_{Manikarnika Ghat}

year:

2018

institution:

School of Architecture (ETSAM) [Design Studio 3]
profs. Alberto Morell, Eduardo Pérez, José Jaraiz, Antonio Moralejo

program:

hospice

site:

Manikarnika Ghat, Varanasi, India


The river as a boundary to which the city tends.

Density decreases and heights diminish as the distance to the Ganges shortens.

The city is the river, and the river is not without the city. Both intertwine and blur, just like life and death, in Varanasi.

The project starts from these premises and establishes a new stepping towards the Ganges. The hospice is located in the easternmost area of the Manikarnika ghat and is based on the pre-existing topography. It adapts to the city's general movement towards the river and incorporates water in the form of pools for the sick, creating a relationship between water and land in both directions.

To address the program, three main types of spaces are considered: the quarters for the sick, the amphitheaters for gatherings, and the aforementioned pools. The three groups are organized in two main levels, two primary planes, which face the river.