कोख.. A Journey Within, Ayodhya

कोख- A Journey Within, Ayodhya

कोख- A Journey Within, Ayodhya - an experiential museum. It is completely based on his personal thoughts and understanding of the context.

Chauhan likes to call it a place of memory, because it is memories that create an image of a place and give it an identity. These memories are usually associated with experiences which we come across daily in our journey (of life). It is the journey that this young architect is trying to re-create for a city which has endured malice to a great extent. He believes that good architecture has the power to bring about change that will help us heal and recover from a disturbing past. He wants to take the spirit of this space above and beyond all divisions which create a rift among humans.

Our thoughts are so much embedded in our culture and our culture in our religion that we have become one big country of God-fearing men and women with little consideration for the human race. Jay's initial concepts for the proposal are associated with the theory of 'Universality'. It speaks of an existence where every individual is an equal. He seeks to create an experiential space that will transform the rigid feelings into more unseen, unbound energies of nature. He has used architecture as a narrator, which makes you dwell in the past and gives hopes for the future; hence making you question your present.

The approach to design originates from the architects' fundamental thought that," for a place that has seen severe brutality over a built mass, the solution can be found in the "unbuilt". Therefore, everything has been proposed underground with only the national tricolour ruling the landscape amidst the trees and vast open gardens.

The architect literally takes you inside the earth, an allegory for going back into the mother's womb and being born again just like everyone actually does i.e. without any prejudices. This time more like the children of Bharat Mata.

The design scheme is a blend of memorial and museum. Memorial because it aims to remind us of the brutality associated with the place and museum; for it strives to enlighten and inspire us to be more compassionate every day.

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