draft thesis book_prital shukla

8/8/2019 Draft Thesis Book_Prital Shukla

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THE NOMADIC EDGE_Knowledge that changes with time......

Prital Shukla

Pratt Institute School of Architecture

Thesis project booklet submission

Professors_Elliot Maltby and Jason V. Beane

Course Number_

Date_01/18/2010


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THE NOMADIC EDGE_Knowledge that changes with time......

Prital Shukla

Pratt Institute School of Architecture

Received and approved_

Thesis Advisor_ Date_


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Table of contents

Chapter_1_Thesis Manifesto

_RESPONSIVETowards the Ghost Cities of Future

_CRITIC to Green Wall Sahara

_Introduction to SAHARA Lost in the dunes

Chapter_2_Shifting desert edge

_AERIAL MATRIXDesert town / settlements

_Closer Eye on desert city - TIMBUKTU

Chapter_3_Timeless Timbuktu-A Mystical City

_EMPIRES and Kings

_TRANS SAHARATrade

_ Hidden Treasures-MANUSCRIPTS

_ Timbuktu LIBRARIES vs MUSLIM World

_TOUAREG Nomads local citizens

Chapter_4_Concrete poetry for Non-Concrete Landscape

_ Inspiration - Maya Lins Art Philosophy

_ PROGRAMMATIC interventions

Chapter_5_Strategy to deal with sand

_ Existing measures to stop the SAND

_OPERATIVE THEME

Chapter_6_Conceptual design approach

Chapter_7_Design Development

Chapter_8_Final Review

Chapter_9_Bibliography

_ Refrenced Citations

1-3

4-8

9-16

17-20

21-24

25-40

40-50

50-60

61-63


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Chapter_1_Thesis Manifesto_RESPONSIVE

1. SHIFTING sand_Dry areas cover more than 1/3rd of Earths land surfaces. It seri-

ously threatens the livelihood of millions of people especially in Africa and China. The

Sahara is most closely associated with the phenomenon of desertication. The Sahara

has been moving southwards at a rate of almost one square kilometer a year, consuming

villages and wiping out agricultural lands.

In our exhilarated media culture, desertication is simply to slow to hit the headlines.

Yet it remains a major threat to all continents, affecting 110 countries and about 70% of

worlds agricultural dry lands. The Desert as a whole may or may not be expanding, butno one doubts that localized areas of desertication do exist, almost all human-induced,

especially along the Sahara's southern fringes. In fact, the United Nations has recently

encouraged changing the denition of desertication from "spreading of a desert" to

"arid land degradation," to take account of new thinking. As vegetation is stripped from

the land, the surface dries out and reects more of the sun's heat. This condition in turn

alters the thermal dynamics of the atmosphere in ways that suppress rainfall. Increased

dust (itself a product of desertication) or other atmospheric pollutants are causing

changes in the climate.

However, skeptics about desertication do exist. A 1998 study reported in the journalScience disputed what it called "the popular belief" that the Sahara was growing south-

ward. The study did acknowledge that "land degradation proves to be a problem in this

area, reecting the more localized effects of grazing and foraging for fuel," but it claimed

to have established that, overall, the shifting desert boundaries were not, in fact, human-

induced but were caused by the natural ups and downs of rainfall. The study also main-

tained that while the natural climate has shifted the desert's edge, there was no change

in the total amount of vegetation. Desertication, in this view, was a small, and altogether

localized, phenomenon. A Ph.D. dissertation by Ahmed Mokhtar Brere on the application

of Landsat imagery to monitor dune movements in the Sahara found plenty of move-

ment but huge sign of spread.

2.Threat as an ANCHOR towards solution_Problematic stand to be utilized in a

favorable manner such that the cause itself becomes the anchor in addressing the threat.

The aim is to approach this with an acceptance with the problem and then work with it

rather than running away from it or stopping it in someway.

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3. CHANCE to CHANGE_Attempt to alter and deviate the phenomenon in a tact-

ful way by reducing the negativity of destructive expansion over the period. The intent is

to establish a very subtle architectural inter-phase between the ever expanding cities &

moving sand dunes such that the architecture interlopes within the sand envelope con-

trolling the shifting borders / edges both ways.

4. FORM (nature) follows architecture vs ARCHITECTURE ows form (nature)_

Material world is in constant ux due to change in the behavioral patterns observed in

nature. Change in movement of ecological system in turn should change the moment of

architecture on Earth.

5. ANTI-GREEN WALL_ In an effort to subdue the advancing Sahara Desert

and lessen drought in Africa, the Great Green Wall will consist of a band of trees over

4,000 miles long and nine miles wide. From Dakar to Djibouti, the luscious living wall

will sprout through 11 countries in the Sahelo-Saharan region of Africa. It suffers from

climate change, which results in severe drought and desertication. The wall of 37 rec-

ommended drought-tolerant native plant species aims to slow soil erosion; slow windspeeds and enables more rainwater to be absorbed by the ground. Desertication along

with mono cropping and overgrazing has led to a tremendous degradation of agricultural

lands in northern Africa. As crops fail, rural villages are forced to move their families to

urban areas in order to survive. Recognizing the need for preventative action to ward

off these recurring issues, the African Union has backed the Great Green Wall initiative.

Plans for the wall initially began ve years ago, but due to nancial shortcomings and

concern about the trees maintenance and longevity, the project has been on hold since.

However, with recent nancial support from the Global Environment Facility who has

committed to $119 million, the plan is closer to becoming a reality.

Fig_01_Skematic representation of Great Green Wall Sahara stretching from Senegal to Djibouti

2

I have a critical approach towards Pan-Africas GREEN WALL SAHARA since its geo-

graphical location of Sahara doesnt allow easy growth of vegetation on its dry arid land

surface and also the local poor inhabitants chop those down trees for rework used in

cooking.


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INTRODUCTION_Sahara Deset / Sahel

Lost in the DUNES

IN A GEOGRAPHERS EYE_ The Sahara, with a size of 8.6 million km, is the worlds

largest desert, covering large parts of North Africa. Around 4 million people live here. Its

maximum length is 4,800 km, running from west to east, and up to 1,200 km from north

to south. Sahara covers most of Mauritania, Western Sahara, Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Sudan,Chad, Niger and Mali, and touches Morocco and Tunisia. To the north, Sahara is bordered

by the Atlas Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea; in the west by the Atlantic Ocean; in

the south, the desert zone reaches 16 northern latitude; in the east it is bordered by

the Nile.

SAND AND WIND_Over 25 percentof the Saharas surface is covered by sand

sheets and dunes. Serious wind-related

hazards are very common in arid and

semi-arid areas like Sahara. Duststorms,

migrating dunes and blowing sand haveresulted into blurring the city edges and

vanishing them over the period of time.

Fig_03_Source_Behind Scanned from book_Deserts, The encroaching wilderness, Ahead graphics_Prital

The Sahara Desert covers an area roughly to that of United States.

time. Building fences provide solution to some degree but eventually these too get traped with

sand. The attening of moving dunes ia a temporary solution, but the at surface soon becomes

unstable and dunes redevlop. The most effective and permanent method of stabilization is to

plant vegetation. However, in areas where water is scare, vegetation cover is very difcult to

sustain.

3

Railway Oasis Desert towns / settlementsRiver

Fig_02_Extent of Sahara Desert within African Continent


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Chapter_2_Shifting Desert EDGE

Moving sand dunes are an example of granular ow--a poorly understood branch of

physics. Physicists have long had neat mathematical equations that fully describe the

behavior of solids like bricks, liquids like water, and gases like air. But granular materials

like sand dunes dont quite t in any of those categories. Due to such complex behaviour

of sand, there has not been any correct answer till date to deal with the shifting sand

dunes during sand storms. This has led to forced migration for million of people espe-

cially in northern Africa. At the same time, the cities are expanding and encroaching over

these dunes inorder to overcome the need of growth and extension over the period of

time......

Fig_05_Sand dunes advancing on Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania

Fig_04_Migration Map_01 March 1999

National Geographic Journal_Vol.172_April

By 2099 the world is expected to be on average

between 1.8 and 4c hotter than it is now. Large

areas are expected to become drierthe pro-

portion of land in constant drought expected to

increase from 2 percent to 10 percent by 2050.

Meanwhile, the proportion of land suffering ex-

treme drought is predicted to increase from 1

percent at present to 30 percent by the end of the

21st century. Rainfall patterns will change as the

hydrological cycle becomes more intense. Changed

rainfall patterns and a more intense hydrologi-cal cycle mean that extreme weather events such

as droughts, storms and oods are expected to

become increasingly frequent and severe. Less rain

would have particularly serious impacts for sub-

Saharan Africanagriculture which is largely rain-fed.


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AERIAL MATRIX_Desert Towns / Settlements

TIMBUKTU

NOUAKCHOTT

IN SALAH

GHARDIA

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Fig_06_Aerial Shot images fro Google Earth


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AERIAL MATRIX_Desert Towns / Settlements

AL KOUFRAH

KHARTOUM

EL GOLEA

KAYES

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Fig_07_Aerial Shot images fro Google Earth


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Closer Eye on Desert City_TIMBUKTU

Timbuktu (French, Tombouctou) was established as a market town in about the 11th

century. Its location was admirably suited to serve the needs of the shing and agricul-

tural communities on the middle Niger as well as caravans from across the Sahara. Thetown increased in importance during the 14th century, when it was part of the ancient

kingdom of Mali. Mansa Musa, emperor of Mali, enlarged its mosques, encouraged the

establishment of an Islamic school, and enhanced Timbuktu's stature as a repository of

Muslim culture. The town reached its peak of prosperity during the heyday of the Song-

hai Empire (15th16th centuries). A major caravan center, it was a market for gold, slaves,

and salt. Chroniclers and religious divines mingled in its bazaar with merchants from

North Africa and the sub-Saharan regions of modern Ghana and Nigeria.

The West African city of Timbuktu ourished as a center for Islamic scholarship from the

fourteenth through the sixteenth centuries. The social structure of the city was based

on wealth, with further stratication by degree of literacy and expertise in interpretingIslamic legal texts. As a consequence, books and libraries evolved into blessed symbols

of scholarship, wealth, and power. This essay explores the history of books and libraries

during the Golden Age of Timbuktu (1493-1591), followed by a discussion of the diver-

gence of library practices in Timbuktu from those in the greater Islamic world of the

time.

In Timbuktu, literacy and books transcended scholarly value and symbolized wealth,

power, and baraka (blessings) as well as an efcient means of transmitting information.

The creation and importation of books was a predominant concern for the literati of

Timbuktu. Strangers from distant lands were feted like royalty in the hopes that scholarscould gain access to the visitors books and copy them. Furthermore, the pious, scholarly

society in Timbuktu acknowledged few outlets for displaying wealth, most notably, ex-

panding ones business, building or refurbishing mosques, patronizing scholars, furnishing

ones home, and purchasing and collecting books. In the historical chronicles of Timbuktu,

the acquisition of books is mentioned more often than any other display of wealth,

including the building and refurbishment of mosques. While the number of mosques was

nite, the number of books , was not, leaving books as a continual means for spending

wealth. Moreover, the scholars were avid bibliophiles, searching for and clamoring to pos-

sess (or compose) great scholarly works.

The importation of books into Timbuktu was brisk and highly regarded. Leo Africanus,a sixteenth-century traveler to Timbuktu, observed: Here are great stores of doctors,

judges, priests, and other learned men, that are bountifully maintained at the kings cost

and charges. And hither are brought diuers manuscripts or written bookes out of Bar-

barie, which are sold for more money than any other merchandize.(FN6) On any list of

principal trade items, paper and books are usually noted. Books from the general body of

Islamic knowledge were common, but as in all Muslim societies the Quran was the most

common and most revered book available.


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AREA_ 1,240,192 km

POPULATION_ 11,351,000 (2007)TOWNS_Bamako_1,016,167

Sikasso_1,780,042

Segou_1,679,201

Koulikoro_1,565,838

Mopti_1,475,274

Kayes_1,372,019

Timbuktu_461,956

Gao_397,516

Kidal_42,479

Fig_08_Google Earth Images showing part of uneven Timbuktu City edge.

CAPITAL_ Bamako

INDUSTRIES_AgricultureFishing

Mining

Electric Energy generation

TRANSPORTATION_Railway

Roadway

Airway

The wealth of the city of Timbuktu, the piety of its rulers, its position at the centre of

Africa's trade routes: these factors encouraged scholars to settle in Timbuktu, bringing

their books with them, and then to draw in more books from North Africa and Egypt.

With such a ready market for books, Timbuktu became not only an importer of books,

but also a place where books were written and copied: texts on theology and law,

studies of the Arabic language, learned Qur'anic study and pious poetry in praise of theprophet were not only written in huge numbers but also, astonishingly, survive.

The main material of construction in Timbuktu is mud brick, although stone is used for

strengthening the walls and in important places such as doorways. The houses of Tim-

buktu are either single-storey or two-storey courtyard houses. The two-storey houses

tend to be more elaborate and are mostly conned to the Sanegungu quarter inhabited

by the chief merchants. From the outside the houses are generally quite plain with shal-

low square buttresses dividing the wall into panels. The doorways are fairly simple with

wooden doors decorated with Moroccan brass motifs.


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Chapter_3_Timeless TIMBUKTU-A Mystical City

Salt comes from the north, gold from the south, and silver from the country of the white men,

but the word of God and the treasures of wisdom are only to be found in Timbuctoo.

_Sudanese proverb

To many Western minds the name Timbuktu connotes a far-ung, perhaps imaginary

locale of indeterminate origin, employable in poetry and colorful expressions. Established

on the rim of the Sahara Desert, it was bounded by several great West African empires.

Timbuktu ourished as an autonomous center of trade, commerce, and scholarship and

was ruled by Islamic judges and scholars who wielded the book and the pen as instru-

ments of supreme power. Only the most learned could rule, and books and libraries

were the source of the requisite erudition the scholars clamored to attain. In this envi-

ronment books and book collections became invaluable tools that dened the lives and

aspirations of Timbuktus elite.

EMPIRES AND KINGS

GHANA_7th to 11th century

The Empire of Ghana is the earliest known empire in the Western Sudan. It is believed

that they had large armies, sophisticated systems of governance, and systems of taxation.Decline_ The King of Ghana lost his trade monopoly as gold trade routes began to

change and other kingdoms began to mine gold in places not readily accessible to Ghana.

Fig_09_Map showing the most important Trans Saharan trade routes till 14th century


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MALI_12th to 15th century

The Empire of Mali came into power as the Empire of Ghana was declining. Like Ghana,

it controlled the gold trade, but it also controlled the salt trade. The city of Timbuktu

was a central spot on the trade routes and one of the most important places in medieval

Africa.

SONGHAY_16th to 17th century

The people who made up the Songhai Empire in the 15th century A.D. actually started as

shermen and canoeists in the 9th century, and formed a kingdom in the 11th century.

They lived in an area claimed by the Mali Empire during Malis reign, but Mali never man-

aged to have control over them.

TRANS SAHARA TRADE

The Saharan trade extended from the Sub-Saharan West African kingdoms across the

Sahara desert to Europe. The Saharan Trade linked such African empires as Ghana, Mali,

and Songhay to the European world. Traveling from well to well, merchants transported

the products of West Africa--gold, ivory, salt, and slaves--to the northern reaches of the

continent, where they would exchange them for glass, ceramics, and precious stones

brought to North Africa from the wider Mediterranean world. It was the control of this

trans-Saharan trade that fueled medieval West Africas greatest empires. The rise of the

Ghana Empire, centered on what is now southern Mauritania, paralleled the increase

in trans-Saharan trade. Mediterranean economies were short of gold but could supply

salt, taken by places like the African salt mine of Taghaza, whereas West African coun-

tries like Wangara had plenty of gold but needed salt. The trans-Saharan slave trade was

also important because large numbers of Africans were sent north, generally to serve as

domestic servants or slave concubines. The West African states imported highly trainedslave soldiers. It has been estimated that from the 10th to the 19th century some 6,000

to 7,000 slaves were transported north each year.

Fig_10_West African commodities such as ivory, god, salt, and slaves were shipped north in exchange for ceram-

ics and semiprecious stones brought in from the wider Mediterranean world. Dotted lines on larger image indicate

caravan routes.


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Fig_11_More than 700,000 ancient manuscripts have been

rescued from deterioration in Timbuktu, Mali, and surrounding

desert areas.

Fig_12_Abdel Kader Hadara, one of Timbuktus leading

manuscript experts, spent long hours at his fathers side,

reading the familys manuscripts and learning how to

care for them. Abdel Kader opened the citys rst private

archive, the Mamma Hadara Memorial Library, in 1998.

HIDDEN TREASURES_RECAPTURING WISDOM AND HISTORY

The fragile manuscripts, found in Timbuktu and surrounding desert areas, are being translated,

studied, catalogued and preserved with support from the Ford Foundation and several other

organizations, universities and individuals. These manuscripts are possesed by the local fami-lies and descendants of ancient scholars who have held the manuscripts for generationsand

international institutions. The time-worn pages are wrapped in leather and wood covers, some

adorned with intricate engravings or elaborate calligraphy. They document a range of subjects

from medicine, mathematics and astronomy, to Islamic law, sermons, music, art and architecture.

NOMADIC PEOPLE

The Tuareg, Fulani, Arabs and Songhai are the main groups that shaped the history of Timbuktu.

These groups intermarried and worked together as one united Islamic family. The Tuaregs are

nomadic people and desert dwellers. They, however, lived among the Berbers before crossing the

Sahara and settling in West Africa. They are the founders of the city of Timbuktu. They contrib-uted scholarly and commercially to the legacy of Timbuktu. The Fulani are nomadic people.

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Landscapes

Literature

Cityscape Local Nomads

Mud Mosque

Manuscripts

Cooking Kilns

The Fulani, the Tuareg and Arabs have been instrumental in spreading Islam in West Afri-

ca. The Songhai people are sedentary people unlike the tuareg, fulani and Arabs. They are

farmers and shermen. They are the founders of the Songhai Empire and have brought

a lot of prosperity, prestige and reputation to the black people . They are good Muslims

and have spread Islam in West Africa. They are generous, noble, hardworking, excellent

and courageous warriors. They are excellent planner and organizers. The Songhai Empirewas one of the most democratic social entities of its time. The Empire was well managed

politically and economically.

Today, the city continues to attract visitors from away lands. Timbuktu is the city of light,

the city of knowledge...it is the city of trade and the city of hospitality. Indeed, travelers

have said that Timbuktu is the Rome of the Sudan, the Athena of Africa and the Mecca of

the Sahara.


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Salt comes from the north, gold from the south, and silver from the country of the white men,

but the word of God and the treasures of wisdom are only to be found in Timbuctoo.

_Sudanese proverb

To many Western minds the name Timbuktu connotes a far-ung, perhaps imaginary

locale of indeterminate origin, employable in poetry and colorful expressions. Establishedon the rim of the Sahara Desert, it was bounded by several great West African empires.

Timbuktu ourished as an autonomous center of trade, commerce, and scholarship and

was ruled by Islamic judges and scholars who wielded the book and the pen as instru-

ments of supreme power. Only the most learned could rule, and books and libraries

were the source of the requisite erudition the scholars clamored to attain. In this envi-

ronment books and book collections became invaluable tools that dened the lives and

aspirations of Timbuktus elite.

Libraries in Timbuktu Vs Greater Muslim World

As Timbuktu reached the height of its Golden Age, the major centers of the Muslimworld were developing some of the largest and most diverse public library collections

of the medieval period. The majority of Muslim libraries maintained a tradition of open

access to scholars from around the world. Besides the freedom to use and liberal loan of

books, libraries provided free supply of stationery and gave general permission for copy-

ing out books. Needy students were supplied, free of cost, copies made by the library

copyists, and pecuniary help was given to the poor and deserving students working in

libraries. Virtually every mosque possessed a library of some size within its connes or

nearby. Many larger mosques held multiple libraries, particularly those with afliated

colleges.

Interestingly, there is no evidence of the existence of open-access public libraries in me-

dieval Timbuktu. On the contrary, the libraries of Timbuktu all seem to have been private

collections of individual scholars or families. This dichotomy with the greater Islamic

world raises many questions. Traditionally, a library waqf paid for new book purchases,

stationery, a librarians salary, and in some cases lodging for students as well as other

expenses. The institution of waqf was not deeply imbedded in Sudanese society, yet the

concept was not foreign in Timbuktu and the Songhai Empire. Certainly, the historical

chronicles would have mentioned them since they mention the underwriting of single

manuscripts. The preferred form of patronage appears to have been bolstering the book

collections of individual scholars rather than establishing public libraries. Timbuktus

history and societal structure hold the answer to the rationale favoring private overpublic libraries. The very remoteness of Timbuktu, especially early on in its develop-

ment, contributed to the staunch private library tradition. The austere displays of wealth

permitted in the close-knit pious community and the inability to acquire new books on

demand created an environment of acute bibliophilism. Despite their eventual broader

contact with the greater Islamic world, the literati of Timbuktu held fast to the private

library tradition of their forefathers.

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Ironically, further support of private libraries in Timbuktu likely stemmed from the ex-

posure of its scholars to public libraries and librarians abroad. Historically, only scholars

of esteem had been appointed as librarians of mosque libraries, and the position was

held in high regard. The most compelling argument against public libraries in Timbuktu

stems from a social structure that simply made them unnecessary. In various parts of the

Islamic world waqfs and other instruments of social equity allowed students of modestmeans to climb the social and scholarly ladder of achievement. This environment of col-

legiality, combined with the mitigating social factors and biases argued above, allowed the

scholars of Timbuktu to hold to their traditions, ignoring the public library model of the

greater Islamic world.

This essay has brought together the known sources that describe various aspects of the

book culture of Timbuktu. Undoubtedly, more documents will arise that will assist in

researching this topic and facilitate completing the picture of Timbuktus bibliophiles and

their unique contributions to African and Islamic history.


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This text was written to train

scholars in the eld of astrono-

my, a science that Islamic tradi-tion traces back to Adam and

to the Prophet Idris. The author

discusses how to use the move-

ments of the stars to calculate

the beginning of the seasons

and how to cast horoscopes,

among many other aspects of

astronomy. Displayed is a dia-

gram demonstrating the rotation

of the heavens.

Structure of the

Heavens

The author of this poem is in-

structing students of Islamic law

about the rights of orphans and

married women. Verse is used as

an aid to the student's memory.

A Poem on Islamic

Law

The Law of Inheri-

tance

Islamic inheritance law is a highly

regulated system in which indi-

viduals receive legacies depending

upon their degree of relationshipto the deceased. This work ex-

plains that system and elaborates

upon its basis in the Koran.


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This volume delineates the obli-

gations of parties to commercial

exchanges and contracts. The

author focuses on sales and how

individuals loaning money are

to be protected in commercial

transactions. Verse is used to aid

in memorizing the text.

Laws of Commerce

in Verse

The author discusses slavery

as it existed in West Africa

during the seventeenth cen-

tury. The examination of the

subject is based on Islamic

law and the author notes

that the fundamental and

original nature of humanity

is that individuals are free.They may be enslaved only

under certain very specic

conditions governed by Is-

lamic law.

The Law of Slav-

ery

Philosophical Ex-

change

The author of this work exam-

ines the approach to various

issues in Islamic law and society

by theologians and scholars and

offers an explanation of the pro-

nouncements of these learned

individuals.


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Chapter_4_Concrete poetry for NON-concrete LAND-SCAPE

I feel I exist on the boundaries. Somewhere between science and art, art and architecture,

public and private, east and west. I am always trying to nd a balance between these op-

posing forces, nding the place where opposites meet. Water out of stone, glass that ows

like water, the uidity of a rock, stopping time. Existing not on either side, but on the line

that divides. And that line takes on a dimensionality. It takes on a sense of place and shape.

_Maya Lin

Her writing is lucid and rather restrained, allowing the readers impressions and emo-

tions to arise from Lins simple observations and descriptions. For each work, she dis-

cusses the process of creating, the diligent scholarship that she immerses herself in with

each new commission, and her desire to create something universal, and at the same

time specic to each viewer. She contemplates the passing of time, while, by joining the

viewer with something from the past- allowing them to see their reection in a work,

letting water run over a work so the viewers touch alters its aspect- time is manipulated

and the viewer is joined to a past event. Its these dualities that make her work so vital,

and they are perfectly expressed through her sensitive writing.

I do not want to see architecture as a dividing line between inside and outside. InsteadI would like to create a uid transition between a building and its land, so that one

would always feel connected to the land. I am not necessarily interested in recreating

nature through inclined sloping surfaces, but rather giving the viewer an unexpected

lens, through the lens of technology (i.e. using strategic location of the architectural edge

interplaying with the ecological behavior of sand encroachment) which would be expe-

rienced exclusively both in outdoors and indoors. I am trying an attempt to bring the

land into connes of interior space b y dissecting the landscapes into sections that could

be passed through in a series of continuous patterns. I believe, architecture is not about

walls that contain space. It is about how people interact with light, sound, air, and

materials.

By using minimal forms and by manipulation of the scale, I want to rene the landscape

into something that can be experienced indoors. The Viewers would be connected to the

landscape through unique vantage points, so that they begin to be less about the objects

frozen in time and space but more about the journey through and into them. The intent

is to create work on the edges and boundaries of the city, such that the architectural ex-

perience becomes less of a centerpiece and begins to recreate its own the environment.

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Fig_13_Ever growing, factured edge of the City_Timbuktu

The project mediates between two types of population_Population of HUMANS and

Population of SAND. The project as titled, The NOMADIC EDGE is a distinctive pro-

posal set along the RIM of the mysterious city, TIMBUKTU_MALI in SAHARA DESERT

The design approach is to be inspired by the site itself, growing out of existing topo-

graphical opportunities found in the DRAMATIC sand dunes and mountainous features

which shelters facilities for tourists, nomads and animals. The spaces are connected in se-ries enhancing an open STREETSCAPE experience through valleys in between the dunes,

balancing and blurring the distinctions between nature and architecture. By using minimal

forms that engage with the action of sand, the design attempts to rene the landscape

into something that can be experienced indoors. It also aims to connect the AC-

TOR (visitors) to the dunescapes by offering them with increasingly unique VANTAGE

POINTS, so that they begin to be less about objects frozen in time and space and more

about the journey. The inclination of architectural surfaces for walking, sitting, relax-

ing, working and displaying, would not only aid with the blowing sand behavior but also

encourage the actor to pay attention to the articulation of the spaces. MANUSCRIPTS.

The EXPERIENTIAL MOMENTS throughout the edge are sited within the GRAINS of

the landscape resulting into the new architectural interventions growing out of topogra-phy_spanning, terracing, breaking, burrowing into and wrapping up within the existing

landscape features.


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PROGRAMMATIC INTERVENTIONS

MANUSCRIPT HOUSING_ African countries have thrown their weights behind efforts

to preserve the Priceless Timbuktu Manusripts, ancient documents that hold the key

to some of the secrects of the continents history and cultural heritage. Some of these

manuscripts date back to the 13th century and are currently held ina very fragmentedmanner in 24 smaller pricate libraries in and around Timbuktu. Few still remain in the

huge metal trunks in nomads houses due to lack of appropriate space to store 700,000

manuscripts. Thus, THE EDGE would inhabit these along one specic location by bringing

all the fragmented locations in one destined space.

MANUSCRIPT EXHIBITION_The manuscripts provide a written testimony of African

literature, astronomy, mathematics, politics, chemistry, climatology etc in middle ages.

Thus, THE EDGE would aim to make these manuscripts accessible to the local nomads

as well as tourists for viewing the cultural hidden literature and show that the convential

historical view of Africa as a purely :oral continent is not correct.

NOMAD / TOURIST SHELTER_The city is hit by sandstorms at a rate of three times a

year, forcing all the fractured and damaged houses to built and rebuilt as per the scale of

destruction. Thus, THE EDGE attempts to make a provision for all the dislocated nomad

families for a short period of time until their original house falls in the right shape. Also,

since the city is welcomed by around 50,000 tourists annually, THE EDGE along with

temporary nomad shelter would make provision for tourist shelter encouraging close

interactions with both the groups theough common spacial formations.

SALT TRADE / ANIMAL SHED_Timbuktus proximity to Niger river, was an essential

reason for its success as a trading port. Even today, around 5,000 camel caravan leave

Timbuktu twice a year (March and November) to bring salt from the mines at Taoudenni,

some 600km away to the north. When the caravans return after a month, the salt is then

unloaded in Timbuktu and sent upriver to Mopti or downriver to Gao from the river

port of Kabara, 10km from Timbuktu. This, THE EDGE would serve as an unloading space

for big salt slabs (1m x 2.5m) where these would be broken down into smaller salt cubes

and then get transported to kabara port. The city consists of approximately 8,000 camels

out of which 5,000 camels participate during the salt trade. This, THE EDGE would also

accomodate animal shed for around 5,000 camels on an average which would spacially

connect the existing city with the new edge through roofscape / canopy.....

TOUAREG FESTIVAL_The Touareg Festival is a huge cultural even taking place in theoutskirts of the city on the sand dune surface for three days. This festical brings all

aspects of the Touareg culture involving songs and Touareg dances, poetries, camel rides

and games. Thoday, the festival is open to the external world and welcomes artists from

other Malian regions, other African cities, Europe and rest of the world. During these

three days, around 30 artistic groups are invited from all around the globe to present

their art. Thus, THE EDGE would act as a plateform / ground to host such an event /

festival once a year in december.


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Fig_14_Program matrix exploring various types of possibilities which could accomodate within the NEW EDGE

ENERGYharvesting

SALTtrade

AN

IMALshed

LIVing

MANUSCRIPT

S

housing&exhibition

TOURisum

WATERretriver

for5,000camelspartofthe

salttrade_6months

35literes/person/day

total_22,7

50,0

00liters/day

storage/marketspace/rest

caravans_

12months

vistingTimbuktu_3months

700,000manuscipts

housing_12months

30%forexhibit_3months

recyclingwastefromsand

storms???

solar&windenergy

harvesting

total1,1

0,300households

20%relocating_

21,6

60

households_oncein

4monrhs

RECYCLING

activites???

PROGRAM MATRIX_URBAN VS DESERT BORN PROGRAMS


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005_Strategy to deal with SAND

I am approaching the sand as an acceptance towards its natural ecological behavior and

condition rather than creating a walled city or a barrier to stop the sand to encroach

the city. Touareg nomads have adapted their lifestyle in such an extreme climatic situa-

tions with sand_they live, breathe and eat sand. Hence as a strategy, I want the project to

accommodate within the existing eco-system which works with the sand instead of at-

tempting to stop it from entering into the city. The programmatic nature of manuscripts

storage and display would try to positively induce itself with the nature of the blowing

sand over the period of time. Although sand ows according to the wind direction, there

is no front or back to it. Keeping this fact in mind, the newly developed EDGE would getcovered, uncovered and recovered with sand depending upon the change in the ecologi-

cal system. It attempts to work independently within the system such that certain parts

of the project de-actives when covered with sand where as activates when uncovered

with sand.

SAND is a magical material with beautiful contradictions. It is simple and complex,

peaceful and violent, always the same but never the same, endlessly fascinating. One

Billion grains of sand come into existence in the world each second as a result of cyclic

process. When rocks and mountains die, grains of sand are born. Some of these grains

accumulate into massive quantity resulting into formation of sand dunes. In a way a staticstone mountain becomes a moving mountain of sand which indeed has led into danger-

ous situations over the centuries by slowly and steadily eating up the cities.

About how far away do I need to go to deal with the moving sand??? The dunes here

move from southward to west towards the city at a pace of around 600m a year, thats

almost Sahara eating 1m of arable land each day & physically pushing people away from

their homes. Sand dunes cover only 1/5th surface of the deserts but still those extreme

environments are ideal places to control the movement of blowing sand to some extent

by stopping the sand grains from ever launching from its crust. A good way of doing that

is use some kind of sand catcher. Tress or cactus are good for this but one of the prob-

lems with planting trees is the people in these regions are so poor that they cop themout for re wood. My approach to this is an alternative to just planting trees and hoping

that they would not get chopped down. The ltered edge that I am proposing essentially

does three things: _adds roughness to the blowing sand i.e some kind of sand catching

chamber through spacial conguration of L/U/C wall formations, _provides physical sup-

port structure to the tectonic spaces housing manuscripts and other program and _it

creates physical, habitable spaces within.

21


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EXISTING MEASURES TO STABLIZE THE SAND DUNES

A government project to solidify sand in the Tianmo Desert west of Beijing has pre-

vented sandstorms from ravishing the capital during the last few years, a Xinhua News

Agency report said. The government started solidifying the sand in a 2,667-hectare area

of the Tianmo Desert in north Chinas Hebei province in 2000 in an attempt to stopblinding sandstorms from blowing into the capital and Tianjin each spring. Located 80 ki-

lometers west of Beijing and adjacent to a municipal reservoir, the Tianmo Desert is one

of the major sources of sandstorms in northern China.

Fig_15_Checkerboard system for sand dune stabilization in Ningxia


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OPERATIVE THEME_Envelope vs INTERlopeSand into CITY vs city into SAND

interlope_something that intrudeswithin a place, situation or activity

interlope_one that interferes with theaffairs of others

interlope_something that enters intothe privacy or property of another without

permission

vsenvelope_any wrapper or coveringenvelope_completely or partially

surroundenvelope_a set of limits or bound-aries

envelope_any enclosing membrane,skin, shell....

ENVELOPERS

INTERVELOPERS

inux_encroachment on cities

outux_expanding the city limits

Fig_16_Sketches explaining the idea and implications of

operative theme on sand and city


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Fig_17_Sketches exploring conditional moments engaging with existing sand landscape (trapping, escaping and

holding sand)

draft thesis book_prital shukla

Documents