Eterna

Abstract

What will the future of the shared heritage city center of Bandung, Indonesia be? When researching the current city center, it became clear that the historical structures of the city cannot cope with the growth of the city. In the past there was space for water, green and heritage, however traffic and people are taking over now. This results in a city that has to deal with a big societal water problem of floods, shortages and pollution. In the past people lived in harmony with nature and appreciated the value of water. Nowadays people mainly experience the negative impact of water, causing a decline in the awareness of the value of water. Besides this, due to extreme urbanization, there is no place of escape from this bustling city. No place where people can hide from time and the daily routine. This leads to a design strategy with different scales of impact. First, it focuses on the scale of personal nourishment. With the design of a bathhouse, people are able to experience the benefits of a sustainable future in which we live with clean water and at the same time have the opportunity to escape and take a moment for cleansing both body and mind. Secondly, the design is a reinterpretation of the water cycle. This includes an ecological water system, based on the reuse of water through recycling, reducing the amount of new fresh water. This ensures a future with water and as well as having a positive impact on the current urban water structure. The project location, Jalan Braga nr. 43, is situated in the middle of the historical city. The building, constructed around 1915, makes the connection between the bustling shopping street, Jalan Braga and an enclosed garden adjacent to the Cikapundung river and the Kampung. It harbours water traces of flooding and historical water systems. This challenging site fits into the ambition of the project and has the power to create a showcase for similar circumstances in the world. The program of the building forms a circle of moments of escape, a transition from stress to mental and physical rest. The design of the building responds to the old heritage structures. It uses and strengthens the values of the different parts of the existing building. Each part contains another moment of escape. The circulation of the program is connected to the waterflow of the treatment system, which runs through the entire building. The commercial part of the building, connected to Jalan Braga, will host a teahouse to sit down and have a drink. It also contains the first part of the ecological water filter system. The in-between part, the node, makes the connection with the remainder of the building and offers a place to breathe. Spaces that can be used for yoga to find your physical rest. Besides this it forms the collector of rain as an important part of the ecological water system. The part of the building adjacent to the river hosts the bathhouse for men and women to let people experience the benefits of the filtered water. The bathhouse is built upon the old robust walls which enclose the garden. This enclosed garden, taman tertutup, offers a place in which you can escape and discover the last part of the water system, the constructed wetlands. Based on the vision of seeing shared heritage as an inspirator for a sustainable future, every intervention highlights cultural values. Values which are enhanced in the design by the use of the elements of water, green and light. These elements, the tools of awareness for shared heritage, guide you through the building and inspire how we can adapt heritage buildings for a sustainable future, in which we can live with water. Take time, escape and become aware of the eternal future of water.