A PROPOSAL FOR A COLLABORATIVE CONSTRUCTION IN PATTANAM, INDIA

Proposal by:

Kerala Council For Historical ResearchUniversidad Camilo José Cela

PATTANAM WHARF ROOF AND IN-SITU MUSEUM (SITE IMAGINARIUM)

PATTANAM WHARF ROOF AND IN-SITU MUSEUM (SITE IMAGINARIUM)

Prepared by:

Luis FeduchiArchitect CSCAEDean and Professor of Architectural DesignSchool of Architecture and TechnologyUniversidad Camilo José Cela, 28692 Madrid, Spain

P.J CherianDirectorKerala Council for Historical Research & Pattanam ExcavationsVylopilly Samskriti Bhavan, NalandaThiruvananthapuram -695 003, India

Team

I-Wen Kuo, UCJC-KCHR Site ArchitectEugenia Muscio, UCJC-KCHR Site Architect

KITCO, Cochin, Structural Consultants

Academic Associates:

José Eduardo Torres Rojas Civil Engineer, University of Oviedo, 33003 Oviedo, Asturias, Spain

Alejandro Calle García Architect, Universidad Camilo José Cela, 28692 Madrid, Spain

Fátima Martin Architect, Madhya Pradesh State Bamboo Mission, Madhya Pradesh, India

Latha Raman JaigopalPrincipal Architect, Inspiration, Trippunithura, Cochin, India

V. SelvakumarDepartment of Epigraphy & Archaelogy, Tamil University, Thanjavur, India

Sunil EdwardProfessor, Department of Architecture, College of Engineering, Trivandrum, India

Binumol TomProfessor, Department of Architecture, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Technology, Kottayam, India

G PramodPrincipal Consultant, KITCO, Cochin, India

PATTANAM WHARF ROOF AND IN-SITU MUSEUM (SITE IMAGINARIUM)A PROPOSAL FOR A COLLABORATIVE CONSTRUCTION IN PATTANAM, INDIA

Prepared by P.J Cherian (Kerala Council For Historical Research) and Luis Fedchi (Universidad Camilo José Cela)

© 2014 Kerala Council for Historical Research and Universidad Camilo José Cela,

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive Summary

ContextExploration, Excavation, Construction Building Type SitesArchaeological FindingsConstruction as Collaboration

Design and Supervision - Luis FeduchiConcept and Coordination - P.J Cherian

A Sangam Poem Portraying Muciri

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Fig. 1Isometric view of Pattanam Wharf Roof and In-Situ Museum.

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This document seeks to initiate international interest for an exciting collaborative construction project in an early historic archaeological site. Originating in the collaboration between Professor Luis Feduchi and Professor P J Cherian, the project seeks to protect and conserve a significant archaeological excavation site in Pattanam through the construction of a roof structure and site museum.

Preliminary research for the project was initiated by Professor Feduchi from the concept of building as ‘type-site’, a term adapted from geological, archaeological and museographical discourses. Conceptually, the roof structure and the museum offers a counterpoint to traditional forms of public engagement associated with the archaeological excavations through engaging audiences in immersive and meaningful interactions.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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Fig. 2Muziris, as shown in the 4th century Tabula Peutingeriana.

Fig. 3Location of the Wharf Plot in Pattanam. Drawing by Elliot Harvie.

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The Muziris Heritage project (MHP) is an inter-departmental initiative of the Kerala Government supported by the Government of India to conserve and promote the heritage sites and monuments linked to the ancient Indo-Roman port city of Muziri/Muziris and the modern city of Kochi. The archeological finds from Pattanam excavations revealing the region’s trans-continental connections two millennia back, acted as the spring board for the MHP and its emergence as a global project. The Pattanam archaeological site, located in the delta of the river Periyar about 25km north of the Cochin city is being excavated by the KCHR since 2007. The project has evolved into a global multidisciplinary research with leading institutions and experts providing academic support. The Archaeological record of Pattnam confirms the trans-oceanic links of the site from GuangZhou and QuanZhou ports in South China to Rome and Catalan ports in the Mediterranean. In this backdrop the site is hypothesized as an integral part of the legendary “first emporium of India” – the Muziris.

In the 2007 and 2008 excavations an ancient Wharf context with brick structures, wooden canoe, bollards, spices and a plethora of non-

local ceramics from North India, South China, Mesopotamian, South Arabian, Red Sea and Mediterranean regions were unearthed. This plot demands immediate care to conserve these precious finds as well as enable the visitors to feel an ancient port context and learn the scientific procedures of excavation.

The proposal for roofing the Wharf plot and in-situ museum (Site imaginarium) is part of the larger research design of the KCHR to collaborate and conserve a potential world heritage site in the best standards of the times. Prof Luis Feduchi and his team collaborate with KCHR to materialize this objective and the MOU between the Tourism Department and the KCHR is expected to facilitate the fruitful completion of the proposal.

CONTEXT - MUZIRIS HERITAGE PROJECT

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The design of the Wharf Roof and Site Museum aims to contribute to the scientific conservation of ancient architecture and allied features. Working alongside the KCHR archaeology researchers, the excavation of initial trenches is a process of exploration to identify where the foundations of the roof structure can be located. The methodology is based on an interdisciplinary collaboration whereby interventions are designed respecting the archaeology of the site.

Through exploration and excavation, the foundation is laid out without disturbing the ancient structures and the rising roof structure will be built on this foundation. The structure will serve two purposes: to house the site museum to showcase the archaeological finds from the site and to protect the ancient structures from weathering due to tropical sun and monsoon rains.

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EXPLORATION, EXCAVATION, CONSTRUCTION

Fig. 4Phases of project

1. Digging of initial trenches2. Foundations and Beam3. Frames erected4. Roofing of structure

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Fig. 5Walkways juxtaposed to the cartesian arrangement of trenches. The building offers a counterpoint to traditional forms of public engagement associated with archaeological excavations through engaging audiences in immersive and meaningful interactions.

Fig. 6Plan of roof structure

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The design considers the role of architecture in establishing meaningful dialogues between specific loci, histories and contemporary material cultures. The work investigates the concept of building as ‘type-site’, a term adapted from geological, archaeological and museographical discourses.

Through this research, it is argued that the application of ‘type site’ as a linguistic framework allows for new forms of interaction and tension between content and the architecture of museography to emerge. Here, it is argued that the museum should become more than just a book or a building. It has the potential to become a book that can be walked through and a building that can be read.

BUILDING TYPE-SITES

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Fig. 7Long section through Wharf Roof and In-Situ Museum.

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Fig. 8Architectural remains including foundations, brick walls, floors, toilet features and ring wells could have been part of residential commercial structures.

Pattanam Excavation 2008Trench No: PT08-IXDepth: 270cm

Photo © KCHR

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ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDINGS

Excavations in the plot presently owned by the KCHR have uncovered a grouping of masonry structures suggestive of a wharf, warehouse and other unidentified features. The major finds are a dugout canoe made of Anjili wood, teak wood bollards and plethora of botanical remains including pepper, cardamom, paddy and frankincense. A large quantity of local and non-local pottery, semi-precious stones and objects made of various metals are some other important finds. The non-local pottery assemblages are from the Mediterranean (Amphora and Terra Sigillata) Red Sea, South Arabian and Mesopotamian (Turquoise Glazed, Torpedo and Ovoid jars), Chinese and Indian regions (White Porcelain, Brown glazed ware, Blue and White ware; Black and Red Ware, Russet Coated ware, Rouletted ware, Black ware, Course ware). The organic samples from the wharf context have been radio carbon dated by the leading laboratories in USA and India namely University of Georgia and Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar. The canoe and bollards were dated to the 1st c BCE – 1st c CE period.

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Fig. 09Fine and well burned brick structure with post holes near the wharf plot could have been part of ware house.

Pattanam Excavation 2007Trench No: PT07-III

Photo © KCHR

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Fig. 10Brick structure/platform with post holes

Pattanam Excavation 2007Trench No: PT07-III

Image © KCHR

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Fig. 11The six meter dugout wooden canoe was carbon dated to the 1st c BCE 1st c CE period. The Wharf complex suggests an inland port, compatible with the information available on Muziris in classical languages.

Pattanam Excavation 2007Trench No: PT07-IVLocus: 011bDepth: 245cm

Photo © KCHR

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Fig. 12The wooden canoe and the wharf context. The wharf was made of a mixture of clay, laterite crumbs and lime with brick linings.

Pattanam Excavation 2007Trench No: PT07-IVLocus: 011bDepth: 245cm

Image © KCHR

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The proposal aims to produce a new platform for the melding of traditional craft practices with innovative construction systems and materials. The context of Kerala is historically well known for its timber vernacular heritage- largely attributed to the continuation of local craft expertise that has structured the unique architectural fabric of the region. The construction of the Wharf Roof and Site Museum project presents an opportunity to strengthen the continuity of bamboo construction through the production of technical knowledge through new exchanges. Through collaborative processes, both local bamboo crafts people and global research and industry experts in innovative timber technologies would work together towards delivering an outcome that would speak of past, present and future practices.

CONSTRUCTION AS COLLABORATION

Fig. 13Detail section bamboo structure.

Building on an archaeological sensitive site is addressed through construction with bamboo, this enabling the implementation phase to have minimal intrusion to the archaeology.

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Fig. 14-16Photos of structural model

Unlike other constructions; research, collaboration and alterations based on the precious archaeological wealth and its best conservation strategies will be adopted by the team at all stages of its execution. The structure will serve two purposes: to house the site museum to showcase the archaeological finds from the site and to protect the ancient structures from weathering.

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Fig. 17The new Historic Archives of the City of Granada are currently under construction in one of the last unbuilt plots of the Albaicin, the urban extension of the Alhambra Palace and the Generalife Gardens listed World Heritage by the UNESCO in 1993.

The project, a winning entry in an open competition in 2002, was understood as an opportunity to create an open public space, a roof garden, which profits from a exceptional location within the heritage around it.

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DESIGN AND SUPERVISION

Luis Feduchi is a practicing architect. His office, founded in Madrid in 1993 and relocated to Berlin since 2006, has won various awards and competitions, such as the design of the Carmen del Negro Historic Archives of Granada, Spain. He was Coordinator of the Master of Advanced Studies of Architecture of the Territory at the Academia di architettura in Mendrisio, Switzerland, from 2004 to 2006. In 2006 he was appointed Chair of Urban Design at the TU Berlin. Among other academic positions he has been Visiting Professor at Penn Design, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia in 2010 and Roland Rainer Chair for Architectural Research and Design at the Academy of Arts in Vienna during the academic year 2010-11.

He is currently Dean at the UCJC School of Architecture and Technology, Madrid, Spain and academic affiliate in the Pattanam Archaeological Research of the Kerala Council for Historical Research .

PROFESSOR LUIS FEDUCHI

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Fig. 18Pattanam Excavations 2014

Photo © KCHR

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CONCEPT AND COORDINATION

P. J. Cherian is a practicing archaeologist and founding Director of the KCHR. He is the Director of the Pattanam Excavations and has edited and published the Pattanam excavation interim reports of all the seven seasons.

He was the coordinator of the Archaeology Diploma course in the Union Christian College, Aluva, (MG University) which was instrumental in the identification of the archaeological significance of Pattanam village.

Pattanam excavations under his leadership has evolved into a major research endeavor having collaboration with leading Universities and research institutes worldwide. The Green Archaeology Project initiated by him hopes to transform Pattanam village into a garden of organically grown spices and medicinal plants to conserve the site through pro-people approach.

He is member of the Scientific Board (World Heritage Archaeology Parks), ICOMOS, Sultanate of Oman and member of the Advisory Committee of the Shanghai Archaeology Forum, People’s Republic of China. He received the Award of Excellence for the Pattanam Research from the

National Maritime Foundation, India and was the co–recipient of the British Academy Award for International Research Partnership.

He is currently the Dean of Social Science Faculty and Chairman of the Board of Studies, (Archaeology), University of Kerala.

PROFESSOR P. J. CHERIAN

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Fig. 19The six meter dugout wooden canoe was carbon dated to the 1st c BCE 1st c CE period.

Photo © KCHR

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“In Muciri with its drums, where the ocean roars, where the paddy traded for fish and stacked high on the boats makes boats and houses look the sameand the sacks of pepper raised up beside themmakes the houses look the same as the tumultuous shore and the golden wares brought by the ships are carried to land in the servicing boats, Kuttuvan its king to whom toddy is no more valuable than water, who wears a shining garland gives out giftsof goods from the mountains along with goods from the sea to those who have come to him. Even if you humbly bringand bestow as much fine and copious wealth as that city possesses,she will not marry someone who is unworthy of her" so says her father and will not grant her hand.Think! Will the tall citysuffer where sighing kites sleep on the middle wall of the fort,the roads hard to conquer are filled with weapons,but ladders have been thrown up by men who has come to force their way in.”

(The song of Paranar, Purananuru , poem 343, George L Hart and Hank Heifetz, edited and translated 'The four hundred songs of war and wisdom' p 122 )

A SANGAM POEM PORTRAYING MUCIRI (MUZIRIS)