Rethinking the Urban Voids

Project idea

Looking at any growing city and its urban voids, we notice a few uncomfortable things that there is no space for the urban people, no space to breathe. This gives rise to a question that Where is my/our space in the city? Dhaka being an intense and over populated city has a lack these spaces. But while analyzing the urban situation, liminality of space becomes an important issue. As these 'liminal spaces' play a great role to accommodate urban people. The main focus of our project was to study these liminal spaces, urban voids and rethink them as urban spaces for people.

Project description

The Dhaka Metro Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) is a new metro rail system being developed by the Dhaka Mass Transit Company (DMTC) in Dhaka, Bangladesh, we focused on the urban voids under the elevated metro rail trails and tried designing them as useful places to the public. We worked with the urban voids under MRT line-6 from Mirpur-10 to Mirpur-11. And our main goals are-
-To create an eco friendly environment.
-Increasing green breathing spaces.
- To create Recreational spaces.
- Introducing vertical green.

Technical information

Analyzing the land use and current conditions from Mirpur-10 to Mirpur-11 we divided the urban voids into differents zones.
The first zone consists of pocket green spaces and water fountains, a space for people to sit and relax and its under the metro station and near to the hospitals.
The metro station being at the node of Mirpur 10 remains very busy, it has a huge pedestrian congestion as the bus stands are also situated there. As a result two pedestrian dispersal areas were created beneath the station on both sides of the road. And it also houses the place of business for many street vendors.
Next a skating zone is created as there are many schools in the area and no recreational functions for the children living in that area.
Then comes the food zone. It is an area where a lot of people travel everyday and has a great demand for food. We designed permanent structures under the trails to maintain the quality of the food where people can taste the flavors of Dhaka city.
The next zone consists of flower shops. A number of flower vendors sell flowers at the sides of the road creating vehicular congestion. So we decided designing flower shops under the trails. A place for people to buy colors of happiness.
And the last zone consists of a series of walls which not only acts as sitting spaces during pleasant afternoons but also as a place where artists can display their artifacts. And it also acts as a landmark for Mirpur - 11.
These urban voids being at the middle of the main road are protected by green buffers running along all the zones on both sides.
And vertical green is introduced under and on the pillers of the trail to create a more natural environment and to reduce pollution. It also keeps the voids cool.