Making Of A Capitol Complex (Page 1)

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At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation long suppressed, finds utterance.

India did get freedom that moment on...Freedom of being, freedom of believing, freedom to express, freedom to speech, freedom to decide, freedom to design, freedom to possess, freedom to choose, freedom to communicate, freedom to information, freedom to act, and all in all, freedom to all. These being the charter for free India, as a democratic nation, independent of all, she moved forward in many ways.

When needed in the follow up times, creating a seat for the government of a newly born state, such as of chhattisgarh has been a logical action in the direction of freedom of being. Through the physical manifestation of form and spirit, the new Capitol of Chhattisgarh that shall symbolise the ethos and aspirations of the people it represents, should be another welcome step towards the final goal of creating one's own independent identity.

While establishing the new capitol for the young state of Chhattisgarh at Naya Raipur, we as designers are not only obliged but also are mandated to journey beyond the apparent. Physically, culturally, historically and emotionally, one is thus inclined to have an intense and deeper understanding of the people's desires and expectations, their aspirations and antecedents. This way, it is to benefit the society for whose welfare the new Capitol Complex is Coming up.

In the year 2000, because of the Socio-political exigencies, Chhattisgarh was carved out as a new state from the then original state of Madhya Pradesh. Since Bhopal continued to function as the exclusive Capital of truncated Madhya Pradesh independently (unlike Chandigarh, which is a seat of two state governments), Chhattisgarh became a state without a capital. It desperately wanted its own seat for the government to function and operate effectively. Besides establishing a new complex for the government, it would surely become a value addition to the hopes and aspirations of the people of the place.

After following the due process of architectural competition,
based on the accepted professional norms, our design submission for the master plan covering over 108ha of land designated to the capitol complex in the city of Naya Raipur, having been further substantiated with its architectural make up and building typologies; was finally endorsed for implementation. The brief given by the government of Chhattisgarh prioritised the sequence of events for implementation. This was fine tuned on further working.

(Continues...)

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