Abstract:
This thesis substantiates my design proposal for a cultural hub that will
accommodate festivals and activities related —but not limited— to the
Bengali diasporic community present in New Zealand. This thesis considers the
precedence that an intercultural experience can impart on all individuals,
especially in a country such as New Zealand where immigration is a
large part of its culture and history. Mitrangan is a community building,
centrally based in Wynyard Quarter, primarily taking over the current Jellicoe
Street car park that considers what the effect of intercultural architecture that
encourages social cohesion and mutual inhabitation could have on Auckland city.
The incentive of this thesis is to create a greater understanding of the Indian
Bengali —and by extension— the many immigrant minority communities
present in Auckland to increase the ‘sense of belonging’ felt by these individuals by
exposing non-Bengalis in Auckland to Bengali culture through place and
an immersive cultural experience. Closely following a personal journey, this
thesis reflects how the sharing of different cultural experiences can shape
architecture and become a device in building better communities. This
motivation drives the central themes of this thesis which explore how
intercultural ideologies can overlap with sociology and architecture to create
a better built environment that serves to bring diverse communities together.
The methodology behind the design proposal of Mitrangan therefore draws
from my own personal cultural experiences in the form of the ‘worn experience
of a sari’. As explored in this research, the form, function and worn
experience of saris, as well as the annual festival of Durga Pujo, serve as primary
forces to convey the Indian Bengali diaspora in Auckland. In applying
methods of design exploration such as collage, watercolour drawings and
model making, this research cultivates an engaging experience that can appeal
to all people to recognise and find value in a variant cultural environment and
asks ‘How can architecture enable intercultural understanding between diverse
communities and reclaim ‘sense of belonging’ to immigrant minorities
in Auckland?’