Sananda Banerjee | sanaban@gmail.com

Shelter 2012: A Kolkata Cityscape Venture

Guide Dr.Subir Das
Sponsor Abin Design Studios
 
Keywords bus shelter;digital display;user-centric;vehicular movement

This project was about designing a bus shelter for Kolkata, uniting all its zones (Central, New Town, and Satellite) with a common recognisable iconic form for all walks of society; this would reflect a quintessential element of the city that is unique.


Study of the existing milieu of Kolkata, its special features, public squares, and prominent vehicular movement with user input was carried out. Distinguishing important zones of the city and identifying their important features and behavioural patterns was required in order to identify new elements to be designed in the context of the city. A case study of London or any futuristic city was done to study its system, urban elements and hybridisation, where the old and new cities co-exist, and taking related cues for new design and development for Kolkata. Coming up with the design concept was accompanied by a suggestion of tentative costs, and eventually rolling out the final planning and business model.


This user-centric modern shelter needed to have optimum space for advertisements and digital display, with relevant bus and route information and the stoppage name in a prominent position. Providing basic public seating, it also had to be low-maintenance, mostly pre-fabricated and had to be placed along the thoroughfares with suitable footpath width—all in all, an attractive and modern structure that was still vintage in its concept.


The project is a taste of reality beyond the protected academic environment; it has given direction and the confidence to move ahead in life as a designer.
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