vapi
a workshop on the design of a memorial for gandhi led us to dandi this weekend. shirish, paul and me in my santro last friday early in the morning, past the incredibly polluted vapi and landing at the agriculrutal institute at 9 in the morning. immediately whisked off in a van to see dharasana- the place where much of the actual satyagraha took place- and the place where salt was actually being manufactures. dandi, on the other hand, is mainly a place for wetlands and shrimp farms. a memorial marks the spot in in temple form and on the edge of the settlement barren flatlands of salt pans. nearby a police station/prison now abandoned- almost. later we find our way through a coastal road to dandi where we assemble at saifee villa through which the salt march ended, overlooking the large wetlands that lead to the sea where the actual act took place. today the building is a carefully restored museum. the memorial is to be part of a large complex that sees dandi as a tourist / pilgrim destination. modern day satyagrahis are seen walking the same route or at least bicycling it from samarmati to dandi, living in the same places gandhi lived with his 80 followers. we walked through saifee villa, crossed the new embankments and bridges all the way through to the barren lands that separate the babul tree forest that runs along the ocean, thorugh the thorny babul trees to the sea. later in the evening discussion revolved around the nature of the memorial to be created. about form and context and the responsibility of the project to the local community, to the landscape and to the memory of gandhi himself. what can a building say/do? with its language, scale, references to be able to evoke and remind. the discussions continued over the next day and are to continue further over the next few months.
satyagraha memorial at dharasana
salt pans at dharasana
a workshop on the design of a memorial for gandhi led us to dandi this weekend. shirish, paul and me in my santro last friday early in the morning, past the incredibly polluted vapi and landing at the agriculrutal institute at 9 in the morning. immediately whisked off in a van to see dharasana- the place where much of the actual satyagraha took place- and the place where salt was actually being manufactures. dandi, on the other hand, is mainly a place for wetlands and shrimp farms. a memorial marks the spot in in temple form and on the edge of the settlement barren flatlands of salt pans. nearby a police station/prison now abandoned- almost. later we find our way through a coastal road to dandi where we assemble at saifee villa through which the salt march ended, overlooking the large wetlands that lead to the sea where the actual act took place. today the building is a carefully restored museum. the memorial is to be part of a large complex that sees dandi as a tourist / pilgrim destination. modern day satyagrahis are seen walking the same route or at least bicycling it from samarmati to dandi, living in the same places gandhi lived with his 80 followers. we walked through saifee villa, crossed the new embankments and bridges all the way through to the barren lands that separate the babul tree forest that runs along the ocean, thorugh the thorny babul trees to the sea. later in the evening discussion revolved around the nature of the memorial to be created. about form and context and the responsibility of the project to the local community, to the landscape and to the memory of gandhi himself. what can a building say/do? with its language, scale, references to be able to evoke and remind. the discussions continued over the next day and are to continue further over the next few months.
3 comments:
very interesting rohan.
Hi Rohan,
Am I correct in thinking that salt farming is no longer happening in dharasana?
no, it is happening.
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