First Award | Landscape Design (Concept)
Firm Name: Messoa
Participant Name: Vinod CP
Team Member: Vinod CP Hisham Meera Gokul
Country: India
There are only two Hindu Triad (Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva) temple congregations in the world- Varanasi and Thirunavaya. Sacred River Ganga flows through Varanasi and the river binds man, nature and cultural ethos. Varanasi is known throughout India and the temples are visited by pilgrims all over the world.
The next Triad congregation occurs at Thirunavaya, and the temples are located on the banks of river Nila which is called Dhakshin Ganga (Ganges of South India). Region was the capital of ancient Kerala. Though the region is equivalent to Varanasi, the space suffers lack of spirit and has not transformed over ages. There are many reasons for this.
The primary focal element here is Navamukunda Temple (Vishnu temple), which is situated in the Northern Bank. The temple seems best known for the Pithru Dharpanam (oblation to manes) rituals held there on NewMoon day (Amavasi). Even though the region is favoured for Triad congregation, because of poor connectivity, it is not accessible for pilgrims. A devotee gets a complete blessing only if they visit all three temples, which do not happen here.
Design tries to establish connectivity between the opposite banks in an eco friendly manner that enhances the endangered riparian zone of the river. Tries to create spaces that bring spiritual thoughts in the minds of devotees. The story of Markandeya (the soul rescued by Trinity from death) is recreated in the walkway only using natural trees and elements using Arbo architecture. The connectivity is established by TRICONE module made of bamboo. The modules are joined together in the rainy season to form a harbour and boats will be used for connectivity. The same module is dismantled in summer to form floating bridges. The modules will also connect several sand ridges to create meditation and interesting yoga spaces amidst the river.
TRICON comprises pyramid/triangle truss-elements formed by individually buoyant, bamboo truss members with lower specific weight than water, which are interconnected through fixed and/or articulated jointing systems, that facilitate fast easy and safe assembly -disassembly of individual truss members , without disturbing near-by members or the complete truss structure system, even inside the water.
TRICON is truly unsinkable because most of its members cannot be flooded to lose buoyancy and in any case, because very large number of truss-members must lose their buoyancy at the same time for any risk of sinking, and it is truly stable-unaffected from waves since they have small and fast buoyancy -thrust effects on members, as millions of micro-forces are created by molecules hitting-pushing on truss- member surfaces, haphazardly in millions of different directions that cancel each other out over the total UNFLOP area, and there cannot be any large enough force to influence inertia.
Devotees after visiting the temples, reach back to Mamankam heritage spots, were exhibition of traditional crafts and remains of Mamankam will be held which can bring back lost glory of the space. The intervention transforms the region over ages and uplifts this sacred place to the level of Varanasi.
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