and a municipality constituted in 1907. Thus under the rule of Begums, individualistic spaces like the Gohar Mahal precinct, Jama Masjid precinct, Tajul Masjid precinct; numerous identities like Chowk Bazaar, Bangle Market, Meena Bazaar, Chatori Gali and cultural interpretations like Iqbal Maidan, Motia Talab, Sabha Mandal, Peer Gate Chowraha sprang up supported by the same frame and overlooking the same landscape value — the lake. Therefore, the lake holds the true essence of the image of Bhopal, and its link with every major space and entry gate of Bhopal as the genius loci is also imminent today.
After independence, the precinct fell in the hands of public works while the spaces fell empty. Not having a vision for the immediate response, the state reacted by shifting their offices and clearing the whole patch of Khirni maidan, whilst retaining two trees — one Khirni tree in the centre and one Banyan in the corner. The ‘Khirni wala maidan’ now known as ‘Iqbal Maidan’ was transformed to a flat parade ground, as the entire government shifted its base around the complex. But that practice too was soon abandoned.
Iqbal maidan
Bhopal, the city of lakes is not only known for its beautiful landscapes, but also by its rich, vibrant and peaceful culture embedded in the roots of its history. Tracing the theory in the history of Bhopal we see a pattern that had generated long back. Raja Bhoj, a mystic character in the history of the city, the ruler of Parmar dynasty (1000–1200CE) was the one who commissioned the engineering of Upper Lake. Bhoj, because of his epilepsy, consulted his religious scholars, who suggested him to link up 9 rivers and 99 streams at one place and take a bath as a cure for the disease. Thence this dam was ideated and named “BHIM KUND”.
With the Upper Lake having generated the focus in the landscape of Bhopal, the region still struggled for another 700 years, to define a physical pattern around it. Dost Mohammad Khan succeeded in capturing all the smaller territories and forts in this region (the Ginnori, Chowkigarh, Raisen and many smaller ones) thus consolidating the rule of Rani Kamlapati. He, apart from half of the village, was given the post of Wazir. He shifted his focus from Islamnagar fort to the banks of the lake and constructed Fatehgarh fort, the largest in the Bhopal state, nearer to Rani Kamplapati fort. He consolidated his portion of the village by converting it into a walled city that was linked to the fort also. Moreover, the location of the city was such that it was protected by Rani Kamplapati fort and Islamnagar Fort too. Also, the region of influence had expanded and the region had been stabilized under one ruler — this meant a stable morphology. This triggered the growth in and around the walled city along the routes towards the previous nodes.
After the death of Rani Kamlapati, during the early 1720s, Khan having transformed the village of Bhopal into a fortified city, assumed the title of Nawab Dost Mohammad Khan and his Afghan associates brought “Islamic influence” to the culture and architecture of Bhopal. Thus the period of Dost Mohammad Khan and the later Nizams of Bhopal is what can be truly referred to as the ‘introduction or the organization of the physical element, establishing the lake still as the genius locus. After the rule of Nawabs, the princely state of Bhopal (between 1819 and 1926) fell in the hands of Begums. Qudsia Begum being the first begum took measures to improvise upon the areas in the walled city. At the same time, she took to the development of the orchids towards Kamlapati fort in order to utilize the lake front. Finding it a more recreational value to the city, she shifted the royal utilities to the lake front. As a result, Gohar Mahal was the one to be constructed first. Other structures panned out as a part of the bigger complex. A patch of the Khirni orchid was left in between as a courtyard to the vast complex that held now the Begum’s abode, the court and numerous offices. The precinct came into being as a rather secluded section of the city with limited entrance to the public.
Thus under the rule of Begums, individualistic spaces like the Gohar Mahal precinct, Jama Masjid precinct, Tajul Masjid precinct; numerous identities like Chowk Bazaar, Bangle Market, Meena Bazaar, Chatori Gali and cultural interpretations like Iqbal Maidan, Motia Talab, Sabha Mandal, Peer Gate Chowraha sprang up supported by the same frame and overlooking the same landscape value — the lake. Therefore, the lake holds the true essence of the image of Bhopal, and its link with every major space and entry gate of Bhopal as the genius loci is also imminent today. After independence, the precinct fell in the hands of public works while the spaces fell empty. Not having a vision for the immediate response, the state reacted by shifting their offices and clearing the whole patch of Khirni maidan, whilst retaining two trees — one Khirni tree in the centre and one Banyan in the corner. The ‘Khirni wala maidan’ now known as ‘Iqbal Maidan’ was transformed to a flat parade ground, as the entire government shifted its base around the complex. But that practice too was soon abandoned.
Introduction
Allama Iqbal after whom this place has been named visited Bhopal four times at different times. Although that totals to about six months of about total stay, Iqbal wrote many wonderful nazms while staying in Bhopal. The government of Madhya Pradesh renamed the Khirniwala Maidan to Iqbal Maidan, situated in front of the Sismahal. The ground has also been developed into a park by the Bhopal Development Authority. The length of park is about 150 meters and the width is about 40 meters. At one end of the ground, an 18 meter long and 7.5 meter wide stage has been constructed. A path way using stone slabs has been layed between lawns. The ground has five gates, and the surronding boundary has been overlayed with red stone. The famous “Sare jahan se accha” from Iqbal has been engraved on the inner walls and stages. A monument by the name of Shahin Monumnet was built by the famous artist Jai Swaminatahan and Rewen David. The monument has four brass plates engraved with recitals from Iqbal about Shaheen. There is also the Iqbal library which was instituted by some youths of the city, in two rooms at the first floor of a house at Ibrahimpura. This library is a resource of all literatures of Iqbal apart from other magazines, books journals etc. This library also organizes the “Yome Iqbal” or the Iqbal festival traditionally on 21st April.
The Landscape being the object in focus is the quality in a townscape around which a pattern springs up. This value is either realised or generated (Cullen, 1995). Historic Urban Area ‘Iqbal maidan’ located in the walled city of Bhopal which has been the central focus of the historic precinct of Old Bhopal. The dichotomy established in this two acres space through the transformation in time recognizes the context of the space from a private leisure courtyard to a recreational public space. Questioning the legibility of townscapes, Kevin Lynch, through the a statement theorized a pattern language, an order, that evolving civilizations, quality townscapes (in terms of imagery and the dweller’s emotional satisfaction) follow necessarily the same — The Landscape, The Physical, The Human (Lynch, 1995). The history has seen Iqbal Maidan’s definition changing from the luxurious ‘Khirni’ orchid of the Begum’s royal precinct to a flat cricket ground in today’s time. This historic urban space has been seen integrating the historic values with the contemporary growth of the city.
“There is a central quality, which is the root criterion of life and spirit in a man, a town, a building, or a wilderness. This quality is objective and precise, but it cannot be named.” Alexander(1979) .
The locational identity of Iqbal Maidan and its central quality is evident as Iqbal maidan precinct is a central node for the core areas of old Bhopal, namely Chowk bazaar, Chatori Gali, Hamidia hospital area. It functions as a multifuctional area which has now lost its cultural and architectural value due to the spaces now have become less interactive and all the activities not being facilitated properly. This has been mainly due to the contemporary growth within this core area and the changing values due to the interventions in this area. The broken link of Iqbal Maidan precinct also affects its adjacent precincts which have deteriorated to a very large extent namely Shauqat Mahal, Sheesh Mahal, Gohar Mahal (Khan, 2000).
Eminent buildings and streets around Iqbal Maidan
As mentioned in the previous section, there are a number of buildings surrounding Iqbal Maidan that have historical significance (See fig. below).
Source: Author
Gohar mahal is a grand palace, the construction of which was commissioned by Qudsia begum, the first women ruler of Bhopal. The palace reflects both the architectural styles (Hindu and Mughal). The palace is situated on the banks of upper lake just behind the Iqbal maidan precinct. Shauqat mahal shows an amalgam of western architecture and Asian architecture which makes this building stand out of the traditional Islamic architecture. This palace was designed by a Frenchman and is thus very different from the rest of the Islamic architecture in the locality.
Post-Renaissance and Gothic styles have been combined in the construction of the palace, which are reflected in its architecture. Moti mahal is also one of the chief structures around Iqbal Maidan that has architectural and aesthetical value. It is situated between shauqat mahal and Gohar Mahal. It has a visual importance being on the longer visual access of the iqbal maidan precinct.
Sadar Manzil, located adjoining the Royal Enclave, was the noble courtroom during Nawabs rule in Bhopal state. Entry to this hall of communal audience is through a large wooden gate, which escorts into a smaller main gate. The first floor of the main gate has a mammoth terrace balcony, while the succeeding floor has four domes on each corner. The ground and first floors has sequence of rooms but the following floor has only an elevated rise room with a porch used for nighttime watching.
The foremost entry opens into a huge court, with a gorgeous fountain in the center. Overlooking the greenery is a big dais, which formerly had been used as the chair of the monarch. Windows have been constructed on every side of the dais for the royal women to look at the court dealings. The rectangular structure has the dais with a open space in the middle with accommodation on sides. Today, this brick-red structure serves as the head office of Municipal Corporation of Bhopal.
Sheesh mahal, located adjoining Shauqat mahal is another precinct of great importance. Being on the main nodal point of the whole area, it comes in the visual angle of people coming from V.I.P. road, Chatori gali, Curfew mata mandir. It serves as a visually enhancing precinct from all sides. Presently it is a bank and a part serves as a store of iqbal library. Chatori Gali is just a road on which there are small shops on both sides. The chatori gali connects the Iqbal maidan precinct to the chaar batti chowraha. The street experiences a high footfall due to its rich marketplace and is a major link to Iqbal maidan precinct.
Chowk bazaar is the main central marketplace of old bhopal region.Its ramshackle streets are lined with old havelis and atmospheric stalls; it’s impossible not to get involved in the village vibe, where shopping, hard-core haggling, and gossiping occupy one’s time. Shop around for embroidered velvet cushions, tussar silk, silver jewelry. You will be overwhelmed by the traditional Bhopali art and craft.
The Moti Masjid is situated in the heart of the Bhopal city in the state of Madhya Pradesh and is also known as the Pearl Mosque. A well — known landmark of Bhopal, Moti Masjid was built in 1860 under the order and instruction of Sikandar Jehan Begum, the renowned daughter of Qudisiya Begum. The impressive structure is beautifully designed and resembles the Jama Masjid of Delhi in its architecture and patterns.
The 19th century Moti Masjid in Bhopal stands majestically in brick red color and has a white — marble facade that has enhanced the pristine beauty of the edifice. Two small cupolas adorn the top of the Moti Masjid of Bhopal. Two dark — red spires or minarets stand free on either side and are adorned with bright golden spikes. The call to prayer for the faithful followers of Islam is given from the top of the minarets. The minarets of Bhopal Moti Masjid are considered as the ‘gate from heaven and earth’.
The Shifts and Transformations
“Public spaces mirror the complexities of urban societies: as historic social bonds between individuals. This has been weakened or transformed, and cities have become agglomerations of atomized individuals, public open spaces have also changed from being embedded in the social fabric of the city to being a part of more impersonal and fragmented environments” (Ali Madanipour,2009).(ref. Madanipour, A., 2009. Whose Public Space?: International Case Studies in Urban Design and Development. 1st ed. Oxon: Routledge.)
Such a change has been witnessed in context to Iqbal Maidan. The transformations of Iqbal Maidan, from a khirni orchid to the Begum’s leisure courtyard, to a flat parade ground, to a seasonal exhibition space and a local cricket ground shows how the perception of that space has changed its links and focus with the changing times. Iqbal Maidan although is representative of the rich socio-cultural-historical fabric of the city, yet the space feels disintegrated. High degree of individuality in the interpretation of spaces has rendered the precinct imageless. Negligible level of objective image in the precinct is responsible for weakening cohesiveness between the elements of the townscape. The same transformations can be seen at the macro level even.
The biggest catalyst in the shifting focus of Bhopal had been the turbulence caused due to the infamous Bhopal Gas Tragedy. In the quest for survival and the horrendous response by the government, the people separated themselves from any social image related to the political stance at that time. Relying only on their instincts and trusting the self-image the generation sprang up in alienation with the physical form around them which reflected an utter ignorance to the value of spaces and the historical landscape. The response to overcome the incident at the macro level was not rejuvenation of the impact areas but creation of new. The patched development in Bhopal thus sprang up (See fig. 10). Today, as a result, Bhopal lacks one true image like Delhi’s Connaught Place and India Gate, or Chandigarh’s Sector-17.
The constant shift in the development of Bhopal negates the cultural importance or growth of any one corner. Implying Jane Jacobs’ theory of city radius (Jacobs, J., 1992. The Death and Life of Great American Cities. 1st ed. New Delhi: Vintage. ), if the patches without a centrality keep spreading, soon the core of Bhopal that is the old city and precinct will start collapsing. This is because a city has a limited life radius in which its patterns can sustain. If it goes beyond that, the city’s core starts stretching and anything before that inner radius starts collapsing. We see the shifting pattern of Bhopal similar to the same. As we see the central business district and inter-state bus terminal shifted from Old Bhopal to elsewhere, it is eminent to retain the ‘Bhopali’ identity in the Iqbal Maidan, for that being the entry gate with the development of V.I.P. Road.
In addition, we see it as the only open space left in the dense structure of Old Bhopal. Moreover, the development of V.I.P. road can be seen as destruction to the landscape quality as it has destroyed the link of Old Bhopal with the lake completely and hampered the imagery of and in the ghat next to Gohar Mahal thereby cutting the link of the entire precinct. This trend of development matches with the infrastructure boom of Manhattan, where Robert Moses constructed magnanimous highways to support economy but in the process, he cut the link of the city to the sea that ultimately affected the living quality, desirability and culture of the city. V.I.P. road seems to be having the same impact on the precinct.
The idea is to link the space again to the landscape focus and revive the elements of the townscape through a series of transformations adaptive to the interpretations of the public. This will surely put Old Bhopal to the same pedestal, as intended.
Objectivism and Counter-Objectivism: Why Landscape is focus?
“What strikes me is the fact that in our society, art has become something which is related only to objects and not to individuals or to life…But could not everyone’s life become a work of art? — Dreyfus and Rainbow, 1982:237 (ref. Fontana-Giusti, G., 2013. Foucault for Architects. 1st ed. Oxon: Routledge. )
Although objectifying the morphology and the landscape values is too direct an argument, the essence is however, counter objective.
The centre provides a collective image, an image of the whole society and turns it into a unifying factor, which is the most important part in creating the heritage of the society.
Objectivism and counter-objectivism run parallel in a society in a symbiotic relationship. However, the spaces in Old Bhopal and the precinct have lost their links whereas the religious spaces of Moti Masjid serve as the dominant image, as they is still connected to the public and serves as emotional points.
In the same case, the aristocracy of Bhopal was utilizing this identity most intimately, serving as the link between the landscape and the public. They were acting as the physical dynamic. After independence, when the interpretations in the society were transferred to the individuals completely without the presence of the binding units, these spaces turned dismal.
As a result, there is a lost connect and mistrust with those spaces in Old Bhopal, in those religious and heritage precincts that need to be revived. The reason is that they project the image of the aristocracy still, from which the people of Bhopal have alienated themselves. The idea is to re-establish these projections directly in the public domain as the link with the lake. Then only a timeless pattern respectable in the public domain of the Old City of Bhopal will be generated.
Present Day Morphology of Iqbal Maidan: An Analysis
“What strikes me is the fact that in our society, art has become something which is related only to objects and not to individuals or to life. But could not everyone’s life become a work of art?” – Dreyfus and Rainbow, 1982:237 (Fontana-Giusti, G., 2013. Foucault for Architects. 1st ed. Oxon: Routledge. )
The aristocracy of Bhopal was utilizing this identity most intimately, serving as the link between the landscape and the public. They were acting as the physical dynamic. After independence, when the interpretations in the society were transferred to the individuals completely without the presence of the binding units, these spaces turned dismal. However, the spaces in Old Bhopal and the precinct have lost their links whereas the religious spaces such as Moti Masjid that serve as the dominant image, are still connected to the public and serve as an emotional point. As a result, there is a loss of connect and mistrust between religious and heritage spaces in Old Bhopal, in those religious and heritage precincts that need to be revived. The reason is that they project the image of the aristocracy still, from which the people of Bhopal have alienated themselves. The idea is to re-establish these projections directly in the public domain as the link with the lake. Then only a timeless pattern respectable in the public domain of the Old City of Bhopal will be generated.
Having analyzed the history with the lenses of Alexander’s, Lynch’s and Jacobs’ theories, rather than going by the time frame and usual political, economic or other impact points, the idea, now, is to co-relate these frame of references through the afore mentioned tools.
“This analogy between different maps and different sources of knowledge seems to be very useful. We have developed it more fully in this scenario, in order to make the point that we need scientific pluralism — the recognition that there are many independent forms and sources of knowledge — rather than, reductivism, the conviction that one fundamental form underlies them all and settles everything.”
Macro level
Land use or Building use
Land Use is mainly classified into residential and non-residential. Residential dominated areas desire open/recreation spaces or buildings for public use. Non-residential plots prefer commercial spaces or active playscapes. Old Bhopal has a mixed-use economy with majority F.A.R. under residential use. Thus, recreation spaces or public use buildings in the environment are preferable.
Streets have always been a fundamental object of analysis for urban morphologists. The space syntax approach is one of the most notable examples of this reliance on streets as a way of understanding the physical form and structure of cities. The focus of space syntax on a single element of urban form is generally accompanied by a reliance on one assessment criterion. This criterion is accessibility, understood not in metric terms but topologically and geometrically
The accessibility is analyzed with the help of two factors-connectivity and integration.
Connectivity measures the number of immediate neighbours that are directly connected to a space. This is a static local measure. More connected the space is, the better functionality it provides. Thus, it serves an important part in the hierarchy of spaces over time. The Iqbal Maidan precinct is the main connecting node of the whole region Bhopal area and it is still having very less connectivity. If developed and the connectivity of the area enhanced, it can serve as a through space improving the imageability of the whole area and reducing the pressure on already densely populated nearby precincts.
Integration is a static global measure. It describes the average visual depth of a space to all other spaces in the system. The spaces of a system can be ranked from the most integrated to the most segregated. Integrating a space enhances the ability to generate intuitive responses of people to the built form and the landscapes, it increases comfort for pedestrians and cultivates on-foot movement through the spaces in focus.
Having analyzed the old Bhopal region as a whole we can conclude that the precinct to work upon to enhance the connectivity and integrity levels of the whole old Bhopal region is Iqbal maidan precinct. But further we need to know about the areas inside the iqbal maidan precinct which we should work upon in detail for the same. So we need a micro level analysis of the Iqbal maidan precinct to understand its strong and weak points.
Micro level
Local connectivity and integration
Taking into account the connectivity patterns of the Iqbal Maidan precinct, we saw that it being the entry gate now for Old Bhopal, immense amount of traffic conglomerates at the roundabout. Traffic from the 3 most prominent nodes namely — the V.I.P. roundabout, Curfew Mata Mandir (Chowk Bazaar), and Chatori Gali enters the Iqbal Maidan precinct and exits through Sadar Manzil precinct. The channel lying between Iqbal Maidan and Moti Mahal and Gohar Mahal is passive with no traffic flow, and is mostly used by car garages that have encroached the heritage buildings. They only reduce the quality of public space around Iqbal Maidan. Thus the roads need to be pedestrianized. The road in front of gate connecting gohar mahal and iqbal maidan is the least connected part of the precinct and should be pedestrianized and included in the iqbal maidan area. To enhance the connectivity of the road from the roundabout to the moti mahal gate we must form a link between iqbal maidan and the opposite precinct (shauqat mahal, Sheesh mahal).
Calculating integrity of the area, we find that the route from the entry till Curfew Mata Mandir has a high level of integrity. In addition, both the roads on either side of Iqbal Maidan and Moti Masjid that run from Chatori Gali till Sadar Manzil have high integrity. This puts the roundabout as an important node and potential image in the design site. The two roads, on the Gohar Mahal side, and in front of Shaukat and Sheesh Mahal need to be pedestrianized to facilitate movement from Chatori Gali, to Sadar Manzil, as well as to harbour end point pedestrians of Chowk Bazaar and the ones coming from outside the old city. Thus through space syntax we collect the roads that need to be pedestrianized.
Isovist: Defining visual connectivity
Isovist space is the total area that can be viewed from a point. Isovist map depicts the areas that are visible from convex spaces or axial lines. The isovist maps help us define the visual connectivity from a point to all other spaces that in turn help us define the points of visual hindrance in a space. They help us determine the imagery dominant in the area and in turn suggest the spaces that need to be worked up for better aesthetic value of the block or street.
The above isovist hierarchy explains, the strongest isovists generated whilst walking in a particular patch of land. The above image shows that Iqbal Maidan provides the clearest and most uninterrupted visuals and imagery to the site. It is hence connected to the most and should be left as an open space and not constructed upon.
The roundabout lies between the next two important isovist (shown in orange and yellow), giving it elemental hierarchy. Thus it has a significant potential to become an emotional point defining the area for pedestrians.
We see that the road between Iqbal Maidan and Gohar Mahal is one of the longest isovists providing an end to end imagery of the region.
The road linking the roundabout to the Sadar Manzil is the defining isovist when coming from V.I.P. road, chatori gali and chowk bazaar, with the roundabout being the node.
This makes it the defining image path of the entire area. When coming from V.I.P., Moti Masjid serves as a landmark.
The statue at the Iqbal Maidan with the bird and the rock hampers the imagery of Moti Masjid from inside the Iqbal Maidan. Moreover the placement of the statue is such that, it is visible only when the person is close to the Maidan periphery.
The comfortable visual angle of a human is 27* but the bird and stone are placed well above that, somewhere around between 50* and 60*. As the statue is the identity/definition to Iqbal Maidan now, hence it needs to be lowered so to put it in comfortable visual angle of a person inside Iqbal Maidan or inside the semi closure of the precinct, i.e. for a person on the road just outside Iqbal Maidan.
The library, as raised to form a stage hinders with the imagery of Moti Mahal by dividing the area and hiding the road behind it. It also hides some significant part of Moti Mahal above its plinth level. As a result the library needs to be lowered.
Axial lines: (defining networks and nodes — derived from isovists.)
Axial space or an axial line is a straight line (“sight line”), possible to follow on foot.
Axial map depicts the least number of axial lines covering all convex spaces of a layout and their connections. The axial line maps help in finding the most suitable networks to be formed in a space to improve the connectivity and integrity of a space. These thus help in determining the direct pathways in remodeling the shapes and directions of spaces according to their weight and desirability and suggest the placement of small modular interventions on the design sight.
The above axial line map represents axis developed due to boundary/edges of Iqbal Maidan (See Figure — ). These are the most desired walkways. The map indicates possible walkways generated just through the elements of Iqbal Maidan.
These axial lines can be the starting axis of development for design conceptualization. Thus the major axis produced from the two maps that need to be considered to generate intuitive responses for the crowd to collect at Iqbal Maidan need to be considered.
Building age
Although a highly debatable topic in assessing level of urbanity possible in an area, age of buildings is one factor that can play a pivotal role. Going by the theory of city imagery, more the number of old buildings, more the image of the environment for the user, hence, this factor can generate emotional value for the end user of the site. However, this can often negate urbanity if it causes restrictions. As the buildings all around Iqbal Maidan are heritage or religious precincts, thus they pose restrictions of remodeling. Not only that, the design of these structures is such that it very delicately connects the lake to Iqbal Maidan via Gohar Mahal and the ghat, boasting the contours at the same time. Hence it is not the historic value that the ‘building age encases but the idea of public space they behold. Therefore, any design should be linked to these building groups in order to generate public pressure points.
For our precinct the dividing boundary is the year 1960 around which the major change in architectural values took place. The building age map marks the significant constructions before and after 1960 for our precinct.
Alignment of buildings
Guidance on the alignment of buildings has usually been a part of urban planning and development tools. However, building alignment and its impact on the quality of the urban environment is not a popular theme. It is suggestive of the axis and nodes formed at a micro level that, in a way, guide the output of the inter-relations formed between the plots and their buildings. If most (more than 50%) buildings facing a block front are aligned in the same way, then the block front is perceived to be suitable for urbanization. This is because due to less negative spaces, such fronts can house and sustain an activity pattern throughout their lengths.
Ratio of building height to street width
This parameter is more experience oriented. This determines the level of feeling of openness or closeness that a person experiences in a space. Ratios of 1:1 or lower give a feeling of open spaces, and thus are passive in activities. They are more suited for recreational purposes. Ratios until 1:3 project a semi-open environment, creating good quality vistas or enclosures. Markets tend to evolve in such environments. Values higher than 1:3 tend to be subjugating and thus activities tend to cease. The lane between Moti Mahal and Iqbal Maidan has a ratio more than 1:3 and thus has null activity. It thus has no purpose in evolvement of the site. The road towards Gohar mahal has a ratio of 1:1.5, favourable for informal markets. The road between Iqbal Maidan and Shaukat Mahal with a ratio of 1:1 can serve as a recreation space.
Block frontage
It is an extremely important tool in determining the level of urbanity of plots. The mean length of a side of a perimeter, called as block frontage, is taken into account. Values <100m have high level of urbanity, 100–200m have intermediate level and >200m have low level of urbanity. This is born out of the notion that small blocks are more transformable, which in turn is based on the fact that the interaction radius of a human being with the environment is 100m. This only suggests the depth to which the intended transformation will reach. Taking Moti Masjid as the historic/religious precinct, Iqbal Maidan is the only plot with high urbanity level and thus can sustain transformations at a faster pace. Gohar Mahal has intermediate level whereas the plot containing Shaukat Mahal has low level of urbanity.
Activity profile and the essence
Iqbal Maidan holds the ground for interaction and leisure necessary for the crowd in or around the precinct. It is the largest open space that is primarily used as a cricket ground. A patch of land is green and meant for people to relax and sleep, away from the noisy environment of chowk bazaar and chatori gali. It is a very subtle and sublime space. One can see people sitting on the porch of moti mahal or the edges of Iqbal Maidan and playing chess. A sugarcane juice vendor operating in the corner for 18hours a day provides fresh beverage for people to enjoy in the intense heat. Fruit vendors lie on the periphery of the ground encroaching the road.
The activities on the Gohar Mahal side are however less desirable. There are a lot of unauthorized motor shops operating on that part. They have encroached the heritage buildings and blocked the roads for commercial purpose. Moreover, they have degraded the hygiene and quality of space thereby decreasing the value of gateway and killing the connection to the ghat which needs to be changed immediately.
Below the stage of the Iqbal Maidan, lies a library where a particular section of the crowd indulges in reading newspapers. However, the library has poor architecture, is ill maintained and the stage provides a hindrance to the imagery of Moti Mahal.
Thus, the library needs to be redesigned and the stage needs to be removed.
There is a bus parking set on the boundary of Iqbal Maidan, opposite Sheesh Mahal. ‘Magic auto’ a popular mode of public transport too has its own stop at the same place. The placement however disrupts traffic and its placement needs to be corrected.
The main imagery inside the Iqbal Maidan is the Khirni tree that gives hierarchy to the ground. Apart from it, a Pipal tree on one edge enhances the image. The crow and stone raised on a column, symbolic of ‘Iqbal the poet’ are at such a height that they do not lie under the comfort angle of pedestrian.n view and hence need to be rethought. A drinking water fountain near the pipal tree outside the Iqbal Maidan is also a prominent object in the environment.
It is sometimes used to hold functions during the time of festivals.
The essence of the sight is the personal interpretations that it beholds, and that the people coming there are attached not to the heritage value but their activities and the ‘maidan’ itself.
Redeveloping the precinct as a public space- A Recommendation
Tracing our steps back to the history of Bhopal, the deepest-rooted pattern is centered on Upper Lake as the focus. So the idea is to revive the lake front of the Ghat. By doing that, we will get the sense of landscape back to the society. The idea should be to bring the society to the ghat through Iqbal Maidan and give the lake’s objectivism back to the society via the same path. Iqbal Maidan is not the intended impact sight but the ghat lying on the side of Gohar mahal.
As much as we prize creativity in cities today, the cultural centers that we’ve built to celebrate it rarely hit the mark. Culture is born out of human interaction; it therefore cannot exist without people around to enjoy, evaluate, remix, and participate in it. The iqbal maidan precinct at the time of begums had a charm of a very prominent public space which has deteriorated with time and connected improper development. The end user needs have not been fulfilled and the essence of a public space has been taken from it completely. A public space that houses such diverse cultural elements has a narrow lane of interaction which once had been the main essence of that area. Various elements of the present construction restrict the visual connectivity and the interaction capability of the iqbal maidan precinct. The deterioration of such a nodal public space affects the development of the precincts nearby as it serves as a to-space at present rather than functioning as a thorough space which would cater to the development of the nearby connected spaces.
“One of the main things to redevelop Iqbal Maidan in a way has been that it retains the dynamism of activities that have been going inside and around it. In a way Iqbal Maidan provided a through space for the development of the adjacent places of historical importance through the establishment of a market dynamo for enhanced pubic interactions and thus reducing the density in the already overcrowded blocks nearby. ” This therefore could ensure the historic revival of the Iqbal Maidan precinct as a prominent public space and create an opportunity for the adjacent spaces to grow in a similar fashion.
The precincts around the Iqbal maidan precincts have degraded to a great extent. The precicnts around can be seen to have been degraded because of privatization of the precincts. The development of the precinct demands the privatization to be removed and should be put into public use. The example is in the same area. The moti masjid precinct is still a developed one as it is for the public and thus has a high footfall. Also the visual connectivity is low. The oveall imageability of the area needs to be enhanced in order to improve the value of the entire area. The nodes need to be established that direct pedestrian flows through Iqbal maidan. The back part of gohar mahal served as a link in the past but is now a broken link which needs to be established again in order to channelize pedestrian flow into the gohar mahal precinct. The ghat area also has a very high significance as it was an ending point of the whole area throughout the history. The link, if established, will serve as a very strong cultural and historical connect of the entire area.
Design Conceptualization
Taking cues from the isovist points, the physical setting and environment has been the basic construct over the landscape and has a profound impact on human emotions.
The idea is to remove visual hindrances in the isovist and create a clear heritage environment which will improve the physical setting of the spaces that are being being utilized. The idea is to preserve the quality of the public space and enhance the imagery in and around iqbal maidan as an important recreational cultural walk by the primary dynamo of architecture.
Taking the primary axis connecting moti masjid, iqbal maidan and sadar manzil via moti mahal, the image on this axis is the most dominant one. As a result the isovists need to be cleared and improved upon. The statue and the library both need to be removed in order to provide a clear span and magnificent imagery.
Now catering to improving the physical value and bringing in the dynamo of chatori gali in front of shaukat and sheesh mahal. According to block frontage patterns, the block containing these buildings cannot be urbanised with a definitive pattern, thus only the block front in front of these buildings needs to be developed in order to revive these as a public space.
Moreover it should act as the link between chatori gali and iqbal maidan, thus facilitating pedestrian movement along the channels. By doing so the crowded shops of the chatori gali and the street vendors in the precinct that encroach the road can be put there. This will create another market dynamics and the two axis on either side of the iqbal maidan will get converted it into a thorough space, active and bustling with activities. This would increase the prominence of iqbal maidan.
Shifting of informal activities to this avenue like the sugarcane juice vendor and other vendors. Also adding sittings on the avenue to create an environment. Using huge pot plants to create a safety barrier and an amicable zone for sitting in the avenue.
The roundabout on the other side, the umbrella, the imagery is preserved, the pedestal is lowered. The boundary is removed, it will thus serve as a new small landmark adaptable to the human scale and sensitive to the human touch thus it has a huge scope of becoming a fast landscape memory that people can relate to. The roundabout lowered is used as a transition to cross the road safely.
One end of the three corners, an arc in the roundabout is left passive is thus extended and pots and sitting are again established there for a more provocative style of sitting and interaction with the public space in that realm. Defining areas of cricket and chess and defining areas for libraries and its expansion and also for movement patterns in IIqbal Maidan.
Placement of library stairs and square polycarbonate textures glass. Now that the Iqbal Maidan and the two axis on either side of it are set parallel, the physical setting improved and the dynamics individually established. The idea is to inter articulate and correlate now. The lane from Gohar Mahal cuts through the Iqbal Maidan and joins the avenue. Thus creating a node in the landscaped area of Iqbal Maidan.
The second axis comes from the gates at the ghat establishing a node in front of it that creates stairs in Iqbal Maidan due to level difference and extending to Shauqat Mahal entrance visually occupying the node on the road. The level of Iqbal Maidan is lowered to bring it to the level of the avenue for increased interaction of people on both sides. This also increases the hierarchy of the Khirni tree.
After the stairs the landscaped area now used for sleeping is used for green cover only, now set in a way that the level increases towards the mango tree highlighting it as a micro node.
Also the edge of the landscaped area shares with the cricket area is raised to create an introvert and passive environment. Also, adding to the linearity and energy of the axis coming from Gohar Mahal.
Introducing a bus and magic stop after a bottle neck still tangential to the Iqbal Maidan for smooth pedestrian flow on the periphery of landscaped area. This increases the value of the node in front of the market. Lastly the idea of lighting the spaces that is not from above but from underneath that highlight spaces from human perspective during night life.
Design in a nutshell
1. Reducing the height of iqbal library. Redesigning the library.
2. Setting up axial line pathways to enhance pedestrian and traffic movement.
3. Taking up the encroached area of iqbal maidan into the road and shifting the road towards iqbal maidan to provide proper space for avenue development.
4. Setting up a market dynamo on the side of encroached garage areas and dead block fronts
5. Setting up an avenue in front of shauqat mahal and sheesh mahal which increases the interaction between the two sides of the road which facilitates growth of the nearby precincts making iqbal maidan the cenral node and a through space.
6. Setting up visual accessibility to all important precincts from all points in iqbal maidan increasing imageability of the area.
Conclusions
1. Use of multiple approaches to analyse the history rather than a chronological approach following major events.
2. Use of a more holistic mechanism of defining areas through multiple theories of city imagery, expansion, townscape elements, mutations, morphology and tools like syntax(place and space) with the conventional methods to get major points in different fields to look at the challenge with multiple views at the same time. This increases the legibility and decreases the chances of design failure in the reality.
3. Defining a path for old bhopal through iqbal maidan, for theupper lake. If the lake had been developed first there would have been a disconnect still because the areas lacked connectivity and integrity. As the lake is end point in destination so it is a to-space. The idea is to develop iqbal maidan as a through space which channelizes the crowd to gohar mahal, its ghat and sadar manzil, thereby converting them to public spaces over the years. This slowly but effectively builds up the ghat as an eminent public space with respect to the culture and its interpretation of the landscape in focus.
4. Pause and play in iqbal maidan. Reviving the iqbal maidan by adding dynamic market features at its parallel ends.
5. Redefining the reading experience in the underground library.
References
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