SUPER CP!
Connaught Place imagined as a model CBD creating space for people to have meaningful interactions, whether casual or formal; planned or serendipitous; in liesure or in seriousness. At the core of the very idea of a city, Super CP embodies the historical as well as the futuristic purpose of human interaction, cooperation and innovation.
Project Media
Site Plan
Horse Shoe shaped reinforced with the hyperloop and water reservoir filling in the gap of the incomplete circular form.
Entry Courtyards
The radial connectors of the circular plan form are cut through by the middle circle development to allow movement of the internal AI transport system. These points also work as entry points to the middle circle development both from inside and outside CP. The city transport system (trains, buses, cars) will be a community owned system on the AI platform which will reduce the need for private vehicle ownership and on site parking infrastructure. Valuable public space on the streets will be given over to pedestrians and bicyclists.
Courtyard Aerial View
The outer circle colonnade is given over back to pedestrian movement, since parking spaces will become redundant after the introduction of AI transport system in the city. Private vehicle ownership and use within the city will reduce drastically which will give the road space back to the people.
Middle Circle Development
The middle circle, which is currently a dead space with no public function or access is redeveloped as the primary access to almost 3.5 million sq.ft. of floor space. The inner and outer circle floors are connected through various bridges under a solar skylight which allows natural light and also powers up the building. The middle circle will become the main movement spine for the super block through an internal AI transport system.
Inner Circle
The inner circle road will be a two-way movement system which enters/exist into the city via the Janpath and Bara Khamba Roads which form the horse shoe shape for CP. The colonnade will be given over to retail uses to encourage people to use the space and maintain the spirit of the place; which has always been full of people. The colonnade and and extended apron offsetting from it will also be open to hawkers and other public uses.
Urban Forest
The central park which is currently a non-descriptive open space devoid of any function or contribution to the city will be converted into a fast growing intense urban forest using Miyawaki's Method. Additional space which is currently given over to vehicular roads will also be included as per new AI transport requirements. This forestation will be aimed at improving air quality, combating air pollution, attracting migratory birds, ground water retention and bring in a little of nature into the city.
Hyperloop
The hyperloop will connect New Delhi to its contemporary city-states like Hong Kong, Dubai, Singapore, London, Cairo, Nairobi, Moscow, Tokyo, etc. As cities take center stage as hubs of innovation and production, nations will recede into the backstage. Intercity connections will become more important than intra-city or inter country.
Urban Forest Pathways
A major reason for the failure of pedestrianization in CP has been the inability of designers to provide pedestrian connections across the central path. The urban forest idea does precisely that. Movement from one block to another in CP is minimized by allowing direct pedestrian paths without taking pedestrians in the arc of the colonnade. A central point beneath the hyperloop and above the metro allows for exchanges. 8 pathways radiating from the centre are also a reference to the original layout of CP which allowed for direct movement as well as in arcs.
Water Reservoir
The space left over by the horse shoe and where the current underground market (pallika bazaar) is situated is remodeled as a water reservoir. The rain water collected from the roof of the super block i.e. 5 Mega Kilo Litres, is used by the development. The development scale also corresponds to this resource restriction along with solar energy. Additionally it gives the CBD a water front which is otherwise lacking in Delhi as a city.
Colonnade
The colonnade at CP is preserved for generations to come to give a sense of time and place to the city and the CBD. The old and the new merge together with each maintaining their own identity and function.
Outer Circle
The movement in the outer circle is also streamlined since there are no interruptions due to radials coming out from the CP precinct; except for the planned Drop off/Pickup points. The Super Block is at once inward looking and outward looking with 2.5 Kms of retail colonnade lining the roadways.
Project Score
Location
PUBLISHED ON 16th November 2022
Similar Projects
Discover related projects you might like
Comments (0)
Please login or sign up to add comments
No comments yet. Be the first to comment!