The Future of Nostalgia: Rethinking Post-offices as a Social Network in the 21st Century

Project idea

Much of the social and cultural history of the world, especially of the last century can be linked with the development of the Postal Services. It was a sacred trust and it connected everyone, from the royals, the government and also the common man with parity. India Post has the Largest Postal Network in the World. It boasts a 100% rate in reaching to the last mile and has an universal obligation to serve everyone.
But since the past 2 decades, with the boom in the use of phones and the internet, the postal service is slowly fading away. Such an institution now reels from a large debt and is losing to technology and new players in the market. Can such large Network and its existing Infrastructure be made
relevant for today and tomorrow’s service and inturn save this great legacy of the Post Offices? This is the major enquiry my thesis delves onto.

Project description

The Postal service has always thrived on inter-dependencies; tangible but also intangible. This project taps into this plethora of potential networks of existing and also by creating some new inter-dependencies with an aim to re-invent the Postal Service as a facilitator and as infrastructure for the people's benefits. This new network dwells onto today's problems and sees them as opportunities to bring people closer and connect them whilst solving these larger level issues. This web of communication and finance not only remains to these sectors but now grows into the data, goods, transport and knowledge sectors as well. Architecture here takes a step back; first the policies and services are resolved and then to facilitate the infrastructure comes in. This I call the social infrastructure.
This project proposes social infrastructure at every level, every scale of the Postal Network; thus, creating part to whole and whole to part inter-dependen­cies between the man, the built and the technology of today's world. The pro­ject in itself is not one tangible building, but multiple connections between everyday objects, infrastructure and daily use buildings. And rather than creat­ing new masses, existing infrastructure is re-purposed as well as new extensions are created wherever necessary in and around Pune to demonstrate one thread in many of the Postal Network.

Technical information

There are 4 different intervention of single thread, ranging from a product to a building. Each has different character and the problem is solved according to its own nature.