Chapter 1 - INTRODUCTION

MEMORIES, INSPIRATION
When I lie in my bath tub, I am at ease due to the comfort of the temperature of the water;
hot in a cold weather and cold in a hot weather. However, when the temperature of the
water is near my body temperature, the comfort is due to other properties; the ability of
water to hold my weight better than air; allowing me to float, the softness of the water
against my skin, the sound created by my moving body in the water.
I am in the Margalla hills; I am hiking. I am stepping on, for what seems like hours, large
rocks, their smaller siblings, or I am crunching on gravelly slopes. With each passing
minute I am liking the stone less and less. The irregularity of size of the stone has my feet
aching and I have begun to hate the sound of my shoes on the gravelly slopes. That is, until,
I approach a stream. Sounds alter, even though they are in relation to the same rocks; big
and small. One thing has changed; water is now there. Water is winding through the rocks,
it is collecting in the crude depressions formed by the rocks, it is forming eddies and foam.
I forget how much I was currently despising the rock and instead, begin to love it for its
newfound ability to house water.
I now go back in time. I do not remember my exact age; I only know that I am now a child.
We; my family and I, had purchased a new, red, plastic tub. The purpose of purchasing this
was to bathe me and my siblings, a function performed as each of us squatted into it turn
by turn, whilst our mother bathed us. Moments of curiosity outside the realm of bathing
resulted in me filling up the tub whilst sitting beside it on a stool of lesser height. I proceed
to immerse my hands, splosh around and then, leaning forward submerge my arms enough
to let the weight of the water carry them. Half my body is swimming! I think. Daringly, I
dip my chin and mouth clamped shut. I retract with fear when the water is in such proximity
that I can smell it.
I proceed now to the steps that lead to my house. They are about twenty feet in length.
They have shorter risers of around five inches. They are of cement like material rougher
than pavement. In each tread is cut a one inch slit transversely after an interval of every
few feet. The succeeding step alternates its slits from its predecessor. Upon the incidence of
heavy rain, this system of slits is pregnant with water. A microcosm of miniscule waterfalls
is created.

THESIS INTENTION
To allow man to delve into a realm of architecture for water as an escape from his daily
routine; the hustle and bustle of the city. The architecture grows out of the already
existing; the site, culture and existing recreation, whilst simultaneously standing out as an
exclusive entity in its devotion to water.

“Water like the other things we use in our daily lives, appears to use as handy, made readily
available by the faucet in our kitchen or the shower in our bathroom. We do not really pay
attention to water, which is only in keeping with the being of useful things as they recede
into the background and remain inconspicous for the most part. As Heidegger observes, “
what is peculiar to what is initially at hand is that it withdraws, so to speak, in its character
of handiness in order to be really handy” ( Being and Time 65)” BARBANZA, PHENOMENOLOGY OF
WATER

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 Figure 1 :Collage depicting water in Pakistan, the current context
Although water is all around man, for his use and survival, the architecture proposed
seeks to alter the existing relationship that man has with water to make him conscious of
his encounter with it. This consciousness takes the shape of visual and tactile encounters.

THESIS STATEMENT
To create architecture devoted to water, using story as a tool; the architecture serving as a
recreational getaway with the hint of an educational outlook.

THESIS OBJECTIVES
• To serve as recreational architecture
• To create spatial experiences in regards to water
• To engage the user in thought, within the architecture and upon exiting it
• To create architecture that stems from the love of water, embodies the spirit of water
and is hence devoted to it

OBJECTIVE METHODOLOGY
• To serve as recreational architecture:
(i) Through understanding the nature of the existing recreation provided by the site
and based on this, supplementing additional recreation
(ii) Through the programatic nature of the architecture itself; a museum.

• To create spatial experiences in regards to water:

Through form , architectonics, geometry and the element of story.

• To engage the user in thought, within the architecture and upon exiting it:
(i)Through the dialogue that adjacent spaces have with each other
(ii) Through the auditorium that will hold talks, seminars and performances in regards
to educating the public about the environment and water.

• To create architecture that stems from the love of water, embodies the spirit of
water and is hence devoted to it:
Through the art of story telling, water becomes the protagonist and man the
antagonist; the story of water delves into drama, using the seasons and weather as a
storyline. Spaces arise as a result of the embodiment of this story, to create a beginning,
climax and end. The story takes shapes of a poem.
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 THE STORY OF WATER

I am an ascending traveler amongst the gold and blue,

I rest amongst white giants, I grow heavy, I sink through,
I strike with might the thirsty brown,

Therein I find my brothers,

openly victorious in silver puddles,
Silently so beneath the ground

We run,
We are a sinuous serpent in valleys great
We are the loudest before we are hushed
We are many, we will soon be one

I am weary, I blink lazily in the sun

Can I stay a while before I carry on?

Friends small and big,

hug my belly and ride my currents
They will be back they promise
I must learn to warm up again
It is lonely without them

The gold assists and anxious am I,

Where is mallard? Old Harrier? Pintail?
Search within, says Egret
Filth.

You’ve been busy haven’t you?

Do you know what you have done?

I am an ascending warrior amongst the black and blue,

I seethe amongst grey giants, I grow angrier, I push through,
I ride the winds,
Striking with might; the soppy brown
We are a brimming 60 million

Your sentinels abate us,

The gold assists, and anxious are you, to ride my currents

Is that a smile I see?

Look deeper, I am more vast than I appear to be

We can work together you and I,
You’re not too bad once you revere me.

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 KEYWORDS

EXPERIENCE E D U C AT E RE-THINK E N J O Y RE-STABILISH

DESIGN ARTICULATION
The architectural programs come together to form spaces that take you from a start point
and guide you through them. The story of water creates drama, moments of suspense, high
and low points before you reach an end to the museum. Areas in the architecture open up to
prevent occular and intellectual fatique in the form of spaces linked with recreation. This
does not however, allow the architecture to deviate from the primary purpose as those very
recreational spaces are embodied within the story of water already.
The architectural typology is a museum; the museum of water. Recreation ties in through
the recreation already present on site and the proposed recreation mostly in the form of
restaurants. (Figure 2)

RECREATION

MUSEUM

RECREATION
OF SITE
Figure 2 :Program

CONCLUSION
I wish to create architecture for water; devoted to water because to devote connotes love for
water. By creating the story of water the architecture is now demonstrative and perfomative
in nature, differing from the conventional museum which has permanent display spaces. In
this way the architecture itself becomes the display using the flow of water through it. The
story also allows me to create a beginning, a climax and an end. Through the incorporation
of spaces activated in accordance to the levels of water the story is constantly shifting,
changing and is of interest throughout the change of time. Players in this story, derived
from the existing ecosystem will also have a similar role. Performative museum architecture
will in this way also serve a recreational function, that of which will merge with the
recreation of site, to create a more holistic architectural design.

BIBLIOGRAPHY/REFERENCES
• Barbanza; the phenomenology of water
• Faith in water; Alliance in Religions and conservation(ARG)
• Water Development and Spiritual Values in Western and Indigenous SocietiesDavid Groenfeldt
• The science of water; Frank R, Spellman
• Issues of water resources; Pakistan Insitute of legsilative development and transparency

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 Chapter 2 - SITE
The architecture begged a certain set of criteria in order to obtain what it needed from
the site to become a resource significant enough; a well situated piece of architecture that
gave back to the site. In order to obtain the needs and to be able to give back, a certain
criteria was drawn up to recognize what an ideal site could provide; in contrast to two viable
options. A side by side comparison of the two, keeping the ideal site as benchmark, allowed
for a final selection of the site on the basis of maximum gains and minimum drawbacks in
the form of strengths, weakness, opportunities and constraints(SWOC).
The criteria for site selection(Table 1) are divided into domains, themes and attributes. The
domains that have more decisive power over others include the accessibility domain and
neighborhood domain. Both site options have more than enough water to cater to the needs
of the program and therefore cancel out as a decisive element.

Table contd, p.t.o

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Table 1 :Site selection criteria
THE SELECTION OF LAKE VIEW PARK
The site winner was Lake View park, Rawal Lake(Figure 3). The aspects of lake view park
that allowed for it to become the site for this thesis, as opposed to Khanpur, was primarily
due to the accessibility gains and neighborhood character.

3 main roads connect the lake view park to the main city center, allowing for a mere 11
minutes of transit time for the average resident in the city center. This proximity has
an impact on how readily available energy will be to the site and therefore also affect the
overall costs related. (backup will be 7.6 km away). Khanpur although connected by main
roads falls behind in terms of the built nature of the road. Roads that eventually lead to
the lake are rocky, discontinuous rendering a drive uncomfortable. Further discomfort is
accentuated due to the long travel time( 1hr 18 mins at minimum). Energy similarly will be
54.4km away as backup – a long time considering the program will utilize power to keep up
with the dynamism of spaces.
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 Figure 3 :Lake view park, Rawal Lake

Lake view park, part of the margalla hills national park(MHNP) is one of the major sources
of attraction for the resident of the twin city due to the Rawal lake. The Rawal lake offers
the recreational attraction of boating, fishing and lounging whilst enjoying the water gently
lap over; a lulling melody.

PROGRAM AS A CULTURAL INTERVENTION ON SITE

Culture: the characteristic features of everyday existence (as diversions or a way of life}
shared by people in a place or time (Merriam Webster)
The lake view park opens at 6am in the morning and closes at 9 pm at night every day 365
days a year.

A typical day on site describes the user:

Boats become specks in the distance over crimson waters. They stay awhile hoping to reel
in fresh catch. The aroma of smoked chicken wafts through the trees as a family enjoys a
barbeque in the evening of a hot summer. A troop of children have arrived from as a class
field trip. They hang over the rails and digest the gently rippling water. Laughter ensues as
they hurl rocks to watch them skip across the lake surface. A couple talks in fierce whispers
as they stare across into the waters.

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The museum of water hopes to blend in the existing way of life that the park has, by
becoming an element that will incite curiosity, display drama, tell a story and thus consume
one for a while as an added entertainment. However due to the seriousness of the situation
of the environment, the architecture seeks to remedy the harm done by the user by this
very entertainment. The twist in the drama here becomes one that reaches across the
audience as a meaningful message. In this way the architectural intention becomes two-fold;
that of recreation whilst that of education and realization.
Table 2 addresses the architectural intervention as a cultural addition. The “before” depicts
existing culture whilst the after depicts the predicted effect of
the architectural intervention

Table 2 :Effects of architectural intervention

SUPPORTIVE PROGRAM DATA
A survey carried out recorded data in relation to the idea of a museum, the idea of a
water museum and the idea of a water museum within the precincts of Rawal lake. The
data gathered were from the type of user that frequently visited Lake view park, were the
residents of Islamabad and Rawalpindi within the age group of 17-55 yrs of age. An equal
population of male and females were surveyed. Details of the survey results are shown in
figure 3.
The Survey results showed a preference of the subject matter of the museum as a basis of
deciding to visit a museum followed by a special exhibit as an attraction factor.

Upon describing a museum of water the user was asked if they would be interested in
visiting such a museum, with an overwhelming response showing interest in visiting.
Similar positive responses were seen when the user was asked if they would be interested
in visiting a museum within a park and further if they would be interested in a museum of
water within lake view park.
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Questions inquiring what factor decided the visit of the user to lake view park were
answered mostly with sight-seeing, leisure and Rawal lake itself. This signified the
importance of the presence of water as a recreational magnet, and further supports the
intended program. (Figure 4)

Figure 4 :Supportive program data

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SITE AS A MACRO INSTANCE AND LINK WITH PROGRAM
The Rawal lake is an artificial reservoir serving as a water supply for the twin cities(
primarily Rawalpindi). The 4 major and 43 minor streams serve as water ingress whilst
1 major stream becomes the major egress( Korang river)(FIGURE 5). Once a pure water
source the lake is now polluted. The culprits of the pollution divide themselves over the
agricultural practices, sewerage from nearby towns and villages such as Banigala, Malpur
and Lakhwal as well as the Chattar park upstream.
On the onset of rainfall the lake gathers 3.6 x 10^9 sqft of water, and at maximum capacity
during the monsoons the lake is capable of holding 37,500 acre feet of water before the
gates of the dam open to dispel the water into the Korang river egress.
The learning center as a major chunk of the program renders itself more pertinent with
this rise of pollution created by the people. Awareness, education and an instilling of
responsibility in the public will affect water choices thereby inculcating good water habits,
thereby reducing the urge to consciously pollute in the long run. Alongside the learning
center, will be a purification plant whose focus will be to purify the water to be used in the
museum however the architecture of this plant will be such that will have an element of
transparency to it. This means the plant will become a part of the museum experience to
the people in a way that is educational, whilst performing an active role as purification.

Figure 5 :The Rawal water shed

SITE AS A MICRO INSTANCE AND LINK WITH PROGRAM

The lake view park comes under the Margalla hills national park whose main aim is to
preserve the rich biodiversity that exists in the region. As a result a vast diversity of flora,
fauna, and tree types are found within the lake view park as well. The lake offers an added
diversity of fish and phytoplankton resulting in a complex ecosystem and food web. A
total of 38 mammal species, 13 reptile species, 266 bird species and over 10 fish species are
found within the precincts of the park. Common bird species that flock the edge of the lake
include the marsh harrier, white backed kingfisher, pintail, little egret and mallard. Over the
course of the years and due to the rise in pollution rare species like the mallard, kingfisher
and marsh harrier grow less in number, and do not return after migration.
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To address this, the public will be educated; forming the formal stance whilst the galleries
will narrate a story centered around these players; the informal stance. This informal stance
will take inspiration from a theatrical performance, the aim of which is to move the person
experiencing it, with the result being that of pondering, realization.

CONCLUSION
The site, owing to its strong character offers elements that integrate well into the intended
program. The site gives to the program, the program takes and gives back to the site. The
result is a symbiotic relationship of give and take, one that is strengthening the other.
The result will be such that if the end product of architecture is plucked off and placed
somewhere else it will fail to work as it did here, in Rawal lake. The elements chosen
to work with become so specific to this very site, that utilizing them results in a jigsaw
relationship. No two pieces are the same. From the native birds that migrate every summer
to the water levels abating after the opening of the dam, every element is specific that will
be worked with architecturally. The program itself becomes double sided; recreation and
education. The education provides depth whilst the recreation becomes a jigsaw piece to the
puzzle of the site. The architecture created will thus be less intrusive and more cohesive,
making do with what is there whilst giving a new facet to explore.

REFERENCES
• Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, 2016, 16 (1), 88-100
• Environmental Geology of the Islamabad-Rawalpindi Area, Northern Pakistan,
Iqbal. M Sheikh
• TREND IN THE DIVERSITY OF MIGRATORY DUCKS AT RAWAL LAKE,
ISLAMABAD Sadia Bilal,
• Changing Hydrology of the Himalayan Watershed, Arshad Ashraf
• Ecological Network Model and Analysis for Rawal Lake, Pakistan Amjad, M., Fath,
B.D. and Rovenskaya, E. IIASA Interim Report June 2011
• WATERSHED MANAGEMENT IN PAKISTAN:ACHIEVEMENTS AND
ISSUES, Dr. Shahid Ahmad
• Bacteriological analysis of water collected from different dams of Rawalpindi/
Islamabad region, PAKISTAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES(PJBS)
• Data Analysis, Quality Indexing and Prediction of Water Quality for the
Management of Rawal Watershed in Pakistan, Maqbool ALI
• https://www.researchgate.net/figure/270876202_fig1_Fig-1-Study-area-map-
showing-Rawal-watershed
• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265872762_Analysis_of_pesticides_
residues_of_Rawal_and_Simly_Lakes
• http://www.waterpakistan.com/2055-2/
• http://www.parc.gov.pk/index.php/en/caewri-rshprog/caewri-iwmp
• http://www.pakistantoursguide.com/lake-view-park.html
• http://www.pcrwr.gov.pk/
• http://www.pakistanfishing.com/rawal-dam

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 Chapter 3 - CASE STUDIES
THE JEWISH HOLOCAUST MUSEUM
Introduction

Project title: Jewish Holocaust Museum

Location: Berlin, Germany
Design: Daniel Libeskind
Competition: 1989
Completion: 1999
Opening: 2001
Client: Land Berlin
Net Area: 120, 000 sq. ft.
Structure: Reinforced Concrete with Zinc Facade
Building Cost: USD 40.05 million
Stories: 4

The Jewish Holocaust museum serves as an expansion to the original Jewish Museum in
Berlin that opened in 1933. The program wished to bring a Jewish presence back to Berlin
after WWII by allowing the user to experience the struggle of the Jews of berlin. To
give new value to the existing context the architecture of the Holocaust museum merges
historical and contemporary architectural languages; the original museum being of a
historical nature with Libeskinds contemporary extension. The museum houses a memory
about struggle.

“The Jewish Museum is conceived as an emblem in which the Invisible and the Visible are
the structural features which have been gathered in this space of Berlin and laid bare in an
architecture where the unnamed remains the name which keeps still.”--Daniel Libeskind

RATIONALE TO PRECEDENCE SELECTION

This precedent study allowed for the study of a museum that utilizes the architectural
language of space to generate experiences and emotion. In the case of the Jewish museum
of berlin, libsekind makes one experience fragments of what the Jews experienced during
the Holocaust.
The thesis as a museum for water will also seek to utilize the architectural language of
space to generate experiences and emotion. ( Table 3)

Table 3 :Thesis objectives vs precedent objectives

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